Article Abstract:
In a review of electronic mail (EM), and how this communication technology affects the distribution of information within an organization, the fundamental qualities of electronic mail, and its implementations are described pointing out ways in which EM can reduce existing social context cues and the communication behavioral impact. Two divisions of a Fortune 500 firm (the research and development division and the business products division) are used as subjects in an empirical field investigation of EM communication, using messages and questionnaires. The investigation reveals insights into EM's relationship to: uninhibited behavior, status equalization, and self-absorption. Results indicate that EM has a deregulating influence on communication, and much of the communicated data would not have been communicated with alternative communication media.
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Article Abstract:
The efficiency of creating theoretical models for the incorporation of two dissimilar kinds of innovations is discussed and tested, while focusing on the ability to predict a company's production process incorporating technological innovations with either high or low degrees of new knowledge. To test whether the correlates of the incorporation of incremental (low degree) versus radical (high degree) innovations are dissimilar, data were collected from a sample of 40 footwear manufacturers, variables were measured, and results were subjected to regression analysis. Predictions of incremental and radical innovation incorporations differed. Predictors of the incorporation of innovations included: organizational size, depth of knowledge resources, centralization, and complexity.
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Article Abstract:
The association between theoretical notions of risk and executives' beliefs is explored. Recent research on risk behavior and attitudes among managers is considered, relative to the idea of risk gained from theories of choice. Managers do take risks and show risk preferences, but factors behind these observable behaviors are shown to be removed from classical choice processes. Significant ways are identified in which notions of risk and risk-taking held by the managers result in risk orientations different than those which might be expected under decision theory. Managers are shown to be insensitive to guesses of probabilities of outcomes, and the decisions they make are especially influenced by the manner in which their attention is focused on important performance targets.
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