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ABSTRACT: In today's fast-paced business environment, companies
are dependant on Technology to link personnel across Cities, States and
Countries too.
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'E-mail' or 'Electronic
Mail' is one of the recent technologies used in organizational
communication to conduct business transactions with people all around the
world. It is convenient, accessible and faster than other channels and
hence considered as the "Life-line" of any organization. Unlike the
Cellular phones, E-mail facilities are not optimized among the members of
the organization to communicate effectively with customers, suppliers,
agents, bankers and other professional bodies.
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Therefore, a study was
made to find out the preferences of using E-mail in organizations in India
and to know the reasons for their preferences. Among men and women the
preference levels was assessed to understand the factors influencing them
to choose E-mail as a channel to communicate. As result, suggestions have
been recommended for the efficient use of the technology in communication.
1. INTRODUCTION: Technology enabled Business Communication is
common and now many business houses are moving at e-speed and operating
globally too. The explosion of information available to business has
created a maze of data for professionals to manage the formal routine
messages across the national borders for exporting, importing,
manufacturing contracts and partnerships with foreign firms and
franchising. The number of Multinational Corporations continues as well
that facilitates to conduct international transactions and maintain
operations several countries.
The written communications in the form of letters, memos, circulars
or proposals are sent through e-mail as messages to an audience of one or
thousands in a matter of a minute. The same message can also be forwarded
to many individuals instantly. The following is a chart showing the
communication process using E-mail as a channel to transmit information at
work place between individuals. In spite of the convenience, quickness
and effectiveness of the channel some individuals seemed to prefer
other channels to communicate their ideas, information or responses in a
formal situation. This may be due to some reasons that they do not prefer
using the electronic media for their formal messages at work place.
Hence a study was conducted to find the preferences among individuals
in choosing E-mail as a channel for professional communication and
various factors that influence their preferences. Further probing into the
subject was done by analyzing the preference in usage of E-mail in
Business Communication.
A Model of the Communication Process
Person A Person B
II. OBJECTIVES: The
following are the objectives of the study:
. To find out the preferences of using Electronic Mail in Organisational
communication.
. To assess the level of preferences prevailing among men and women for
electronic communication at work.
. To identify the reasons for varied level of preferences among the
individuals.
III. METHODOLOGY Fifty respondents from different profession namely
education, health, services, etc were chosen as sample for the study. A
Questionnaire with three point scale was used as the instrument for data
collection. It includes aspects like -
. Preference towards E-mail communication
. Frequency of usage
. Reasons for preference and Non-preference.
Statistical tools like Percentage analysis was used to assess the
preferences of individuals and the reasons for their preference in using
the technology. Using Cross Tabulation the level of preference prevailing
among the genders for E-mail communication was also analyzed.
IV. ANALYSIS: E-mail is one of the common and recent technologies used
in organizations to communicate both internally and externally. However
the frequency of using the electronic media tend to vary among the
respondents based on their preferences. Though most (56%) of the
respondents prefer to use the channel, there are still (14%) who do not
prefer using this communication media.
The study also reveals the
reasons for choosing the E-mail technology among the respondents. (Table
1). When further probing into the reasons for varied frequency of usage
among the respondents, it was mainly due to the pros and cons of the
communication technology. Access to the technology and lack of knowledge
about the usage were found to be the barriers for higher frequency usage
of the E-mail facility.
Table 1: Showing the reasons for using Electronic Mail in
communication.
Frequency of using the channel Reasons for their preferences
Always . Quickness
. Convenience
. Reach
. Economical
Sometimes . Availability
. Unsecured
. Inaccuracy
. Inadequacy
Never . Lack of knowledge
. Time consuming
. No consistency
. Deferred response
Due to these reasons usage pattern among the respondents vary and thereby
form the factors to influence their preference levels. The electronic
mailing system in an effective channel for many individuals because
messages are transmitted immediately, it is convenient to send or receive
information across the boundaries with efficiency of reach and also
economical for brief messages that are sent urgently to the receivers
around the world.
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There are some individuals for using E-mail occasionally because the
facilities may not be available always; no security for the information,
lack of accuracy in case of long messages or forwarded messages and also
sometimes the information conveyed through an email is very brief that
does not fulfill the needs of sender or receiver in the process. Few of
the respondents do not prefer to use the technology at work place due to
the barriers like - lack of technical knowledge relating to the profound
use of the E-mail channel, time consumed to complete the communication
process, inconsistent messages may be found and also immediate response
may not be always possible in business situations.
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Both men and women are exposed to E-mail as a communication technology
in their day to day professional lives. So the data was collected to find
out the usage pattern of the respondents for communicating through
electronic media. But the survey reveals that the preference levels are
not the same. So the gender differences relating to the preference of
E-mail based on the usage frequency in organizations were analyzed (Table
2) using Cross tabulation.
Table: 2 showing the Gender differences in E-mail communication.
Gender Always Sometimes Never Total
Men
Count 17 11 3 31
% within Gender 54.8% 35.5% 9.7% 100%
% within Preference levels 60.7% 73.3% 42.9% 62.0%
Women
Count 11 4 4 19
% within Gender 57.9% 21.1% 21.1% 100%
% within Preference levels 39.3% 26.7% 57.1% 38.0%
Total
Count 28 15 7 50
% within Gender 56.0% 30.0% 14.0% 100%
% within Preference levels 100% 100% 100% 100%
The preference among Men and Women differ in choosing E-mail as the
media to transmit official messages in work place. The frequency and the
levels of preferences also vary between them creating a technological
impact in formal communication. Out of 31 men, 17 of them use the facility
always. 11 men use it occasionally and 3 of them never use the channel to
communicate. Whereas, out of 19 women respondents, 11 of them always use
Electronic media, 4 of the women do not use frequently and the remaining 4
women seem to never prefer to communicate. Email as a protocol can be used
to bridge the gender gap and remove the discrimination in preference
levels that hinders in preference levels that hinders the effectiveness in
technology enabled communication.
V. FINDINGS &
SUGGESTIONS: . The study infers that (Pie chart) among the fifty respondents, 56% of
individuals are using Email always and 30% of them use the facility
sometimes only. Also there are 14% of the total individuals to convey that
they never choose Email to transfer information at work place.
. In today's
technology-driven organizations. E-mail is an essential and effective
media to manage the information and avoid communication disasters. So it
can be suggested that E-mail can be maximized in organizational
communication to achieve the best results with a short period. . With
reference to Table: 1, the respondents prefer to communicate always
through the Electronic media because of it features like Quickness,
Convenience, Reach and Economical. Among them, the most commonly believed
reason for always using the technology was found to be "Quickness" and
"Convenience" only. It means that E-mail communication facilitates quick
delivery of messages and has a better reach than other channels.
. Table: 1 also
reveals that among the respondents using E-mail sometimes for their
communication purposes seem to have reasons like the facility may not be
always available to meet their needs, it may not have privacy for the
confidential messages, sometimes not accurate in terms of time, message,
etc. and even inadequate for transmitting long and detailed reports that
are to be immediately delivered to distant receivers. The most commonly
felt reason was found to be "Inaccuracy" which shows that Email is not
suitable for such kind of messages that requires absolute accuracy and
"Fax" can be used to send those messages to serve the purpose.
. There are few
respondents shown in Table: 1, for never using the electronic media in
communication because of the reasons like lack of technical knowledge or
lack of latest uses of E-mail applications relating to their work culture,
may be time consuming when they lack adequate training and experience in
applications, seem to feel about consistency in the information flow and
also convey that the receiver of the E-mail messages may not acknowledge
or reply quickly to the sender. The major reason for not using the channel
was found to be "Lack of knowledge" in E-mail applications and hence
awareness can be created to those respondents to acquire the latest
information on E-mail applications through programs, journals, internet,
books, exhibitions, conferences etc. . From Table: 2 it can be
understood that the preference of using the channel are not common between
men and women. When compared to men, 21% of women are found to avoid the
E-mail technology always and another 21% of them sometimes, may be due to
ignorance, incredibility and also the fluency in such applications. So
they can widen their knowledge with regard to technology enabled
communication through constant training and updating the latest
developments in office automation. . Women can optimize their
E-mail communication and try to remove the gender discrimination at work
place.
. Table : 2 also
reveals that within the preference levels, 73.3% of men prefer to
communicate through electronic mail sometimes, 42.9% never use it and
60.7% of men seem to use it always.
. Among women, the
preference levels vary with men and 57.1% are found to be never using
the technology, 39.3% always and 26.7% occasionally. This shows that women
are influenced by many factors in choosing the communication channel than
men who seem to be convenient with the technology and avail the maximum
benefits from the quickest means of communication. . More opportunities
can be given to women to understand the best of the channel and
increase their frequency of using the technology.
VI. CONCLUSION:
Electronic Mail is an extremely valuable communication tool that each
day the number of email messages received and sent in an organizations
increase and will probably continue to increase as more and more people
get online. Perhaps, this study can help the individuals to choose the
electronic channel appropriately in business communication by mastering
the different uses of E-mail communication in the work place. It may be a
critical skill but an essential one for achieving managerial excellence in
organizational communication. The technical knowledge
can often be used to facilitate both internal and external networks like
coordinating meetings, building rapport with others, prompt decisions
during crisis situations, conferencing with individuals of different
countries at a time etc. Realizing the potent services of the channel both
men and women can minimize the common errors faced in written
communication and can also avoid confrontations through the electronic
channel. To conclude, this study can harness the power of E-mail
correspondence and show the ways to optimize E-mail applications at work.
So let's meet the communication challenges through bits and bytes and
strengthen the organization as a whole with technology enabled
communication.
VII. REFERENCES:
1. Laurie. K. Benson, E-communication - Communicating effectively in a
Digital Age, Jaico Publishing House, 2002 edition.
2. Shirley Taylor, Effective E-mail Communication, Dreamtech publication,
2001 edition.
3. Matthukutty. M. Monipally, Business Communication Strategies, Tata
McGraw - Hill publishing Co. Ltd., 2001 edition.
4. Pamela Angel, Business Communication Design McGraw - Hill, 2004
edition.
5. Plung Montgomery, Professional Communication, Thomson Publications,
2004 edition.
Written By: By Dr.R.Krishnaveni &
Ms. R.Thamaraiselvi
Email:
ts_bc@psgim.ac.in Ms. R. Thamaraiselvi - Faculty with more
than 12 yrs of teaching management to graduates and executives. An
efficient Corporate Trainer in human resource area. A free lancer to some
of the leading publications in India. Pursuing Phd in the Organizational
behavioural area.
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