An Empirical Evaluation of Organizational Media Use in Singapore

Abstract

This paper reports on the organizational and individual determinants of media use in Singaporean organizations. While past research on media use has focused on matching a particular medium with a particular type of task, the current study proposes a "media coexistence" approach. This approach suggests that different media have, at the same time, both unique attributes (which allow them to exist as complements in a portfolio of choices) and similarities (which allow users to substitute one medium for another when needed). Data was collected using a survey from 151 respondents — comprised of managers and professionals — working in a variety of organizations located in Singapore. The results suggest that media use is multidimensional and not nearly as dichotomous as media richness theory suggests. For example, the same medium, telephones, can play a dual role depending on the circumstances: as a substitute for face-to-face communication and as a complement to other media such as e-mail or written communication. The media coexistence approach therefore provides a contingency view of media use wherein different media can, depending on individual and organizational factors, serve as substitutes for and complements of each other. Surprisingly, the results also highlight the predominance of traditional media in some organizational contexts, even in a high-tech city-state such as Singapore. The implications of these results for practice and research are discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• Media choice theory
• Media richness
• E-mail
• Organizational communication

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Laku Chidambaram

Laku Chidambaram is an associate professor of MIS at the University of Oklahoma's Michael F. Price College of Business. Prior to this, he has held faculty appointments at Indiana University and the University of Hawaii. Professor Chidambaram has a Ph.D. in information systems and international business from Indiana University and an MBA from the University of Georgia. His primary area of research deals with the application of information technology to support distributed group work in organizations. His work has been published in such journals such as MIS Quarterly, Journal of MIS and the Journal of Organizational Computing and Electronic Commerce. He is the co-editor of a new book, Our Virtual World, which focuses on the transformation of work, play and life with the new media and is the co- editor-in-chief of a multi-disciplinary journal, the e-Service Journal. Dr. Chidambaram has served as a business consultant and lectured in several countries including Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Singapore and the United States.

John Lim

John Lim is an associate professor in the School of Computing at the National University of Singapore. Concurrently, he heads the Information Systems Research Center. Dr. Lim graduated with First Class Honors in Electrical Engineering and an M. Sc. in MIS from the National University of Singapore, and a Ph.D. from the University of British Columbia. His current research interests include collaborative technology, negotiation support, and media effects.

Hock Chuan Chan

H. C. Chan is an associate professor at the Department of Information Systems, National University of Singapore. He has taught programming, database, information systems, and research methodologies courses. His major research areas include user-database interaction, spreadsheet visualization, and management information systems. He has published in conferences such as ICIS, HICSS, PACIS, and AIS, and in journals such as Decision Support Systems, MIS Quarterly, Journal of Database Management, and International Journal of Human Computer Studies.

Kyung-U Han

Kyungil Han is currently a visiting scholar at Indiana University's School of Public and Environmental Affairs. He earned a Ph.D. in Management Information System from the Graduate School of Yonsei University in Korea. Dr. Han's work is under review at the Korean Management Review and the Journal of MIS Research. His business experience includes working at Ssangyong Computer Systems Company as a systems consultant and his research interests are in the assessment of IS performance, task-technology fit and Web-based teaching and learning.