USING COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY Also by Bettina S. T. Büchel INTERNATIONAL JOINT VENTURE MANAGEMENT (with Christiane Prange, Clemens Rüling and Gilbert Probst) ORGANIZATIONAL LEARNING:The Competitive Advantage of the Future (with Gilbert Probst) Using Communication Technology Creating Knowledge Organizations Bettina S. T. Büchel © Bettina Büchel 2001 Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2001 978-0-333-92950-6 All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, 90 Tottenham Court Road, London W1P 0LP. Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. The author has asserted her right to be identified as the author of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. First published 2001 by PALGRAVE Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS and 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010 Companies and representatives throughout the world PALGRAVE is the new global academic imprint of St. Martin’s Press LLC Scholarly and Reference Division and Palgrave Publishers Ltd (formerly Macmillan Press Ltd). ISBN 978-1-349-42560-0 ISBN 978-0-333-98567-0 (eBook) DOI 10.1057/9780333985670 This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained forest sources. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Büchel, Bettina S. T. Using communication technology : creating knowledge organizations / Bettina S. T. Büchel. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. 1. Information technology. 2. Communication—Technological innovations. 3. Knowledge workers. 4. Organization. I. Title. HC79.I55 B83 2000 658.4(cid:1)038—dc21 00-049143 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 10 09 08 07 06 05 04 03 02 01 Contents List of Tables vii List of Figures ix Preface x Acknowledgements xi 1 CommunicationTechnology and Organizations 1 Communication technology-induced changes in information processing 1 Communication technology 5 Relationship between communication technology and organizations:theoretical perspectives 8 Multiple levels of analysis 12 2 Knowledge Workers’Choices of Communication Technology 15 Theoretical perspectives on media choice 15 An integrative model of media choice 32 Managerial implications 35 3 Communication Technology and Organizational Design 41 Features of communication technology 41 The organizational design framework from an information- processing perspective 42 Managerial Implications 73 4 Communication Technology and Organizational Learning 81 Organizational learning and information processing 81 Media choice 83 Media choice and organizational learning 87 Knowledge development and communication technology 101 Managerial implications 103 5 Communication Technology and Success 114 The relative nature of success 114 A framework for measuring communication technology success 117 v vi Contents The chain of communication technology measures 132 Managerial implications 134 6 A Dynamic Model of Communication Technology Employment 143 Communication technology as a moderating variable 143 The dynamic model 144 Managerial implications 148 Appendix 1 Assumptions about Organizations 153 Appendix 2 Origins of Information Processing 154 Appendix 3 Interview Results for the Comparative Study of the Impact of Communication Technology on Organizations in Nepal,Thailand and Singapore 156 Appendix 4 A Case Study of Communication Technology Use in Chinese Trademark Agencies 159 Appendix 5 Terminology 162 Notes 163 Bibliography 167 Index 182 List of Tables 1.1 Characteristics of various communication technologies 8 2.1 Key determinants of media choice 16 2.2 Media and their features 17 2.3 Ranking of ‘old’and ‘new’communication media 18 2.4 Features of ‘new’communication technology 19 2.5 Task characteristics and key determinants 20 2.6 A comparison between rational and social theories of media choice 22 2.7 The relationship between recipient availability and richness 26 2.8 Social environment characteristics and key determinants 27 2.9 A medium’s characteristics and key determinants 28 2.10 Knowledge worker’s characteristics and key determinants 31 3.1 Communication technology and centralization or decentralization 48 3.2 Process gains and losses in group decision-making 64 3.3 Communication technology and influence in decision-making 65 3.4 Managers’criteria for centralization versus decentralization 75 3.5 The potential of group support systems (GSS) 78 4.1 Match between learning processes,learning situation and media choice 97 4.2 Enabling and constraining forces for communication- technology-based-learning 105 5.1 Computer world index – measure of information- technology effectiveness 119 5.2 An example of potential communication technology ratios 120 5.3 Cost–benefit factors 122 5.4 Measure of user satisfaction 128 5.5 Usage measures in communication technology 130 5.6 Impact factors 132 5.7 Conditional communication technology success measures 135 A.2.1 Types of uncertainty 154 A.2.2 Types of ambiguity 154 A.3.1 The impact of communication technology on organizational design dimensions in Nepalese organizations 156 A.3.2 The impact of communication technology on organizational design dimensions in Thai organizations 157 vii viii List of Tables A.3.3 The impact of communication technology on organizational design dimensions in Singaporean organizations 158 A.4.1 Determinants of communication technology usage 159 A.4.2 Companies in the study 160 A.4.3 Hardware and software configuration 160 A.4.4 Networking and database systems implementation 161 List of Figures 1.1 The distinction between ‘old’and ‘new’communication media 6 1.2 Hierarchical relationship between terms 7 1.3 Perspectives of communication technology use in organizations 13 2.1 Conceptual model of media choice 32 2.2 Media selection based on media richness evaluation 36 2.3 Task closure scale 37 3.1 Organizational information-processing 42 3.2 Vertical information-processing perspective 44 3.3 Horizontal information-processing perspective 56 3.4 The impact of electronic communication on the exchange of information 59 3.5 Types of decision-making situations 60 3.6 Phases of communication technology penetration 69 3.7 Communication technology transformation of organizations 71 4.1 Organizational learning processes 82 4.2 The trade-off between media richness and media scope 86 4.3 Media choice determinants 87 4.4 Information acquisition and media choice 89 4.5 Information distribution and media high in scope 91 4.6 Information interpretation and rich media 93 4.7 Information storage and media choice 96 4.8 Communication technology potential in knowledge development 112 5.1 Theoretical framework for analyzing communication technology success 118 5.2 Chain of communication technology measures 133 5.3 Types of user involvement in communication technology implementation 137 6.1 The introduction of communication technology 144 6.2 Communication technology choices by knowledge workers 146 6.3 Dynamic model of communication technology and organizations 148 ix