A Dynamic Model of Communication Technology Employment

Bettina S. T. Büchel

Chapter 6 in Using Communication Technology, 2001, pp 143-152 from Palgrave Macmillan

Abstract: Abstract Although it may seem reasonable from a managerial perspective to expect a consistent relationship between communication technology and organizations, more recent literature (Robey and Boudreau, 1999; Yates et al., 1999) seems to suggest that this common assumption does not hold. Earlier chapters have shown that empirical evidence regarding the impact of communication technology is often contradictory: some authors argue that the increased use of communication technology leads to centralization, while others argue the opposite; some say it leads to the reinforcement of the organizational hierarchy, but others say it undermines it; some maintain it reduces the number of middle managers, while others suggest that it increases the number; some argue for an increase in participation of knowledge workers in decision-making, but others propose a decrease in the number of people involved, and so on. Essentially, the desire of management researchers to maintain an ‘elusive consistency’ (Poole and Van de Ven, 1989) has led to a refusal to acknowledge paradoxes or contradictions in empirical findings. Confronted by evidence that points explicitly towards the existence of contradictions, solving this issue becomes the task.

Keywords: Communication Technology; Task Force; Organizational Design; Knowledge Worker; Group Support System (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2001
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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:978-0-333-98567-0_6

Ordering information: This item can be ordered from
http://www.palgrave.com/9780333985670

DOI: 10.1057/9780333985670_6

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 ().