A qualitative study and model of the use of e‐mail in organisations

Abstract

A huge upsurge in the growth of e‐mail is expected but there has been relatively little published advice on how to take a corporate view of electronic mail, despite demonstration of its operational benefits and of the consequences of its misuse in economic, human and lately in legal terms. This article contributes to formation of such advice. Employing a mix of questionnaire and interview methods, a set of disparate organisations was studied – a global financial services company, an upmarket hotel group, a well‐established mobile‐telecommunications company, and three universities. The results were used to devise a multi‐dimensional “positioning” model, for practical use by managers to understand their organisations’ present use of e‐mail on four dimensions: information management, people influences, corporate culture, and knowledge management. Shows how an organisation can find/change its present position on the model.

Employee Engagement and Internal Communication : A United Arab Emirates Study

“…Non-verbal cues are a key way to determine the affective aspects of a message (Alder & Elmhorst, 2008). Stevens and McElhill (2000) stated, "written communication is not the best medium for transmitting messages in every situation and it is often not the best way to motivate employees. Yet email is often employed as if it was the most effective medium for every occasion as though it should automatically motivate and engage employees" (n.p).…”

What has the internet ever done for employees? A review, map and research agenda

“…It clearly demonstrates, for example, that the internet allows the employee flexibility in terms of where work can be done and the chance to more readily access information about job opportunities. Examples of what employees can expect to achieve from using the internet include a contemporary means to interact and keep in contact with colleagues (Bentley and Yoong, 2000), access, often on a remote basis, vital resources and knowledge systems for job purposes (Applebee et al , 2000; Ruggeri Stevens and McElhill, 2000; Breure and van Meel, 2003), take part in distance learning programmes (Homitz and Berge, 2008), and, find a job and seek out career‐related information (Miller and McDaniels, 2001; Fountain, 2005; Jansen et al , 2005; Hagglund, 2006). It would seem, therefore, that employee application of the internet is understood in this domain in two particular ways.…”

“…Indeed, Fountain (2005) believes a key problem with early internet‐based job search is that there was too much labour market information available via this medium of communication, and even when good information could be found, there were serious difficulties associated with evaluating such information. Further downsides to the early internet include information overload caused by excessive quantities of information (Ruggeri Stevens and McElhill, 2000) and that the idea of nomadic working is typically overly romanticised, with the office being the employees' preference to get work done (Bentley and Yoong, 2000; Breure and van Meel, 2003). What is more, there is a subjective side to employee application of the internet.…”

Dissent, Protest and Transformative Action

“…Laboratory-like experiments and mass surveys dominate the literature on e-mail studies. As a result, there has been relatively little published advice on how to take an organisational view of e-mail systems (Ruggeri Stevens & McElhill, 2000). As a result, Weber (2004) believes that we still have "human, technological, and organisational problems to solve" in relation to e-mail systems and calls for "better ways of managing e-mail and assisting users to deal with the problems it poses.…”