Communicating negative information to subordinates is one of the more discomforting managerial responsibilities. Yet managers frequently have to make tough decisions which sometimes result in unfavorable outcomes for subordinates. Managers may be lured into using electronic media to distance themselves from the victim(s) of the bad news. A consequence of this choice may be more negative employee reactions than is necessary. We present four considerations balancing efficiency of communication with sensitivity to the impact, increasing employee acceptance of undesired outcomes.
Ball, G. A., Trevino, L. K.,& Sims, H. P., Jr. (1993). Justice and organizational punishment: Attitudinal outcomes of disciplinary events. Social Justice Research, 6, 39-67.
2.
Bies, R. J. (1987). The predicament of injustice: The management of moral outrage. In L. L. Cummings & B. M. Straw (Eds.), Research in organizational behavior(Vol. 9, pp. 289-319). Greenwich, CT: JAI Press.
3.
Bies, R. J., & Moag, J. S. (1986). Interactional justice: Communication criteria of fairness. In R. J. Lewicki, B. H. Sheppard,& B. H. Bazerman (Eds.), Research on negotiation in organizations(Vol. 1, pp. 43-55). Greenwich, CT: JAI Press.
4.
Bies, R. J.,& Shapiro, D. L. (1987). Voice and justification: Their influence on procedural fairness judgments. Academy of Management Journal, 31, 676-685.
5.
Bobocel, D. R.,& Farrell, A. C. (1996). Sex-based promotion decisions and interactional fairness: Investigating the influence of managerial accounts. Journal of Applied Psychology, 81, 22-35.
6.
Bond, C., & Anderson, E. (1987). Reluctance to transmit bad news—Private discomfort or public display. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 23, 176-187.
7.
Brockner, J. (1994). Perceived fairness and survivors' reactions to layoffs, or how downsizing organizations can do well by doing good. Social Justice Research, 7, 345-364.
8.
Brockner, J., DeWitt, R. L., Grover, S., & Reed, T. (1990). When it is especially important to explain why: Factors affecting the relationship between managers' explanations of a layoff and survivors' reactions to the layoff. Journal of Experimental and Social Psychology, 26, 389-407.
9.
Chaiken, S., & Eagly, A. H. (1976). Communication modality as a determinant of message persuasiveness and message comprehensibility. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 34, 605-614.
10.
Cohen, A.,& Thomas, C. B. (2001, April 16). An up-close look at howone company handles the delicate task of downsizing. Time, 38-40.
11.
Colquitt, J. A. (2001). On the dimensionality of organizational justice: A construct validation of a measure. Journal of Applied Psychology, 86, 386-400.
12.
Colquitt, J. A., Conlon, D. E., Wesson, M. J., Porter, C. O.,& Ng, K. Y. (2001). Justice at the millennium: A meta-analytic review of 25 years of organizational justice research. Journal of Applied Psychology, 86, 425-445.
13.
Cropanzano, R.,& Greenberg, J. (1997). Progress in organizational justice: Tunneling through the maze. In C. L. Cooper& I. T. Robertson (Eds.), International review of industrial and organizational psychology 1997(Vol. 12, pp. 317-372). Chichester, UK: John Wiley.
14.
Daft, R. L., & Lengel, R. H. (1984). Information richness: A new approach to managerial behavior and organizational design. Research in Organizational Behavior, 6, 191-233.
15.
Darley, J. M.,& Pittman, T. S. (2003). The psychology of compensatory and retributive justice. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 7, 324-336.
16.
DeTienne, K. B. (2002). Guide to electronic communication: Using technology for effective business writing and speaking. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
17.
Fisher, C. D. (1979). Transmission of positive and negative feedback to subordinates: Alaboratory investigation. Journal of Applied Psychology, 64, 533-540.
18.
Folger, R., & Cropanzano, R. (1998). Organizational justice and human resource management. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
19.
Folger, R., & Skarlicki, D. P. (2001). Fairness as a dependent variable: Why tough times can lead to bad management. In R. Copanzano (Ed.), Justice in the workplace: From theory to practice(pp. 97-118). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
20.
Fulk, J., & Mani, S. (1986). Distortion of communication in hierarchical relationships. In M. McLaughlin (Ed.), Communication yearbook 9(pp. 483-510). Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
21.
Greenberg, J. (1987). A taxonomy of organizational justice theories. Academy of Management Review, 12, 9-22.
22.
Greenberg, J. (1990). Employee theft as a reaction to underpayment inequity: The hidden cost of paycuts. Journal of Applied Psychology, 75, 561-568.
23.
Konovsky, M. A., & Folger, R. (1991). The effects of procedures, social accounts, and benefits level on victims' layoff reactions. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 21, 630-650.
24.
Latané, B. (1981). The psychology of social impact. American Psychologist, 36, 343-356.
25.
Latané, B. (1996). Dynamic social impact: The creation of culture by communication. Journal of Communication, 46 (4), 13-25.
26.
Lave, J.,& Wenger, E. (1991). Situated learning: Legitimate peripheral participation. New York: Cambridge University Press.
27.
Lengel, R. H., & Daft, R. L. (1988). The selection of communication media as an executive skill. The Academy of Management Executive, 2, 225-232.
28.
Lewis, P. (1987). Organizational communication: The essence of effective management. New York: John Wiley.
29.
Molinsky, A., & Margolis, J. (2005). Necessary evils and interpersonal sensitivity in organizations. Academy of Management Review, 30, 245-268.
30.
Munter, M. (2000). Guide to managerial communication: Effective business writing and speaking(5th ed.). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
31.
Rice, R. E. (1992). Task analyzability, use of new media, and effectiveness: A multi-site exploration of media richness. Organizational Science, 3, 475-500.
32.
Rice, R. E. (1993). Media appropriateness: Using social presence theory to compare traditional and new organizational media. Human Communication Research, 19, 451-484.
33.
Rosen, S., Grandison, R., & Stewart, J. (1974). Failures in upward communication: Three possible culprits. Academy of Management Journal, 17, 205-215.
34.
Sedikides, C., & Jackson, J. M. (1990). Social impact theory: A field test of source strength, source immediacy and number of targets. Basic and Applied Social Psychology, 11, 273-281.
35.
Shapiro, D. L., Buttner, E. H., & Barry, B. (1994). Explanations: What factors enhance their perceived adequacy?Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 58, 346-368.
36.
Shaw, J. C., Wild, E.,& Colquitt, J. A. (2003). To justify or excuse? Ameta-analytic reviewof the effects of explanations. Journal of Applied Psychology, 88, 444-458.
37.
Sitkin, S. B., Sutcliffe, K. M.,& Barrios-Choplin, J. R. (1992). Adual-capacity model of communication media choice in organizations. Human Communication Research, 18, 563-598.
38.
Skarlicki, D. P., Ellard, J. H., & Kelln, B.R.C. (1998). Third-party perceptions of a layoff: Procedural, derogation, and retributive aspects of justice. Journal of Applied Psychology, 83, 119-127.
39.
Skarlicki, D. P., & Folger, R. (1997). Retaliation in the workplace: The roles of distributive, procedural, and interactional justice. Journal of Applied Psychology, 82, 434-443.
40.
Skarlicki, D. P., Folger, R.,& Gee, J. (2004). When social accounts backfire: The exacerbating effects of a polite message or an apology on reactions to an unfair outcome. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 34, 322-341.
41.
Tesser, A., & Rosen, S. (1975). The reluctance to transmit bad news. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 8, 193-232.
42.
Timmerman, P. D. (2001). The impact of communication medium and outcome severity on the effectiveness of social accounts. Unpublished master's thesis, University of Nebraska at Omaha.
43.
Trevino, L. K., Lengel, R. H.,& Daft, R. L. (1987). Media symbolism, media richness, and media choice in organizations. Communication Research, 14, 553-574.
44.
Tripp, T. M., Bies, R. J.,& Aquino, K. (2002). Poetic justice or petty jealousy? The aesthetics of revenge. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 89, 966-984.
45.
Tyler, T. R., & Bies, R. J. (1990). Beyond formal procedures: The interpersonal context of procedural justice. In J. S. Carroll (Ed.), Applied social psychology and organizational settings (pp. 77-98). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
46.
Wanberg, C. R., Bunce, L. W., & Gavin, M. B. (1999). Perceived fairness of layoffs among individuals who have been laid off: A longitudinal study. Personnel Psychology, 52, 59-84.
47.
Williams, K. D., & Williams, K. B. (1989). Impact of source strength on two compliance techniques. Basic and Applied Social Psychology, 10, 149-159.
