Date of Award

2-3-2015

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Specialization

Communication and Leadership

School or Department

School of Leadership Studies

First Advisor

Dr. Carolyn Cunningham

Second Advisor

Dr. Heather Crandall

Abstract

Organizational communication informs, fosters understanding, creates buy-in, and is key to organizational success. While face-to-face (F2F) communication is the preferred and most effective mode of communication, it is not always feasible. With the proliferation of computer mediated communication (CMC) organizations have a wide range of channels available for communicating. This study explores alternatives to F2F communication, using information technology (IT) and organizational change as the topics of analysis. It is based on the philosophical assumption of Aristotle’s “golden mean” and the communication theories of media richness and social presence. The study analyzed the survey responses of two groups of employees of a large organization who were asked how likely they were to use certain communication channels for receiving information. In addition to determining communication channel preferences, the study analyzed the results in terms of the age of the respondents, media richness theory, social presence theory, and the type of information being communicated. For IT-related information, in addition to F2F, the IT website and email alerts, which provide summary information and a link to the full information on the website, were the preferred methods of communication, Twitter, blogs, and podcasts were the least preferred. For information about the organization, memos, formal policy, emails, and email alerts were the preferred channels of communication while Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter were least preferred. The study showed a slight deviation in responses based on the age of the respondent, younger respondents were slightly more likely to use social media. It also showed a slight correlation between the familiarity of a communication channel and the likelihood that employees will use it, respondents who had used web conferencing showed a slight preference for using this communication channel.

Comments

All rights reserved.

Download

Share

COinS