A29. Rice,
R.E., Hughes, D. & Love, G. (1989). Usage and outcomes of
electronic
messaging at an R&D organization: Situational constraints, job
level,
and media awareness. Office: Technology and People, 5(2),
141-161.
This paper is an individual-level analysis of the adoption and use
of an electronic messaging system (EMS) by nearly 500 members of an
R&D
organization. It complements the network-level analysis reported by
Eveland
and Bikson in 1988 and the qualitative analysis reported by Markus in
1987.
The present paper develops and tests hypotheses about relationships
among
job categories, perceived social presence of an electronic messaging
system
(a measure of media awareness), self-reported and computer-monitored
use
of the system, and outcomes such as changes in work effectiveness,
communication
flows, and use of extant media. The primary conditions associated with
non-adoption of electronic mail were physical proximity of a
respondent's
contacts and lack of accessibility to needed contacts through the
system.
Higher-level organizational members used the system more, and reported
more improvements in outcomes, counter to predictions by information
richness
theory. Usage was weakly correlated with outcomes, but was generally
more
strongly correlated for those respondents who were more aware of the
appropriateness
of the EMS for a variety of communication activities. The paper ends by
discussing the lessons learned about the adoption and outcomes of an
EMS
this one organization, based on three studies with very different
methods
and perspectives.
Click
here for PDF copy of publication