Contingency theory of group communication effectiveness in Korean organizations: influence of fit between organizational structural variables and group relational climate on communication effectiveness

摘要

This study developed and tested a contingency model of groupcommunication in Korean workgroups that posited that the communicationeffectiveness and group performance of workgroups is determined by the ??????fit?????? ofcommunication practices with organization structure and group relationalclimate.A contingency model incorporates three variables: contingency variables,response variables, and performance variables. Based on a review of theliterature on Korean organizations and groups, the model incorporated twocontingency variables: organizational structure and group relational climate.Organizational structure was indexed by the level of centralization andformalizations in the organization. Group relational climate was indexed by thelevel of closeness and group conformity among members. The response variables, communication practices of Korean workgroups, was measured interms of the frequency of formal and informal meetings held by the workgroups.Two types of performance were measured: communication effectiveness andperformance level. The contingency model hypothesized that the level ofcommunication effectiveness and group performance of a workgroup thatengages in communication practices which fit the requirements of organizationalstructure and group relational climate will be higher than that of a group whosecommunication practices do not fit the requirements of organizational structureand group relational climate. It also hypothesized the communicationeffectiveness group performance would be lower in groups which facedconflicting contingencies than in groups that faced consistent contingencies.A survey of 409 members of 84 workgroups in 37 Korean organizationswas conducted. Results of this study supported the predictions of thecontingency model. In particular, centralization, formalization, and closenesswere significant contingency variables. The hypothesis regarding conflictingcontingency was not supported. Implications of the study regarding thecontingency theory, group communication and group effectiveness, and thenature of Korean groups and organizations are discussed.