The Impact of Organization Size and Technology on Managerial Communication Style, its Credibility and Consequences.

摘要

This research examines the impact of size and technology on managerial communication behavior in two organizational settings. Data was collected from managers and their colleagues from two major companies within a large diversified corporation. One company is characterized by a traditional, stable technology while the other employs a technology which is relatively more sophisticated and modern in nature. Size (measured at 3 levels) and technology (measured at 2 levels) were related to 13 variables in a communication model. The results suggested that both technology and size influence managerial communication behavior and in turn colleague outcomes. In particular, managers in the traditional technology organization were generally rated more highly on dimensions of communication style. The most critical size measure related to communication behavior was the number of people reporting to the focal manager. As the number of subordinates reporting to a focal manager increased, effective managerial communication appeared to decrease. More macro measures of size (department/division size) appeared to have little impact on a manager's communication style, credibility and colleague consequences. (Author)