Organizational information requirements, media richness and structural design
TL;DR: Models are proposed that show how organizations can be designed to meet the information needs of technology, interdepartmental relations, and the environment to both reduce uncertainty and resolve equivocality.
Abstract: This paper answers the question, "Why do organizations process information?" Uncertainty and equivocality are defined as two forces that influence information processing in organizations. Organization structure and internal systems determine both the amount and richness of information provided to managers. Models are proposed that show how organizations can be designed to meet the information needs of technology, interdepartmental relations, and the environment. One implication for managers is that a major problem is lack of clarity, not lack of data. The models indicate how organizations can be designed to provide information mechanisms to both reduce uncertainty and resolve equivocality.
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TL;DR: A classification of Social Media is provided which groups applications currently subsumed under the generalized term into more specific categories by characteristic: collaborative projects, blogs, content communities, social networking sites, virtual game worlds, and virtual social worlds.
13,932 citations
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...Media richness theory (Daft & Lengel, 1986) is based on the assumption that the goal of any communication is the resolution of ambiguity and the reduction of uncertainty....
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TL;DR: In this paper, the authors argue that an increasingly important unit of analysis for understanding competitive advantage is the relationship between firms and identify four potential sources of interorganizational competitive advantage: relation-specific assets, knowledge-sharing routines, complementary resources/capabilities, and effective governance.
Abstract: In this article we offer a view that suggests that a firm's critical resources may span firm boundaries and may be embedded in interfirm resources and routines. We argue that an increasingly important unit of analysis for understanding competitive advantage is the relationship between firms and identify four potential sources of interorganizational competitive advantage: (1) relation-specific assets, (2) knowledge-sharing routines, (3) complementary resources/capabilities, and (4) effective governance. We examine each of these potential sources of rent in detail, identifying key subprocesses, and also discuss the isolating mechanisms that serve to preserve relational rents. Finally, we discuss how the relational view may offer normative prescriptions for firm-level strategies that contradict the prescriptions offered by those with a resource-based view or industry structure view.
11,355 citations
TL;DR: It is suggested that computer conferencing has considerable potential to create a community of inquiry for educational purposes and should be used as a medium for this purpose.
Abstract: The purpose of this study is to provide conceptual order and a tool for the use of computer-mediated communication (CMC) and computer conferencing in supporting an educational experience. Central to the study introduced here is a model of community inquiry that constitutes three elements essential to an educational transaction—cognitive presence, social presence, and teaching presence. Indicators (key words/phrases) for each of the three elements emerged from the analysis of computer-conferencing transcripts. The indicators described represent a template or tool for researchers to analyze written transcripts, as well as a guide to educators for the optimal use of computer conferencing as a medium to facilitate an educational transaction. This research would suggest that computer conferencing has considerable potential to create a community of inquiry for educational purposes.
4,976 citations
Cites background from "Organizational information requirem..."
...Unlike earlier communications theorists (Daft & Lengel, 1986; Short, Williams, & Christie, 1976; Sproull & Kiesler, 1986), we do not believe that the effect of media per se is the most salient factor in determining the degree of social presence that participants develop and share through the…...
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...Dewey (1959) observed nearly a century ago `̀ that the educational process has two sidesÐone psychological and one sociological; and that neither can be subordinated to the other or neglected without evil results following'' (p....
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TL;DR: The authors address the role of marketing in hypermedia computer-mediated environments by considering hypermedia CMEs to be large-scale (i.e., national or global) networked enviro...
Abstract: The authors address the role of marketing in hypermedia computer-mediated environments (CMEs). Their approach considers hypermedia CMEs to be large-scale (i.e., national or global) networked enviro...
4,695 citations
Cites background from "Organizational information requirem..."
...…& Novak (1995), "Marketing in Hypermedia CMEs: Conceptual Foundations" (Rev. 7/11/95) page 16 of sensory dimensions presented and is closely related to media concurrency (Valacich et. al 1993) and media richness (Daft and Lengel 1986; Daft, Lengel and Trevino 1987; Daft and Wiginton 1979)....
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TL;DR: The authors reviewed the history of computer mediated communication and found that impersonal communication is sometimes advantageous, and strategies for the intentional depersonalization of media use are inferred, with implications for Group Decision Support Systems effects.
Abstract: While computer-mediated communication use and research are proliferating rapidly, findings offer contrasting images regarding the interpersonal character of this technology. Research trends over the history of these media are reviewed with observations across trends suggested so as to provide integrative principles with which to apply media to different circumstances. First, the notion that the media reduce personal influences—their impersonal effects—is reviewed. Newer theories and research are noted explaining normative “interpersonal” uses of the media. From this vantage point, recognizing that impersonal communication is sometimes advantageous, strategies for the intentional depersonalization of media use are inferred, with implications for Group Decision Support Systems effects. Additionally, recognizing that media sometimes facilitate communication that surpasses normal interpersonal levels, a new perspective on “hyperpersonal” communication is introduced. Subprocesses are discussed pertaining to re...
4,401 citations
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TL;DR: In this article, the authors classified alternative mechanisms for coordinating work activities within organizations into impersonal, personal and group modes and investigated how variations and interactions in the use of these coordination mechanisms and modes are explained by task uncertainty, interdependence and unit size.
Abstract: This paper classifies alternative mechanisms for coordinating work activities within organizations into impersonal, personal and group modes. It investigates how variations and interactions in the use of these coordination mechanisms and modes are explained by task uncertainty, interdependence and unit size. Nine hypotheses that relate these three determining factors to the use of the three coordination modes are developed in order to test some key propositions of Thompson (1967) and others on coordination at the work unit or departmental level of organization analysis. Research results from 197 work units within a large employment security agency largely support the hypotheses. The findings suggest that there are differences in degree and kind of influence of each determining factor on the mix of alternative coordination mechanisms used within organizational units.
2,003 citations
"Organizational information requirem..." refers background in this paper
...[26]” Van de Ven, Delbecq, and Koenig (1976) found that departmental communication increased as interdependence among participants increased....
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1,874 citations
"Organizational information requirem..." refers background in this paper
...Studies have found that either the amount or nature of information processing is associated with task uncertainty (Meissner 1969; Gaston 1972; Bavelas 1950; Leavitt 1951; Becker and Nicholas 1969) [6]....
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...Cite that studies have found that either the amount or nature of information processing is associated with task uncertainty (Meissner 1969; Gaston 1972; Bavelas 1950; Leavitt 1951; Becker and Nicholas 1969)....
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