Objective
This project is aimed to investigate the socio-economic challenges, implications and opportunities associated with the introduction and diffusion of e-mail communication within the European Union. It will explain the new ways to communicate and co-operate overcoming geographical constraints. It will highlight the impact of new tools to support decision-making, to improve work conditions (teleworking, groupware), to sustain international co-operation through networking technologies and to reinforce cultural integration by adopting distance learning technologies in training and education. Moving from a theoretical framework, this project will focus on empirical research based on close interaction with business world and field studies. The project will develop a cross-national analysis among four European countries.
Objectives:
1. the way in which some explaining variables constraint the introduction, adoption and diffusion of e-mail communication within and between organisations, and the degree to which Computer Mediated Communication replace Face-to-Face communication;
2. how e-mail adoption/diffusion influences the formation of trust and identity within and between organisations;
3. how e-mail adoption/diffusion influences the structure and evolution of power, decision-making and participation within organisations;
4. which types of adoption and practical use are generated by any single organization;
5. what patterns of adoption/diffusion emerge when considering e-mail communication as a type of technology.
Work description:
The research project is aimed to analyse the impact of the introduction, adoption and diffusion of E-mail communication on the evolution and change of organisations' structure and processes. The explaining variables identified are:
1) task complexity;
2) self-organisation;
3) cultural diversity;
4) social context;
5) technology-use mediators;
6) geographical distance.
The impact on the organisations' structure and processes is investigated with respect to the following seven aspects:
1) degree of e-mail diffusion;
2) degree of substitution FtF/Email;
3) formation of trust and identity;
4) formation of groups of coalition;
5) formation of a genre repertoire;
6) degree of organisational participation;
7) type of Group Decision Support Systems (GDSS).
This study will focus on three different types of organisations: International Teams, National Research Institutes and Corporate Accounting Departments; applying a cross-analysis in four European countries (Italy, United Kingdom, The Netherlands, Greece).
The research applies field and longitudinal methodologies. The field research consists of narrative interviews with organisation's members, focused on perceived structures and differences between Face-to-Face (FtF) and Computer Mediated Communication (CMC).
Furthermore survey, mailing list analysis and text analysis (documents, memos, meetings agendas and reports) will be also applied to evidence Group Decision Support Systems (GDSS) and relational patterns.
A special attention is paid to the longitudinal dimension which refers to 2-3 years of organisational life, in order to understand how FtF and CMC evolved over time, and particularly what changed since the beginning of the introduction of e-mail.
Milestones:
Project milestones are clear and sound answers regarding the role that CMC play within and between organizations. The understanding of their impact on social, managerial and occupational structure and evolution of EU will also benefit. We expect to understand if FtF relationships can be fully or/partially replaced by CMC, and if the substitution affects power relationships and forms of industrial democracy. Clear indications for policy making in the EU new and learning economy will be given.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
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Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Coordinator
00198 ROMA
Italy
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