Access to, usage of, and outcomes from an electronic messaging system

ABSTRACT

This study examines relationships among perceived accessibility to an electronic messaging system (EMS), computer-monitored and reported usage of the system by approximately 100 employees of one division of an aerospace firm, user's job type, perceived appropriateness of the EMS, and reported outcomes such as changes in effectiveness and use of paper-based media. Greater accessibility resulted in more usage and reported increases in effectiveness. Physical distance to a terminal affects the associations of other aspects of accessibility with usage and has a greater influence on these associations earlier in one's adoption process. Differences in job type showed statistically significant associations with usage, independent of the influence of accessibility. Computer-monitored and reported usage measures were only moderately correlated and were differentially associated with the access measures and with the two outcomes. The article ends by discussing implications for implementation and evaluation of computer-based communication systems, theories of media characteristics and information value, and methodological issues in using computer-monitored usage data.

REFERENCES

• 1: ALLEN, T. Managing the Flow of Technology. MIT Press, Cambridge, Mass., 1977.
• 2: ALLEN, T., AND COHEN, S. Information flow in research and development laboratories. Admin. Sci. Q. 14, 1 (1969), 12-19.
• 3: ALLEN, T., AND GERSTBERGER, P. Communication in the R&D lab. Technol. Rev. 70 (1967), 31-37.
• 4: BARNETT, G., AND RICE, R.E. Longitudinal non-euclidean networks: Applying Galileo. Social Networks 7, 4 (1985), 287-322.
• 5: BERGER, C., AND ROLOFF, M. Social cognition, self-awareness and interpersonal communication. In Progress in Communication Sciences, Vol. 2, B. Dervin and M. Voigt, Eds. Ablex, Norwood, N.J., 1980, pp. 2-49.
• 6: BERNARD, H., KILLWORTH, P., AND SAILER, L. Informant accuracy in social network data V. Social Science Research 11 (1982), 30-66.
• 7: BERNARD, H., KILLWORTH, P., KRONENFELD, D., AND SAILER, L. The problem of informant accuracy: The validity of retrospective data. Ann. Rev. of Anthropology 13 (1984), 495-517.
• 8: CHAKRABARTI, A., FEINEMAN, S., AND FUENTEVILLA, W. Characteristics of sources, channels and contents for scientific and technical information systems in industrial RandD. IEEE Engineering Management 30 (1983), 83-89.
• 9: COLEMAN, J., KATZ, E., AND MENZEL, H. Medical Innovation: A Diffusion Study. Bobbs- Merrill, New York, 1966.
• 10: Mary J. Culnan, The dimensions of accessibility to online information: implications for implementing office information systems, ACM Transactions on Information Systems (TOIS), v.2 n.2, p.141-150, April 1984 [doi>10.1145/521.523]
• 11: Mary J Culnan, The dimensions of perceived accessibility to information: Implications for the delivery if information systems and services, Journal of the American Society for Information Science, v.36 n.5, p.302-308, Sept. 1985 [doi>10.1002/asi.4630360504]
• 12: DAFT, R., AND LENGEL, R. Information richness: A new approach to managerial behavior and organization design. Research in Organizational Behavior 6 (1984), 191-233.
• 13: DEWHIRST, H. 1971. Influence of perceived information-sharing norms on communication channel utilization. Academy of Management Journal (Sept. 1971), 305-315.
• 14: ETTEMA, J. 1985. Explaining information system use with system-monitored vs. self-reported use measures. Public Opinion Quarterly 49 (1985), 381-387.
• 15: J. D. Eveland , T. K. Bikson, Evolving electronic communications network: an empirical assessment, Office Technology and People, v.3 n.2, p.103-128, August 1, 1987 [doi>10.1108/eb022644]
• 16: GERSTBERGER, P., AND ALLEN, T. Criteria used by research and development engineers in the selection of an information source. J. Appl. Psychol. 52 (1968), 272-277.
• 17: GRANOVETTER, M. The strength of weak ties: A network theory revisited. In Social Structure and Network Analysis, P. Marsden and N. Lin, Eds. Sage, Beverly Hills, Calif. 1982, pp. 105- 130.
• 18: HALL, K. The economic nature of information. Inf. Soc. 1, 2 (1981), 143-166.
• 19: HARDY, A. The selection of channels when seeking information: Cost/benefit vs. least-effort. Inf. Process. Manage. 18, 6 (1982), 289-293.
• 20: Starr R. Hiltz, Online communities, Ablex Publishing Corp., Norwood, NJ, 1984
• 21: Starr Roxanne Hiltz , Murray Turoff, The network nation: human communication via computer, MIT Press, Cambridge, MA, 1993
• 22: Starr Roxanne Hiltz , Murray Turoff, The evolution of user behavior in a computerized conferencing system, Communications of the ACM, v.24 n.11, p.739-751, Nov. 1981 [doi>10.1145/358790.358794]
• 23: HUBER, G. The nature and design of post-industrial organizations. Manage. Sci. 30, 8 (1984), 928-951.
• 24: Robert Johansen , Jacques Vallee , Kathleen Spangler, Electronic Meetings: Technical Alternatives, Addison-Wesley Longman Publishing Co., Inc., Boston, MA, 1979
• 25: Elaine B. Kerr , Starr Roxanne Hiltz, Computer-Mediated Communication Systems: Status and Evaluation, Academic Press, Inc., Orlando, FL, 1982
• 26: Henry C. Lucas, Implementation: The Key to Successful Information Systems, Columbia University Press, New York, NY, 1981
• 27: George G. Manross , Ronald E. Rice, Don't hang up: organizational diffusion of the intelligent telephone, Information and Management, v.10 n.3, p.161-175, March 1986 [doi>10.1016/0378-7206(86)90025-X]
• 28: MARKUS, M.L. Toward a "critical mass" theory of interactive media: Universal access, interdependence and diffusion. Commun. Res. 14, 5 (1987), 491-511.
• 29: MARKUS, M. L. Chargeback as an implementation tactic for office communication systems. Interfaces 17, 3, 54-63.
• 30: N. Dean Meyer , Mary E. Boone, Information Edge, McGraw-Hill, Inc., New York, NY, 1989
• 31: Margrethe H. Olson , Henry C. Lucas, Jr., The impact of office automation on the organization: some implications for research and practice, Communications of the ACM, v.25 n.11, p.838-847, Nov 1982 [doi>10.1145/358690.358720]
• 32: O'REILLY, C. Variation in decision makers' use of information sources: The impact of quality and accessibility of information. Academy of Management Journal 25, 4 (1982), 756-771.
• 33: PANKO, R. The cost of EMS. Computer Networks 5 (1981), 35-46.
• 34: PANKO, R., AND PANKO, R. A survey of EMS users at DARCOM. Computer Networks 5 (1981), 19-34.
• 35: RICE, R.E. The impacts of computer-mediated organizational and interpersonal communication. In Annual Review of Information Science and Technology, Vol. 15, M. Williams, Ed. Knowledge Industries Publishers, White Plains, N.Y., 1980, pp. 220-249.
• 36: RICE, R.E. Computer conferencing. In Progress in Communication Sciences, Vol. 2, B. Dervin and M. Voigt, Eds. Ablex, Norwood, N.J., 1980, pp. 215-240.
• 37: RICE, R.E. Communication networking in computer-conferencing systems: A longitudinal study of group roles and system structure. In Communication Yearbook 6, M. Burgoon, Ed. Sage, Beverly Hills, Calif., pp. 924-944.
• 38: RICE, R. E. Computer-mediated communication and organizational innovation. Journal of Communication 37, 4 (1987), 65-94.
• 39: RICE, R. E., AND PAISLEY, W. The Green Thumb videotex project: Evaluation and policy implications. Telecommunications Policy 6, 3 (1982), 223-236.
• 40: RICE, R. E., AND BORGMAN, C. The use of computer-monitored data in information science and communication research. J. Am. Soc. Inf. Sci. 34 (1983), 247-256.
• 41: RICE, R. E., AND CASE, D. Electronic messaging systems in the university: A description of use and utility. Journal of Communication 33, 1 (1983), 131-152.
• 42: RICE, R. E., AND Associates. The New Media: Communication, Research and Technology. Sage, Beverly Hills, Calif., 1984.
• 43: RICE, R. E., AND BArn, J. 1984. New organizational media and productivity. In R. E. Rice and Associates. The New Media: Communication, Research and Technology, R. E. Rice and Associates, Eds. Sage, Beverly Hills, Calif., 1984, pp. 185-216.
• 44: RICE, R. E., GRANT, A., SCHMITZ, J., AND TOROBIN, J. Critical mass and social influence: A network approach to predicting the adoption and outcomes of electronic messaging. Paper presented to the International Communication Association, New Orleans, May, 1988.
• 45: ROGERS, E.M. Diffusion of Innovations, 3rd ed. NY Free Press, New York, 1983.
• 46: ROSENBERG, V. Factors affecting industrial personnel for information gathering methods. In Storage and Retrieval 3 (1967), 119-127.
• 47: SHORT, J., WILLIAMS, E., AND CHRISTIE, B. The Social Psychology of Telecommunications. Wiley, New York, 1976.
• 48: SMITH, N., BIZOT, E., AND HILL, T. Use of electronic mail in a research and development organization. University of Tulsa School of Business, Tulsa, Okla., 1988.
• 49: SPROULL, L. Using electronic mail for data collection in organizational research. Academy of Management Journal 29, 1 (1986), 159-169.
• 50: STEINFIELD, C. Computer-mediated communication in an organizational setting: Explaining task-related and socio-emotional users. In Communication Yearbook 9, M. McLaughlin, Ed. Sage, Beverly Hills, Calif., 1985, pp. 777-804.
• 51: STRASSMAN, P. The Information Payoff: The Transformation of Work in the Electronic Age. Free Press, New York, 1985.
• 52: SVENNING, L., AND RUCHINSKAS, J. Organizational teleconferencing. In The New Media: Communication, Research and Technology, R. E. Rice and Associates, Eds. Sage, Beverly Hills, Calif., 1984, pp. 217-248.
• 53: SWANSON, E.B. Information channel disposition and use. Decision Sciences 18, 1 {1987), 132- 145.
• 54: UHLIG, R. Human factors in computer message systems. Datamation 23, 5 (1977), 120-126.
• 55: WILLIAMS, F., RICE, R. E., AND ROGERS, E.M. Research Methods and the New Media. Free Press, New York, 1988.

INDEX TERMS

Primary Classification:
  K. Computing Milieux
  K.6 MANAGEMENT OF COMPUTING AND INFORMATION SYSTEMS
      K.6.2 Installation Management
          Subjects: Performance and usage measurement

Additional Classification:
  C. Computer Systems Organization
  C.5 COMPUTER SYSTEM IMPLEMENTATION

  H. Information Systems
  H.4 INFORMATION SYSTEMS APPLICATIONS
      H.4.3 Communications Applications
          Subjects: Electronic mail

  K. Computing Milieux
  K.4 COMPUTERS AND SOCIETY
  K.6 MANAGEMENT OF COMPUTING AND INFORMATION SYSTEMS
      K.6.1 Project and People Management
          Subjects: Life cycle

General Terms:
Management, Measurement, Performance