What we need to know about e-mail’s impact in the workplace

The rapid development of electronic technology and its deployment has led to an understandable lag in the body of research examining its character-istics, usage and impact. We propose a number of areas of particular promise for further research.

Much of the evidence to date concentrates on e-mail as a communica-tion tool, but we need to know a great deal more. To help organisacommunica-tions in formulating policies regarding organisational use of e-mail, further evi-dence is needed to demonstrate how communication practices interact

Negative personal and E-mail characteristics Anticipated impact organisational consequences Speed and convenience Increased number of messages Work overload, errors

and increased expectation of response speed

Recordability Increased control potential Resentment, reduced autonomy Multiple addressability, Communication manipulation Potential harassment; possible

processing, routing litigation

Lack of social cues (facial Weakened interpersonal, bonds; More misunderstandings, lower expression, feedback) lowered commitment decision quality, context;

escalation of disputes Lack of conversational Focus of attention on internal Greater susceptibility to negative

cues (turn-taking, colour, (negative) states affect (mood) and negative

clarification, tone) evaluations

Table 1. E-mail characteristics and their negative effects on personal and organisational outcomes.

with the features of e-mail to produce outcomes such as work overload and lack of control. We need to know what communication compositions will yield the best communication results in a collegial work environment.

At the micro (individual) level, of high relevance are the effects of specific words, phrases and tonal signifiers such as font, message structure and emphasis (Boje, Oswick and Ford 2004). We need to know, firstly, whether and how such message characteristics affect the message recipient.

Secondly, we need to know how these relate to important organisational outcome variables of employee well-being, health and productivity, as well as mediating variables, such as interpersonal trust.

Morris et al.’s (2002) study of e-mail negotiations is an example of how research findings could be used to improve the outcomes of e-mail-based communication. The study examines the process of negotiating deals and interpersonal disputes via e-mail. Overcoming obstacles such as initial mistrust and interpersonal friction is achieved through a series of, largely automatic, verbal and non-verbal behaviours. E-mail inhibits the process of exchanging personal information through which negotiators establish rapport. The results showed that the liabilities of e-mail communications could be minimised by a brief, pre-negotiation, personal telephone call.

At the organisational level, we need to discover how organisations with different communication styles, and different levels of trust and reciproc-ity, differ on outcome variables relating to productivity and well-being. It is possible that records of e-mail messages could be used by organisations to develop communication policies. Such policies may help organisations to change and develop into more effective and, dare we say, more humane workplaces by changing the corporate and personal communication styles of their managers and workers.

And while there is some evidence on the communicative effects of e-mail, we know next to nothing on its organising qualities (Weick 1995) in a work context. What are e-mail’s effects on work processes, structures, power distribution, relationships, motivation, commitment, organisational citizenship behaviour, to mention but a few. At the meta organisational level we may want to find out how organisational clusters (sectors, indus-tries) differ in their ‘e-mail behaviour’ and how, in turn, this shapes dis-tinctive organisational cultures.

As Sutherland and Cooper (2000) point out, interpersonal skills train-ing is usually a key issue in leadership traintrain-ing programs. It may now be time to include e-mail communication skills as a key part of the interper-sonal skills training for all managers and assess its impact on developing a constructive e-mail culture at the workplace.

Finally, its potential to facilitate industrial democracy may be a liberat-ing quality of electronic communications. Its effect in facilitatliberat-ing political democracy is well recognised (Smith 2004; Holmes and Grieco 2002).

Realising the full potential of electronic communication in the workplace may add an important course to organisational citizenship. We would benefit from longitudinal studies of e-mail communication policies and ‘best practice’ case studies. However, as studies on e-democracy have shown,

168 Howard Taylor, George Fieldman and Yochanan Altman

there are potential dangers in opening up policy making to the will of the majority – we may not like the direction the majority want to take.

Acknowledgement

We gratefully acknowledge the help of Frank Bournois, Jacques Rojot and two anonymous reviewers. All the authors contributed equally to this work.

Works cited

Altman, Y. (2005), Personal Communication, Israel: Bank Ha’Poalim (January).

Argyle, M., Salter, U., Nicholson, H., Williams, M. and Burgess, P. (1970), ‘The Communication of Inferior and Superior Attitudes by Verbal and Nonverbal Signals’, British Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 9, pp. 222–231.

Arnold, J., Silvester, J., Patterson, F., Robertson, I., Cooper, C. and Burnes, B.

(2005), Work Psychology: Understanding Human Behaviour in the Workplace, 4th edn., Harlow: Pearson.

Arunachalam, V. and Dilla, W. (1995), ‘Judgement Accuracy and Outcomes in Negotiation: A Causal Modelling Analysis of Decision-Aiding Effects’, Organiza-tional Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 61, pp. 289–304.

APS (2003), Survey of e-mail stress, Melbourne: Australian Psychological Society.

Baruch, Y. (2004), ‘Bullying on the Net: Adverse Behaviour on e-mail and Its Impact’, Information & Management, 42: 2, pp. 361–371.

Barsness, Z. and Tenbrunsel, A.E. (1998), ‘Technologically-Mediated Communication and Negotiation: Do Relationships Matter’? International Association of Conflict Management conference, College Park, MD. June.

Boje, D.M., Oswick, C. and Ford, J.D. (2004), ‘Language and Organization: The Doing of Discourse’, Academy of Management Review, 29, pp. 571–577.

Bond, F.W. and Bunce, D. (2003), ‘The role of acceptance and job control in mental health, job satisfaction, and work performance’, Journal of Applied Psychology, 88, pp. 1057–1067.

Bordia, P. (1997), ‘Face-To-Face Versus Computer Mediated Communication: A Synthesis of the Experimental Literature’, Journal of Business Communication, 34, pp. 99–120.

Borkovec, T.D. (2005), ‘The Importance of the Present in Being a Human Being:

Lessons from Generalized Anxiety Disorder’, Journal of Management, Spirituality

& Religion, 2: 1, pp. 136–153.

Business Communicator (2004), ‘What Channels Do Companies Use’? Business Communicator, 5: 5, pp. 6–10.

Castells, M. (2001), The Internet Galaxy, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Chaiken, S. and Eagly, A.H. (1983), ‘Communication Modality as a Determinant of Persuasion: The Role of Communicator Salience’, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 45, pp. 241–265.

Cohen, S. and Wills, T. (1985), ‘Stress, social support and the buffering hypothe-sis’, Psychological Bulletin, 98, 310–357.

Cooper, C.L. and Clarke, S. (2003), Managing the Risk of Workplace Stress, London:

Routledge.

Cooper, C.L. and Marshall, J. (1978), Understanding Executive Stress, London:

Macmillan.

Croson, R.T.A. (1999), ‘Look at Me When You Say That: An Electronic Negotiation Simulation’, Simulation and Gaming, 30, pp. 23–37.

Davidson, K.P., Pennebacker, J.W. and Dickerson, S.S. (2000), ‘Who Talks? The Social Psychology of Illness Support Groups’, American Psychologist, 55, pp. 205–217.

Friedman, R.A. and Currall, S.C. (2003), ‘Conflict Escalation: Dispute-Exacerbating Elements of e-mail Communication’, Human relations, 56: 11, pp. 1325–1347.

Garton, L. and Wellman, B. (1995), ‘Social Impacts of Electronic Mail In Organizations: A Review of the Research Literature’, Communications Yearbook, 18, pp. 434–453.

Gatzenbrucker, G. (2004), ‘Social Networks at Work: Case Studies into Importance of Computer-Supported Social Networks in a Mobile Phone Company’, Commu-nications: The European Journal of Communication Research, 29: 4, pp. 467–495.

Griffin, R. (2004), ‘That settles it’! Risk & Insurance, April.

Guadagno, R.E. and Cialdini, R.B. (2002), ‘Online Persuasion: An Examination of Gender Differences in Computer-Mediated Interpersonal Influence’, Group Dynamics 6: 1, 38–51.

Guest, D. and Conway, N. (2002), ‘Communicating the psychological contract: an employer perspective’, Human Resource Management Journal, 12, pp. 22–38.

Hacker, K.L., Goss, B., Townley, C. and Horton, V. (1998), ‘Employee Attitudes Regarding Electronic Mail Policies’, Management Communication Quarterly, 11:

3, pp. 422–451

Hart, P.M. and Cooper, C.L. (2001), ‘Occupational Stress: Toward a More Integrated Framework’, in Anderson, N., Ones, D.S., Sinangil, H.K. and Viswesvaran, C. (eds.), Handbook of Industrial, Work and Organizational Psychol-ogy 2, London: Sage, pp. 93–114.

Hayes, S.C. (1987), ‘A Contextual Approach to Therapeutic Change’, in Jacobson, N. (ed.), Psychotherapists in clinical practice, New York: Guildford Press.

Hayes, S.C., Strosahl, K. and Wilson, K.G. (1999), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy: An Experiential Approach to Behaviour Change, New York: Guildford Press.

Haynes, S.G. and Feinleib, M. (1980), ‘Women, Work, and Coronary Heart Disease: Prospective Findings from the Framingham Heart Study’, American Journal of Public Health, 70, pp. 133–141.

Holmes, L. and Grieco, M. (2002), ‘Relational Identity and Relational Technology:

Implications for Everyday Life’, in Grieco, M., Holmes. L. and Hosking, D.M.

(eds.), Organising in the Information Age: Distributed Technology, Distributed Lead-ership, Distributed Identity, Distributed Discourse, London: Ashgate Press.

Horton Flaherty, K. (2001), ‘E-mail: Does it Simplify Lawyers’ Lives or Just Increase the Stress’? California Bar Journal. www.calbar.gov/calbar/2cbj/01may/ index.htm.

House, J.S., Landis, K.R. and Umberson, D. (1988), ‘Social Relationships and Health’, Science, 241, pp. 540–545.

HSE (2004), Work Related Stress: A Short Guide, Sudbury: HSE Books.

Johnson J.V. and Hall E.M. (1988), ‘Job Strain, Work Place Social Support, and Cardiovascular Disease: A Cross-Sectional Study of a Random Sample of the Swedish Working Population’, American Journal of Public Health, 78, pp. 1336–1342.

Kahn, H.A., Medalie, J.H., Neufeld, H.N., Riss, E. and Goldhourt, U. (1972), ‘The Incident of Hypertension and Associated Factors: The Israeli Ischemic Heart Disease Study’, American Heart Journal, 84, pp. 171–182.

Karasek, R.A. and Theorell, T. (1990), Healthy Work: Stress, productivity and the reconstruction of working life, New York: Basic Books.

170 Howard Taylor, George Fieldman and Yochanan Altman

Kiesler, S., Zubrow, D., Moses, A.M. and Geller, V. (1985), ‘Affect in Computer-Mediated Communication: An Experiment in Synchronous Terminal-To-Terminal Discussion’, Human-Computer Interaction, 1, pp. 77–107.

Kiesler, S. and Sproull, L. (1992), ‘Group Decision Making and Communication Technology’, Organizational Behaviour and Human Decision Processes, 52, pp. 96–123.

Krohn, F.B. (2004), ‘A Generational Approach to Using Emoticons as Nonverbal Communication’, Journal of Technical Writing & Communication, 34: 4, pp. 321–328.

Le Blanc, P., de Jonge, J. and Schaufeli, W. (2000), ‘Job stress and health’, in Chmiel, N. (ed.), Introduction to Work and Organizational Psychology: A European Perspective. Oxford: Blackwell.

Levitt, M. and Mahowald, R.P. (2003), Worldwide E-Mail Usage Forecast, 2003–2007: Spam and Instant Messaging Take a Bite Out of E-Mail. IDC Doc # 30195, market analysis.

Mathews, K.A., Cottington, E.M., Talbott, E., Kuller, L.H. and Siegel, J.M. (1987),

‘Stressful Work Conditions and Diastolic Blood Pressure Among Blue Collar Factory Workers’, American Journal of Epidemiology, 126, pp. 280–291.

McDaniel, S.H. (2003), ‘E-mail Communication as an Adjunct to Systemic Psychotherapy’, Journal of Systemic Therapies, 22: 3, pp. 4–13.

McGuire, T.W., Kiesler, S. and Siegel, J. (1987), ‘Group and Computer-Mediated Discussion Effects in Risk Decision Making’, Journal of Personality and Social Psy-chology, 52, pp. 917–930.

Moran, S.K., Wolff, S.C. and Green, J.E. (1995), ‘Workers’ Compensation and Occupational Stress: Gaining Control’, in Murphy, L.R., Hurrell, J.J. Jr., Sauter, S.L. and Keita, G.P. (eds.), Job Stress Interventions, Washington: American Psychological Association.

Morris, M., Nadler, J., Kurtzberg, T., and Thompson, L. (2002), ‘Schmooze or Lose:

Social Friction and Lubrication in E-mail Negotiations’, Group Dynamics, 6: 1, pp. 89–100.

Nakada, H. and Masayuki, K. (2000), ‘A Review on Counselling Services Via Electrical Communication Media: Counselling Applications on the Internet’, Japanese Journal of Counselling Science, 32: 3, pp. 320–330.

Nakamura, M., Buck, R. and Kenny, D.A. (1990), ‘Relative Contributions of Expressive Behaviour and Contextual Information to the Judgement of the Emotional State of Another’, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 9, pp. 1032–1039.

Neville, R. (2004), ‘E-mail Consultations in General Practice’, Journal of General Practice, 54: 504, pp. 546–546.

OECD (1996), The Knowledge Based Economy. Organisation for economic co-opera-tion and development report OCDE/GD(96)102.

Poole, M.S., Shannon, D.L. and DeSanctis, G. (1992), ‘Communication Media and Negotiation Processes’, in Putnam, L.L. and Roloff, M.E. (eds.), Communication and Negotiation: Sage Annual Reviews of Communication Research, Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, pp. 46–66.

Preece, J. (1999), ‘Empathic Communities: Balancing Emotional and Factual Communication’, Interacting with Computers, 12, pp. 63–77.

Purdy, J.M., Nye, P. and Balakrishnan, P.V. (1997), ‘The impact of communication media on negotiation outcomes’, Academy of Management Annual Meeting, Boston, MA, August.

Quick, J.C., Jones, N., Kulisch, T. and Gerloff, E. (1981), ‘Dyadic goal setting, par-ticipation levels, and stress’, American Institute for Decision Sciences national con-ference, Boston, MA.

Quick, J.C., Quick, J.D., Nelson, D.L. and Hurrell, J.J. Jr. (1997), Preventive Stress Man-agement in Organizations, Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

Riquelme, H. and Buranasantikul, P. (2004), ‘Lecture motes in computer science’, in Traunmuller, G. (ed.), E-Government in Australia: A Citizen’s Perspective, EGOV 2004, LNCS 3183, pp. 317–327.

Romm, C.T. and Pliskin, N. (1999), ‘The office tyrant – social control through e-mail’, Information Technology and People, 12: 1, pp. 27–43.

Rosenberg, N. (2003), Outwitting Stress. A Practical Guide to Conquering Stress Before You Crack. Guilford, CT: Globe Pequot Press.

Schwartz, D.G. (2003), ‘When Bad Email Happens to Good People: A Case of Information Technology Mismanagement’, in Sagie, A., Stashevsky, S. and koslowsky, M. (eds.), Misbehaviour and Dysfunctional Attitudes in Organizations.

NY: Palgrave, pp. 138–153.

Seaberry, J. (2000), ‘Deals Still Done Face to Face in Internet Age’, The Star Ledger, January 3, p. 36.

Searle, B., Bright, J.E.H. and Bochner, S. (2001), ‘Helping People to Sort it Out:

The Role of Social Support in the Job Strain Model’, Work & Stress, 15, pp. 328–346.

Siegal, H.A., Fisher, J.H., Rapp, R.C., Kelliher, C.W., Wagner, J.H., O’Brien, W.F. and Cole, P.A. (1996), ‘Enhancing Substance Abuse Treatment with Case Management: Its Impact on Employment’, Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment, 13, pp. 93–98.

Smith, K. (2004), ‘E-Democracy: the Future for Voting’? Sociology Review, 13: 3, pp. 8–10.

Sproull, L., and Kiesler, S. (1986), ‘Reducing Social Context Cues: Electronic Mail in Organizational Communication’, Management Science, 32: 11, pp. 1492–1512.

Stansfield, S., Head, J. and Marmot, M. (2000), Work Related Factors and Ill Health:

The Whitehall II study, Sudbury: HSE books.

Straus, S.G. and McGrath, J.E. (1994), ‘Does the Medium Matter? The Interaction of Task Type and Technology on Group Performance and Member Reactions’, Journal of Applied Psychology, 79: 1, pp. 87–97.

Straus, S.G. (1996), ‘Getting a Clue: The Effects of Communication Media and Information Distribution on Participation and Performance in Computer-Mediated and Face-To-Face Groups’, Small Group Research, 27, pp. 115–142.

Sutherland, V.J. and Cooper, C.L. (1988), ‘Sources of Work Stress’, in Hurrell, J.J., Murphy, L.R., Sauter, S.L. and Cooper, C.L. (eds.), Occupational Stress: Issues and Developments in Research, New York: Taylor & Francis.

——— (2000), Strategic stress management: An organizational approach, Basingstoke:

Palgrave.

Tardy, C.H. (1992), ‘Assessing the Functions of Supportive Messages’, Communica-tion Research, 19, pp. 175–192.

Taylor, H.R., Fieldman, G. and Lahlou, S. (2005), ‘The Impact of a Threatening E-mail Reprimand on the Recipient’s Blood Pressure’, Journal of Managerial Psy-chology, 20: 1, pp. 43–50.

Thompson, L.F. and Coovert, M.D. (2002), ‘Stepping up to the Challenge: A Critical Examination of Face-To-Face and Computer-Mediated Team Decision Making’, Group Dynamics: Theory, Research, and Practice, 6, pp. 52–64.

Wager, N., Fieldman, G. and Hussey, T. (2003), ‘The Effect on Ambulatory Blood Pressure of Working Under Favourably and Unfavourably Perceived Supervisors’, Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 60, pp. 468–474.

172 Howard Taylor, George Fieldman and Yochanan Altman

Walther, J. (1996), ‘Computer-Mediated Communication: Impersonal, Interpersonal, and Hyper-Personal Interaction’, Communication Research, 23, pp. 3–43.

Weick, K. (1995), Sense Making in Organizations. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Weisband, S.P. (1992), ‘Group Discussion and First Advocacy Effects in Computer-Mediated and Face-To-Face Decision Making Groups’, Organizational Behaviour and Human Decision Processes, 53, pp. 352–380.

Weisband, S. and Atwater, L. (1999), ‘Evaluating Self and Others in Electronic and Face-To-Face Groups’, Journal of Applied Psychology, 84, pp. 632–639.

Yahoo! (2003), ‘Mail survey’, in M. Martin (ed.), E-mail Stress Disorder: New Tech-Age Plague? News Factor Innovation. May 16.

Suggested citation

Taylor, H., Fieldman, G., & Altman, Y. (2008), ‘E-mail at work: A cause for concern? The implications of the new communication technologies for health, wellbeing and productivity at work’, Journal of Organisational Transformation and Social Change 5: 2, pp. 159–173, doi: 10.1386/jots.5.2.159/1

Contributor details

Yochanan Altman is Research Professor of International HRM and Comparative Management at London Metropolitan University and Visiting Professor of International HRM with CIFFOP, University of Paris (Panthéon-Assas). Educated in occupational psychology and organisational anthropology he is also a trained psychotherapist.

Yochanan is Founding Editor of the Journal of Management, Spirituality and Religion, European Editor of the journal Human Resource Planning and past Editor of Journal of Managerial Psychology. Yochanan’s research interests are in international human resource management, careers, gender, change management, creativity and organisa-tional spirituality. Contact: 262 Shakespeare Tower, Barbican, London EC2Y 8DR, UK.

E-mail: [email protected]

Dr. George Fieldman is Principal Lecturer in Psychology at Buckinghamshire New University. He obtained his BSc and PhD degrees from King’s College London. His research interests are in Health and Evolutionary Psychology. He has various entries on BBC News online regarding his own research and invited commentary upon the research of others. He is a qualified Cognitive Behavioural Psychotherapist in practice in London. Contact: Buckinghamshire New University is High Wycombe, HP11 2JZ, UK.

E-mail: [email protected]

Howard Taylor’s PhD research is titled ‘The effects of communication style on task performance and well being’. Howard is a Senior Lecturer in Psychology at Buckinghamshire New University. He has presented papers relating to the negative effects of certain communication styles and is involved in ongoing research into effective communications, especially electronic communication. Contact:

Buckinghamshire New University, High Wycombe, HP11 2JZ, UK.

E-mail: [email protected]

Journal of Organisational Transformation and Social Change Volume 5 Number 2

© 2008 Intellect Ltd

Article. English language. doi: 10.1386/jots.5.2.175/1