Communication Research

This article proposes a “critical mass” explanation for the diffusion of interactive media, such as telephone, paper mail systems, electronic mail, voice messaging, or computer conferencing, within communities. Interactive media have two characteristics not shared by many other innovations. First, widespread usage creates universal access, a public good that individuals cannot be prevented from enjoying even if they have not contributed to it. Second, use of interactive media entails reciprocal interdependence, in which earlier users are influenced by later users as well as vice versa. Consequently, interactive media are extremely vulnerable to start-up problems and discontinuance. Traditional explanations of diffusion of innovations do not accommodate these two properties of interactive media. The influence of these two properties on the probability and extent of interactive media diffusion within communities is the focus of the critical mass theory developed in this article.

Organizational members routinely have access to information that may benefit other employees and that may be shared through new information technologies. This discretionary information can be viewed as having the properties of a public good, enabling the development of a number of powerful propositions from a few simple assumptions. Generally, discretionary information will be undersupplied. A conceptual framework is developed to propose that reduced contribution rates occur in the following situations: a) greater contribution costs, b) larger groups of participants, c) lower values of information to participants, and d) greater asymmetries in information value and benefits across participants. A series of experiments are reported that provide preliminary support for these expectations. The paper concludes with suggestions for future research.

This article presents a model of how social influence processes affect individuals' attitudes toward communication media and media use behavior. The model integrates two areas of research. One body of work posits that media use patterns are the outcome of objectively rational choices. These choices involve evaluating communication options and selecting an appropriate medium to match the communication requirements of the task. The second perspective is social information processing theory (Salancik & Pfeffer, 1978). This approach proposes that attitudes and behaviors are partially determined by information embedded in the social context. The synthesis of these perspectives asserts that media characteristics and attitudes are in part socially constructed. Furthermore, attitudes are influenced by attributions based on observations of one's own past behavior. This model is shown to explain a wider range of existing empirical findings. Also, new propositions are derived to guide future research. This social construction model of media use has significant implications for the design, conduct, and reporting of future research in organizations.

Symbolic interactionism is presented as a theoretical approach for understanding media choice processes during managerial communications. In an exploratory study, 65 managers from 11 organizations were interviewed about communication incidents involving face-to-face, telephone, electronic mail, and written media. Managers were asked the reasons they chose the particular medium. A content analysis of the reasons suggests that three factors influenced managers' media choices: (a) ambiguity of the message content and richness of the communication medium, (b) symbolic cues provided by the medium, and (c) situational determinants such as time and distance. The findings also indicated the diversity of media use in management communications, with face-to-face selected primarily for content and symbolic reasons, whereas telephone and electronic mail typically were chosen because of situational constraints.

The article presents a conceptual model that hypothesizes how information technologies may assist in accomplishing two key functions of communication in research and development. The first function is to provide state-of-the-art information on the organizational technologies that are employed. This function is typically carried out via a functional organization structure, which groups together individuals with similar technical specialties. The second function is to accomplish coordination across technical specialties applied to the same task or project. This is typically accomplished by a project form of organization, which groups together individuals working on the same task. The cost of selecting one structure is the loss of the advantages of the other. Information technologies, such as electronic mail, computer conferencing, bulletin boards, and document search and retrieval systems, may be employed to augment the chosen structure and compensate to some degree for its limitations.

Organizations are becoming increasingly complex as a response to diverse environmental demands. The costs are high, in terms of managerial layers, administrative overhead, formal procedures and controls, and impersonal paper. This article describes how information technology can be employed to simplify organizations and reverse this trend. The article also describes the federated organizational structure, which is analogous to the United States. A key feature is that telecommunications can be employed to permit simultaneous centralization-with-decentralization. This permits organizations to reap the benefits of both organizational forms. The article concludes with suggestions for research on organizational pressures and the potential contribution of telecommunications in helping organizations cope with these pressures.