Asia pacific journal of information systems

The Korea Society of Management Information Systems (한국경영정보학회)
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The Effect of Synchronous CMC Technology by Task Network: A Perspective of Media Synchronicity Theory

개인의 업무 네트워크 특성에 따른 동시적 CMC의 영향 : 매체 동시성 이론 관점

  • 김민수 (한양대학교 경영대학) ;
  • 박철우 (서울대학교 경영연구소) ;
  • 양희동 (이화여자대학교 경영대학 경영학과)
  • Published : 2008.09.30
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Abstract

The task network which is formed of different individuals can be recognized as a social network. Therefore, the way to communicate with people inside or outside the network has considerable influence on their outcome. Moreover, the position on which a member stands in a network shows the different effects of the information systems supporting communication with others. In this paper, it is to be studied how personal CMC (computer-mediated communication) tools affect the mission that those who work for a network perform through diverse task networks. Especially, we focused on synchronicity of CMC. On this score, the perspective of Media Synchronicity Theory was taken that had been suggested by criticizing Media Richness Theory. It is the objective, from this perspective, to find which characteristics of networks make the value of IT supporting synchronicity high. In the research trends of social networks, there have been two traditional perspectives to explain the effect of network: embeddedness and diversity ones. These differ from the aspect which type of social network can provide much more economic benefits. As similar studies have been reported by various researchers, these are also divided into the bonding and bridging views which are based on internal and external tie, respectively, Size, density, and centrality were measured as the characteristics of personal task networks. Size means the level of relationship between members. It is the total number of other colleagues who work with a specific member for a certain project. It means, the larger the size of task network, the more the number of coworkers who interact each other through the job. Density is the ratio of the number of relationships arranged actually to the total number of available ones. In an ego-centered network, it is defined as the ratio of the number of relationship made really to the total number of possible ones between members who are actually involved each other. The higher the level of density, the larger the number of projects on which the members collaborate. Centrality means that his/her position is on the exact center of whole network. There are several methods to measure it. In this research, betweenness centrality was adopted among them. It is measured by the position on which one member stands between others in a network. The determinant to raise its level is the shortest geodesic that represents the shortest distance between members. Centrality also indicates the level of role as a broker among others. To verify the hypotheses, we interviewed and surveyed a group of employees of a nationwide financial organization in which a groupware system is used. They were questioned about two CMC applications: MSN with a higher level of synchronicity and email with a lower one. As a result, the larger the size of his/her own task network, the smaller its density and the higher the level of his/her centrality, the higher the level of the effect using the task network with CMC tools. Above all, this positive effect is verified to be much more produced while using CMC applications with higher-level synchronicity. Among the a variety of situations under which the use of CMC gives more benefits, this research is considered as one of rare cases regarding the characteristics of task network as moderators by focusing ITs for the operation of his/her own task network. It is another contribution of this research to prove empirically that the values of information system depend on the social, or comparative, characteristic of time. Though the same amount of time is shared, the social characteristics of users change its value. In addition, it is significant to examine empirically that the ITs with higher-level synchronicity have the positive effect on productivity. Many businesses are worried about the negative effect of synchronous ITs, for their employees are likely to use them for personal social activities. However. this research can help to dismiss the concern against CMC tools.

Keywords

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