This review assesses the adequacy of several commonly employed cognitive complexity measures on the basis of five criteria: high test-retest reliability with adults, association with chronological age across childhood and adolescence, independence from intelligence and verbal abilities, association with other indices of developed social cognition, and association with measures of developed communicative functioning. Extant research indicates that only one complexity measure-Crockett's Role Category Questionnaire-is satisfactory on all these criteria, whereas Bieri's widely used measure is deficient on most. However, research to date concerning the relationship of cognitive complexity (as assessed by Crockett's measure) to communication has failed to illuminate the specific role played by complexity as opposed to other social-cognitive factors with which it is associated.Cognitive complexity, a variable that describes persons' social-cognitive systems, has been argued to be an important determinant of sophisticated interpersonal functioning. However, research on cognitive complexity is clouded by the existence of a large number of different assessment procedures, and it is not clear which (if any) of these instruments are adequate indices of cognitive complexity. Moreover, there is at present no comprehensive and current review that assesses alternative measures of cognitive complexity and explores their relationships to communication-relevant functioning.In this review we sketch personal construct theory and explicate the general concept of cognitive complexity, describe alternative complexity measures and their interrelationships, and review research relevant to the evaluation of existing complexity instruments. On the basis of that review we then discuss the status of cognitive complexity as a

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Abstract:This study examined the influence of sources of information on end users' decision to adopt an innovation. The study used an on-line survey to collect data regarding respondents' perceptions of structured implementation activities and other sources of influence on their reported adoption of Microsoft Outlook at a large, Midwestern university. The research questions were based on Rogers' model of the diffusion of innovations, and the work of Fulk, Lewis and Seibold, and Weenig on the influences of information sources on adoption of innovations. Results showed that respondents who were exposed to information from informal channels and structured implementation activities (e.g., informational meetings conducted at the unit level) were significantly different from those who received no information through these channels. Perceptions of quantity or quality of information received through informal and official channels were not significantly correlated with adoption. The results indicate that the implementation of Outlook was not viewed as a major event in the life of the organization, and suggest that diffusion of technological innovations may be different from diffusion on non-technological innovations. RATIONALEThe purpose of this study was to investigate the diffusion of an innovation within an organization. Specifically, the research focuses on the communication campaign developed to persuade administrators, faculty, staff, and students at a large Midwestern university to adopt a new communication technology. The technology investigated in this study is the groupware product, Microsoft Outlook. As groupware products offer their

The study of organizations has been dominated since its inception by the conceptualization of organizations as goal-attaining entities. However, the degree to which goals are consensually shared and the manner in which organizational goals are communicated remain largely unexplored. Moreover, the relationship between shared goals and organizational outcomes remains unclear. The purpose of this study was twofold. First, this study examined the relationship between shared goals and the manner in which members learn the organization's goals. Second, the relationship between shared goals and organizational outcomes was examined. The study results suggest that the degree to which goals are shared is independent of any single method of communicating goals. Additionally, although perceptions of shared goals were found to be significantly related to important organizational outcome, the extent to which organization members can articulate the shared goals was not significantly related to the organizational outcomes examined in this study.