Techno-Sense: Making Sense of Computer-Mediated Communication Systems

This study examined the impact of a computer-mediated communication system(CMCS) on two "high tech" organizations. One hundred and twenty persons participated in semi-structured interviews or completed two critical incident forms.Grounded theory was used to analyze the interviews and the critical incident data,and naturalistic observations were used to provide depth and context to the discussion.The analysis of the data indicates that organizational members tend to give CMCSfavorable reviews. However, the data also illustrated considerable variance in how organizational members view the impact of CMCS on interpersonal relationships, message structures, task efficiency, the work environment, and information processingcharacteristics of organizations. Secondary or unanticipated effects of CMCS are identified and discussed as potentially having a significant impact on organizations.