This study explored managerial media selection and information evaluation in decisionmaking contexts. Expanding this line of research, this study focused on the perspective of managers when they receive and/or seek information rather than send it across organizations in the oil and gas industry. Findings from 69 interviews indicate that managers (a) prefer to receive trade, product, and service information through multiple media; (b) perceive information received via multiple media to be comprehensible, credible, and relevant to their tasks; but (c) use rich media to seek additional information. Furthermore, managers prefer to use rich media to monitor informational environments when they need information more closely related to issues in their urgent decision-making tasks.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Adams, J. S. (1976). The structure and dynamics of behavior in organizational boundary roles. In M. D. Dunnette (Ed.), Handbook of industrial and organizational psychology (pp. 1175-1199). Chicago: Rand McNally.
2.
Adams, J. S. (1980). Interorganizational processes and organizational boundary activities. In B. M. Staw & L. L. Cummings (Eds.), Research in organizational behavior (Vol. 2, pp. 321-355). Greenwich, CT: JAI.
3.
Adler, R. B. , & Elmhorst, J. M. (1996). Communicating at work: Principles and practices for business and the professions (5th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.
4.
Alexander, E. R. , Penley, L. E., & Jernigan, I. E. (1991). The effect of individual differences on managerial media choice. Management Communication Quarterly, 5, 155-173.
5.
Daft, R. L. , & Lengel, R. H. (1984). Information richness: A new approach to manager information processing and organization design. In B. M. Staw & L. L. Cummings (Eds.), Research in organizational behavior (Vol. 6, pp. 193-233). Greenwich, CT: JAI.
6.
Daft, R. L. , & Lengel, R. H. (1986). Organizational information requirements, media richness, and structural design. Management Science, 32, 554-571.
7.
Daft, R. L. , Lengel, R. H., & Trevino, L. K. (1987). Message equivocality, media selection, and manager performance: Implications for information systems. MIS Quarterly, 11, 353-364.
8.
Daft, R. L. , & Wiginton, J. C. (1979). Language and organization. Academy of Management Review, 4, 179-191.
9.
Dobos, J. (1992). Gratification models of satisfaction and choice of communication channels in organizations. Communication Research, 19, 29-51.
10.
Donabedian, B. , McKinnon, S. M., & Bruns, W. J., Jr. (1998). Task characteristics, managerial socialization, and media selection. Management Communication Quarterly, 11, 372-400.
11.
Downs, A. (1967). Inside bureaucracy. Boston: Little, Brown.
12.
Duncan, R. B. (1972). Characteristics of organizational environments and perceived environmental uncertainty. Administrative Science Quarterly, 14, 313-327.
13.
Eisenberg, E. M. , Farace, R. V., Monge, P. R., Bettinghaus, E. P., Kurchner-Hawkins, R., Miller, K., & Rothman, L. (1985). Communication linkages in interorganizational systems. In B. Derrin & M. Voigt (Eds.), Progress in communication sciences (Vol. 6, pp. 231-261). New York: Ablex.
14.
Fichman, M. , & Goodman, P. (1996). Customer-supplier ties in interorganizational relations. In B. M. Staw & L. L. Cummings (Eds.), Research in organizational behavior (Vol. 18, pp. 285-329). Greenwich, CT: JAI.
15.
Fleiss, J. L. (1971). Measuring nominal scale agreement among many raters. Psychological Bulletin, 76, 378-382.
16.
Fulk, J. (1993). Social construction of communication technology. Academy of Management, 36, 921-950.
17.
Fulk, J. , Schmitz, J., & Ryu, D. (1995). Cognitive elements in the social construction of communication technology. Management Communication Quarterly, 8, 259-288.
18.
Fulk, J. , Schmitz, J., & Steinfield, C. W. (1990). A social influence model of technology use. In J. Fulk & C. W. Steinfield (Eds.), Organizations and communication technology (pp. 117-140). Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
19.
Fulk, J. , Steinfield, C. W., Schmitz, J., & Power, J. G. (1987). A social information processing model of media use in organizations. Communication Research, 14, 529-552.
20.
Glaser, B. , & Strauss, A. (1967). The discovery of grounded theory. Chicago: Aldine.
21.
Holland, W. E. , Stead, B. A., & Leibrock, R. C. (1976). Information channel/source selection as a correlate of technical uncertainty in a research and development organization. IEEE Transactions and Engineering Management, 23, 163-167.
22.
Huber, G. P. , & Daft, R. L. (1987). The information environments of organizations. In F. M. Jablin, L. L. Putnam, K. H. Roberts, & L. W. Porter. (Eds.), Handbook of organizational communication: An interdisciplinary perspective (pp. 130-164). Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
23.
John, G. , & Martin, J. (1984). Effects of organizational structure of marketing planning on credibility and utilization of plan output. Journal of Marketing Research, 21, 170-183.
24.
Katz, D. , & Kahn, R. (1978). The social psychology of organizations (2nd ed.). New York: John Wiley.
25.
Kotter, J. (1982). The general managers. New York: Free Press.
26.
Krippendorff, K. (1980). Content analysis: An introduction to its methodology. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
27.
Kurke, L. B. , & Aldrich, H. E. (1983). Mintzberg was right! A replication and extension of The Nature of Managerial Work. Management Science, 29, 975-984.
28.
Lengel, R. H. , & Daft, R. L. (1988). The selection of communication media as an executive skill. Academy of Management Executive, 11, 225-232.
29.
McKinnon, S. , & Bruns, W., Jr. (1992). The information mosaic: How managers get the information they really need. Boston: Harvard Business School Press.
30.
Mintzberg, H. (1973). The nature of managerial work. New York: Harper & Row.
31.
Mintzberg, H. (1975). The manager’s job: Folklore and fact. Harvard Business Review, 53, 49-61.
32.
Moenaert, R. K. , & Souder, W. E. (1990). Analysis of the use of extrafunctional information by R&D and marketing personnel: Review and model. Journal of Product Innovation Management, 7, 213-219.
33.
O’Keefe, D. J. (1990). Persuasion: Theory and research. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
34.
Petty, R. E. , & Cacioppo, J. (1986). Communication and persuasion: Central and peripheral routes to attitude change. New York: Springer-Verlag.
35.
Porter, L. W. , & Roberts, K. H. (1983). Communication in organizations. In M. D. Dunnette (Ed.), Handbook of industrial and organizational psychology (pp. 1553-1589). New York: John Wiley.
36.
Rice, R. E. , D’Ambra, J., & More, E. (1998). Cross-cultural comparison of organizational media evaluation and choice. Journal of Communication, 48(3), 3-26.
37.
Rice, R. E. , & Shook, D. (1990). Relationships of job categories and organizational levels to use of communication channels, including electronic mail: A meta-analysis and extension. Journal of Management Studies, 27, 195-229.
38.
Russ, G. S. , Daft, R. L., & Lengel, R. H. (1990). Media selection and managerial characteristics in organizational communication. Management Communication Quarterly, 4, 151-175.
39.
Schmitz, J. , & Fulk, J. (1991). Organizational colleagues, media richness, and electronic mail: A test of the social influence model of technology use. Communication Research, 18, 487-523.
40.
Short, J. , Williams, E., & Christie, B. (1976). The social psychology of telecommunications. New York: John Wiley.
41.
Sitkin, S. B. , Sutcliffe, K. M., & Barrios-Choplin, J. R. (1992). A dual-capacity model of communication media choice in organizations. Human Communication Research, 18, 563-598.
42.
Spekman, R. E. , & Johnston, W. J. (1986). Relationship management: Managing the selling and the buying interface. Journal of Business Research, 14, 519-531.
43.
Steinfield, C. W. , & Fulk, J. (1986, August). Task demands and managers’use of communication media: An information processing view. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Academy of Management, Chicago.
44.
Stewart, C. J. , & Cash, W. B., Jr. (1997). Interviewing principles and practices (8th ed.). Madison, WI: Brown & Benchmark.
45.
Strauss, A. , & Corbin, J. (1990). Basics of qualitative research: Grounded theory procedures and techniques. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
46.
Trevino, L. K. , Daft, R. L., & Lengel, R. H. (1990). Understanding managers’media choices: A symbolic interactionist perspective. In J. Fulk & C. W. Steinfield (Eds.), Organizations and communication technology (pp. 71-94). Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
47.
Trevino, L. K. , Lengel, R. H., Bodensteiner, W., Gerloff, E. A., & Muir, N. K. (1990). The richness imperative and cognitive style: The role of individual differences in media choice behavior. Management Communication Quarterly, 4, 176-197.
48.
Trevino, L. K. , Lengel, R. H., & Daft, R. L. (1987). Media symbolism, media richness, and media choice in organizations. Communication Research, 14, 553-574.
49.
Weick, K. E. (1979). The social psychology of organizing (2nd ed.). New York: Random House.
50.
Whitfield, J. M. , Lamont, B. T., & Sambamurthy, V. (1996). The effects of organization design on media richness in multinational enterprises. Management Communication Quarterly, 10, 209-226.
51.
Wilton, P. C. , & Myers, J. G. (1986). Task, expectancy, and information assessment effects in information utilization processes. Journal of Consumer Research, 12, 469-486.
