last updated 12/1/2006
Technology in
Organizations
Features of new technology
-
Speed
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Geographic dispersion
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Asynchronous communication
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Ways of addressing messages
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Memory - storage and retrieval
-
Cue availability
Theories of Media Usage
Media Richness Model - (People
select message media by its richness (information capacity) or leanness
and by the potential ambiguity of the the message. the more
ambiguity, the richer the medium choice.)
Media differ in in four ways: (the
more of these available, the richer the medium)
-
availability of instant feedback
-
use of multiple cues
-
use of natural language
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personal focus of the medium
Social Information Processing Model
(media choice reflects a variety of media and personal
characteristics, including...)
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Objective and perceived task requirements
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Objective and perceived media characteristics
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Media experience/knowledge
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Attitudes toward media
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Individual differences
Dual-Capacity Model
(Media choice is determined by data
capacity, as in the media richness model, AND by what the medium itself
symbolizes.)
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Data carrying capacity
-
Symbolic capacity
Effects of Technology on Organizational
Communication
-
Fewer cues can inhibit emotional and
social message content
-
Inappropriate emotional content may be encouraged (flamming)
-
New media more often augments and increases message
transmission than substitutes (drowning in data) -- "data smog"
-
Greater upward communication may occur
-
Greater equality of participation (with less leader
emergence) may occur
-
Lower group identification may result from greater
mediation
-
New technology has facilitated: distributed
work, less organization centrality, flex time, tele-work, virtual
organizations
Paradoxes of New Technology
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Greater flexibility tends to yield more structure
-
Greater individuality tends to yield greater
emphasis on teamwork
-
More individual responsibility tends to yeild the
urge for more control.