Communication Activity as a Predictor of the Fit Between Worker Motivation and Worker Productivity

Lewis, Michael; Cummings, H. Wayland; Long, Larry W.

doi:10.1080/23808985.1981.11923859

Cited by 4 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 43 publications

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“…Effectiveness is judged in a variety of ways and the way communication (or almost any other variable) is linked to productivity is bound to vary. Indeed, these results support the conclusion of Lewis et al (1982) that organizational type moderates the link between communication and productivity. The communication consultant also should be aware that the different conceptions of productivity imply that one kind of training might work best in a service industry but be less useful in the manufacturing setting.…”

Section: Productivity Ratingssupporting

confidence: 82%

“…Lewis, Cummings, and Long (1982) found that through a concept of &dquo;groupness/organizationness&dquo; they could classify organizations and determine what types of communication roles were most associated with high levels of productivity. In particular, &dquo;'task communication' tended to be the primary predictor of productivity in the military sample, while 'person communication' tended to be the primary predictor of productivity in the church sample.…”

Section: Communication Satisfactionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Employee Perceptions of the Relationship Between Communication and Productivity: A Field Study

Clampitt

Downs

1993

Journal of Business Communication

243

171

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The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between communication and productivity. Specifically, we had two aims: (a) to determine employee perceptions of the impact of eight dimensions of communication satisfaction on productivity, and (b) to understand how the type of organization may moderate the link between communication and productivity. Two businesses, representative of service and manufacturing organizations, were investigated by administering the Communication Satisfaction Questionnaire and interviewing all employees. The results showed that communication was perceived to have an impact on productivity that varied in both kind and magnitude. Moreover, a number of intriguing differences emerged between these two companies. The findings suggest that the link between communication and productivity is more complex than previously assumed.

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Section: Productivity Ratingssupporting

confidence: 82%

Section: Communication Satisfactionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Employee Perceptions of the Relationship Between Communication and Productivity: A Field Study

Clampitt

Downs

1993

Journal of Business Communication

243

171

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…Research addressing indirect eff ects of communication on performance has been reported by Schuler and Blank (1976), Tubbs and Hain (1979), Huseman, Alexander, and Driver (1980) , and Lewis, Cummings, and Long (1982) . In some of this research, the terms "moderated" and "mediated" have been used interchangeably without stated defi nitions of their more precise meaning or any statistical evidence of the degree to which moderation or mediation occurred.…”

Section: Th E Role Of Communication In Public Administration Has Beenmentioning

confidence: 93%

Penetrating the Performance Predicament: Communication as a Mediator or Moderator of Organizational Culture’s Impact on Public Organizational Performance

Garnett

Marlowe

Pandey

2008

Public Administration Review

120

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Th e role of communication in public administration has been emphasized over time in public administration theory. Nonetheless, communication -with the exception of political communication -has been neglected in scholarship. Garnett's performance predicament posits the diffi culty of showing linkages between communication and performance. Th is paper explores the role that communication plays in achieving organizational performance through a review of research that bears on communication's direct and indirect infl uences on performance. Th e primary thrust is communication's indirect role in achieving performance by mediating or moderating the eff ects of organizational culture on performance, thereby adding another perspective on the cultureperformance relationship. Adapting the typology of Zammuto and Krakower, two types of organizational culture -rule-oriented culture and mission-oriented culture -are examined to explore how the relationship between organizational culture and organizational performance is infl uenced by communication. Th e analysis supports the claim that communication acts as a metamechanism for shaping and imparting culture in mission-oriented organizational cultures, thereby infl uencing performance. In particular, task orientation, feedback, and upward communication have positive eff ects on perceived organizational performance in mission-oriented organizations but potentially negative eff ects on performance in rule-oriented cultures. O ver the years, some public administration scholars and practitioners have paid attention to communication ( Downs Simon, Smithburg and Th ompson 1950 ). But for years, a mismatch has existed between the conventional wisdom that communication is the central management function most crucial to administrative success ( Barnard 1938 ; Garnett 2005 ; Lorch 1978 ) and the attention andrespect that communication has received within the public administration community in terms of scholarship and teaching. A major reason for this "respect gap" is inadequate research evidence linking communication with performance. Th is gap is partly attributable to what Garnett calls the performance predicament: "Th e costs of government communication are generally easier to measure than are its benefi ts, making it diffi cult to demonstrate a favorable performance ratio" ( 1997b , 10). Because of the diffi culty of measuring communication performance, researchers have been reluctant to tackle it head on, instead researching communication media, processes, and other aspects. At the heart of this predicament is the nature of the relationship between communication and performance. Communication's powerful, indirect infl uences on performance have remained, by and large, below the radar of public administration scholarship.Th is research more fully explores communication's indirect infl uence on performance through its eff ects on organizational culture -a variable that has been shown to infl uence performance and one that is profoundly shaped by communication. We explore whether com...

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“…More than an intangible belief in its importance, evidence is growing for the link between communication and productivity (Camden & Witt, 1983;Downs & Hain, 1982;Hellweg & Phillips, 1982;Jain, 1973;Lewis, Cummings, & Long, 1982;Papa & Tracy, 1987;Snyder & Morris, 1984). Given the growing recognition of the importance of communication and its relationship with the bottomline, it seems that communication skills would be a primary concern for Human Resource decisions regarding hiring and performance.…”

mentioning

confidence: 95%

Communication Competencies as Discriminators of Superiors' Ratings of Employee Performance

Scudder

Guinan

1989

Journal of Business Communication

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This study focuses the role of communication competencies in the appraisal process by which superiors make overall judgments about the performance of subordinates. The study is based on the hypothesis that superiors' perceptions of specific communication competencies of subordinates are related to the superiors' overall perceptions of subordinate performance. The results support this hypothesis. A multivariate analysis reveals that employees rated highly for overall performance were also rated significantly higher on the combined communication competencies than were their more lowlyrated counterparts. The discriminant model including the four communication competencies account for 59 percent of the variance with superiors'ratings of overall employee performance.

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Communication Activity as a Predictor of the Fit Between Worker Motivation and Worker Productivity

Cited by 4 publications

References 43 publications

Employee Perceptions of the Relationship Between Communication and Productivity: A Field Study

Employee Perceptions of the Relationship Between Communication and Productivity: A Field Study

Penetrating the Performance Predicament: Communication as a Mediator or Moderator of Organizational Culture’s Impact on Public Organizational Performance

Communication Competencies as Discriminators of Superiors' Ratings of Employee Performance

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