| The purpose of this study is to investigate why some work groups use computer-mediated communication and some work groups do not. A logical theory to explore these phenomena is information processing theory. Computers have altered many aspects of organizations, including task structure. Information processing theory posits that structural variables like job tasks are related to organizational information technology (Galbraith, 1977).;I predicted that the application of computer-mediated communication in the work group would be correlated with job tasks. A job task is defined as a specific contextual characteristic of work duties, for example task routineness. Computer-mediated communication refers to the exchange of facts or information through a computer-based media (Rice, 1987). The work group level was selected for analysis for conceptual and data collection reasons. The job tasks explored in this study are task analyzability, task routineness, skill variety, task significance, computer-related autonomy, and computer-related feedback. The characteristics of computer-mediated communication investigated in this study include intracompany and extracompany communication, communication network connectivity, whether or not management receives communication feedback, social-related communication use, work-related communication use, and satisfaction with communication. All 89 work groups included in this research study were located in the Los Angeles, California area and 623 employees from these work groups completed questionnaires.;Major findings from this study are that many work groups do not use computer-mediated communication, but are satisfied with their low level of computer-mediated communication capabilities. Work groups are more likely to communicate for work reasons by computer than for social reasons. Results from this study demonstrate that computer-mediated communication varies with job tasks. Thus, work groups should consider their job tasks when implementing computer-mediated communication systems. This study also indicates the computer-mediated communication is related to organization size, structure, employee characteristics, and other variables. |
