Understanding the Impact of Instant Messaging (IM) on Subjective Task Complexity and User Satisfaction

Instant messenger is being rapidly deployed in the workplace. Current studies largely focus on the adoption of IM and how IM is used. Little research has been conducted to understand the potential impact of using IM in the workplace. This paper theorized and empirically tested how the frequency and social network characteristic of IM interruptions could interact with an individual’s polychronic orientation, i.e. multitasking preference, and jointly influence employee satisfaction and subjective task complexity. The study illustrates that polychrons are more satisfied with the multitasking work process deploying IM technology than monochrons. In addition, the effect of interruptions is dependent upon an individual’s polychronic orientation. The increase in interruption frequency only reduces the process satisfaction of monochrons but not polychrons. Further, the polychronic orientation of message receivers also influences how they process information. When IM messages are sent from their supervisors, monochrons tend to prioritize tasks and perceive a lower level of overall task complexity. The information processing of polychrons seem to be less influenced by the social characteristic of interruptions

Exploring the Impact of Instant Messaging (IM) on User Performance and Perceived Workload

Instant messenger is being rapidly deployed in the workplace. Current studies largely focus on the adoption of IM and how IM is used. Little research has been conducted to understand the potential impact of using IM in the workplace. This paper contributes to the literature on Instant Messaging by theorizing how some technological features of IM could intertwine with social characteristics and jointly influence user task performance and perceived workload We hypothesize that the effect of interruption on task completion time is likely to be dependent upon the hierarchy level of message sender and that interruptions from a supervisor aggravate the negative impact of interruptions on task quality

An Empirical Study of Behavioral Factors Influencing Text Messaging Intention

This manuscript provides a comprehensive review of many of the behavioral factors associated with the use of technology and tests their applicability to text messaging. The theories explored included End User Computer Satisfaction, Theory of Reasoned Action, Diffusion of Innovation, Theory of Planned Behavior, and Technology Acceptance Model. In addition, Positive and Negative Emotion factors were developed and tested to examine their influence on text messaging behavioral intention. Several statistical processes were utilized to develop and confirm the factors. The results of the study suggest that no one model can fully explain texting behavior but several factors did have a significant influence on intention at p \u3c .05. These factors were Attitude, Compatibility, Ease of Use, Satisfaction, and Visibility. These factors can serve as areas that practitioners and researchers can focus on to improve text messaging intention and obtain the significant benefits of this technology

Mobile social media in inter-organizational projects: Aligning tool, task and team for virtual collaboration effectiveness

Inter-organizational projects face unique challenges and opportunities due to team diversities and task complexity. Mobile social media like WhatsApp and WeChat emerge as new-generation collaboration tools in such endeavors. Based on a literature review, this study posits that how well team-tool, task-tool and team-task relationships are handled shape virtual collaboration effectiveness. The conceptual framework, validated with the interviews from inter-organizational project team members in China and the USA, leads to a research model. The results of a larger-scale survey confirm that tool usability, task fit and team connectivity contribute to virtual collaboration effectiveness, which affects project management success and team appreciation. In addition, there are noticeable cross-country differences, especially the opposite moderating effects that degree of use imposes on the relationship between virtual collaboration effectiveness and project management success. Theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed

Exploring the relationship between multiple team membership and team performance: the role of social networks and collaborative technology

Firms devoted to research and development and innovative activities intensively use teams to carry out knowledge intensive work and increasingly ask their employees to be engaged in multiple teams (e.g. R&D project teams) simultaneously. The literature has extensively investigated the antecedents of single teams performance, but has largely overlooked the effects of multiple team membership (MTM), i.e., the participation of a focal team\u2019s members in multiple teams simultaneously, on the focal team outcomes. In this paper we examine the relationships between team performance, MTM, the use of collaborative technologies (instant messaging), and work-place social networks (external advice receiving). The data collected in the R&D unit of an Italian company support the existence of an inverted U-shaped relationship between MTM and team performance such that teams whose members are engaged simultaneously in few or many teams experience lower performance. We found that receiving advice from external sources moderated this relationship. When MTM is low or high, external advice receiving has a positive effect, while at intermediate levels of MTM it has a negative effect. Finally, the average use of instant messaging in the team also moderated the relationship such that at low levels of MTM, R&D teams whose members use instant messaging intensively attain higher performance while at high levels of MTM an intense use of instant messaging is associated with lower team performance. We conclude with a discussion of theoretical and practical implications for innovative firms engaged in multitasking work scenarios

How Many Teams Should We Manage at Once? The Effect of Multiple Team Membership, Collaborative Technologies, and Polychronicity on Team Performance

We explore the relationship between multiple team membership (the extent to which team members are engaged in more than one team and switch between different teams in a work day) and team performance. We argue that the number of MTMs has an inverted U-shaped relationship with team performance while the team average daily MTM is negatively related to performance. We propose that the use of collaborative technologies moderates the above relationships: when MTM is low technology use helps teams attain higher performance, when MTM is high collaborative technology use reduces performance. Conversely, variance in perceptions of technologies’ usefulness negatively moderates the above relationships. Finally, we expect teams whose members are more polychronic to perform better when MTM is high, but teams whose members are very diverse in terms of polychronicity to experience reduced performance. We are exploring these issues through a mixed-methods field study conducted in an IT consulting firm

Does adoption mean the same to every user? A study of active and passive usage of mobile instant messaging applications

This research-in-progress paper studies the active and passive usage of mobile instant messaging (MIM) applications. Grounded on two-factor theory and three-factor theory, we propose the features of MIM applications influence the active/passive usage of MIM applications through users’ satisfaction and dissatisfaction. The proposed features are categorized into three factors: exciting factors which contain design aesthetics, customization and enjoyment, performance factors which include sociability, convenience and privacy assurance, and basic factors which are application costs and technical functionality. To test hypothetical relationships in this study, we plan to use a survey method. The potential implications to both literature and practice are discussed

Exploring User Acceptance of a Text-message Base Health Intervention among Young African Americans

Information technology has been used in diverse ways. It has been used in both the public and private sectors to reduce costs and increase satisfaction. Technology may also be instrumental in improving individuals’ healthy behaviors. For instance, statistics suggest that technology-based interventions may promote healthy sexual behaviors; however, few studies have explored willingness to participate in technology-mediated interventions. In this study, we use the diffusion of innovation theory to identify factors that influence one’s intention to use a text-message service to receive sexual health information. The results indicate that technology diffusion factors rather than risk beliefs and privacy concerns impacted participant\u27s intention to use a text-message intervention. The findings of this study have significant implications for innovative uses of technology to promote health. Mobile-health interventions that are easy to use and that provide more benefits than other interventions are most likely to be adopted. However, these interventions should seek to maximize privacy protections and communicate clearly about these protections

E-Mail Overload and Instant Messaging: Different Investigative Dimensions

While there have been extensive investigations on email overload, the main source of this business and management problem has received less attention so far. There are claims that using Instant Messaging (IM) reduces email overload, however, this has not been validated by academic research findings. This paper investigates how email overload is generated, and why IM is claimed to reduce it. Data collection was through the use of a quantitative mono-method, via an anonymous Survey Monkey online questionnaire. Respondents are members of an international professional body – The International Institute of Risk & Safety Management (IIRSM) – and work in different countries, industries and organizations. A cross-sectional Case Study, with an inductive approach is used. Results provide evidence that email overload is not externally-generated and that using IM does help reduce this internally-generated overload. A potential link between email overload, IM use and industry is observed. This study helps develop a more comprehensive understanding of email overload and contributes unique findings focused on establishing the main source of this universal workplace problem. Claims that IM reduces overload come from marketing material and newspaper articles lacking empirical evidence. This research is the first to establish whether or not these claims are true

Instant Messaging and Employee\u27s Performance: A Text Mining Approach

The adoption of Instant Messaging (IM) applications in the workplace remains contentious due to difficulties in adequately quantifying organizational benefits and how it affects individual performance. Previous research on the impact of IM usage on employee performance has been limited to analyzing primary data (i.e., survey methods), making it difficult to extrapolate the findings to a constantly changing workplace. In contrast, we investigate the relationships between these individuals\u27 IM usage at the workplace and their primary assessment metric in their organization, performance evaluation, using longitudinal data of employees\u27 IM activities and their performance evaluation collected from a US Fortune 500 financial company. Using cutting-edge text-mining techniques, we identify the primary purposes of IM utilization in organizations and assess the impact of those attributes on employee performance. Our findings show that IM in the workplace can improve team communication, knowledge-sharing experience, and social networking among employees, but it can also be disruptive. However, the combined effect of team communication and knowledge sharing on employee performance can overshadow the negative impact of IM interruption on employee performance