When Bad Email Happens to Good People: A Case of Information Technology Mismanagement

David G. Schwartz

Chapter 8 in Misbehaviour and Dysfunctional Attitudes in Organizations, 2003, pp 138-153 from Palgrave Macmillan

Abstract: Abstract Email is a powerful communications tool, playing an increasingly important role in our organizations (Fulk and Desanctis, 1995). Yet with power should come responsibility. By far the most dangerous form of power is power wielded by the ignorant. Email use in general is the most widely used form of computer mediated communications in organizations (Kalakota and Whinston, 1996). Broadcast usage of computer mediated communications, in particular through the use of mailing lists, is one of the most frequent uses of interorganizational email (Kettinger and Grover, 1997). This chapter presents a case study of electronic mailing list abuse and mismanagement. The abuse I will discuss takes many forms, as not only is the email system abused, but so too are mailing list participants, and mailing list moderators. My discussion centres on mailing list membership and what happens when mailing list members are not properly trained in the operation of such lists. In addition, a proper definition of mailing list characteristics is suggested. We illustrate these issues through a case study of two different types of mailing lists, the first being a Read-Only Subscription-Based (ROSB) and the second being an UnModerated Mandatory Participation (UMMP) list. The lists have been so-named to protect the anonymity of the list owners and members. We present the ROSB/UMMP mailing list mix-up, analyze the reactions and responses to the mailing list abuse, and present points of action to avoid such problems. The lessons learned are instructive for both IT professionals and users by shaping the requirements and demands for training in the adoption of new information technologies.

Keywords: Faculty Member; Mailing List; Email Message; Good People; Computer Mediate Communication (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2003
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

There are no downloads for this item, see the EconPapers FAQ for hints about obtaining it.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:pal:palchp:978-0-230-28882-9_8

Ordering information: This item can be ordered from
http://www.palgrave.com/9780230288829

DOI: 10.1057/9780230288829_8

Access Statistics for this chapter

More chapters in Palgrave Macmillan Books from Palgrave Macmillan
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().