Affiliations: Eberhardt School of Business, University of the Pacific, 3601 Pacific Avenue, Stockton, CA 95211, USA Tel.: +1 209 946 2634; E-mail: [email protected]
Abstract: The impact of computer-mediated communication (CMC) on organizational cultures and users has been the focus of many previous studies. In their attempts to explain the effects of CMC in organizational communications, particularly the effects of e-mail, information systems researchers have tested theories that originated in a number of disciplines. Among the effects of CMC, one potentially important issue is the relationship between subordinates and their supervisors. This study empirically examines the impact of e-mail usage on the quality of these exchanges, and attempts to measure the resulting depth of the interpersonal relationships established between knowledge workers and their immediate superiors. The results show that among several usage factors investigated, e-mail communication frequency has a more direct correlation to exchange quality than other factors, among them communication richness, which did not have significant correlation. A path diagram was developed to illustrate the relationships of the variables.
