Fon Sundaravej
Review: A Cognitive-Affective Model of Organizational Communication for
Organizational Communication for Designing IT
By Dov Te’eni
Te’eni proposes a model of organizational communication based on reviewed recent
publications and demonstrates how technology should be designed to make
communication more effective by changing the medium and the attributes of the message
itself. The model incorporates three importance factors: identified inputs (e.g. task
attributes, distance between sender and receiver, and values and norms of
communication); a communication cognitive-affective process (e.g. supported
formulation of goals, communication strategies, medium, and message); and provided
feedback on impact to users (e.g. mutual understanding and relationship between the
sender and receiver). Unlike previous research which has concentrated on communication
inputs and impacts, the proposed model primarily focuses on the communication process.
The notion of communication complexity (cognitive, dynamic, and affective complexity)
is extensively used in this article to explain the choices of strategies, messages, and
media. Te’eni attempts to provide a balance between relationship and action, between
cognition and affect, and between message and medium.
This article brings a new perspective to the IS research on IT and organizational
communication. While other articles primarily discuss the impacts of communication
technology on users’ attitudes or behaviors, this article changes the focus into inputs,
process, and impacts of IT on organizational communication. Compared to the articles
“Group Polarization and Computer-Mediated Communication: Effects of Communication
Cues, Social Presence, and Anonymity” by Sia, Tan, and Wei (2002), which examines
how computer-mediated communication (CMC) technology affects group polarization,
“Information Overload and the Message Dynamics of Online Interaction Spaces: A
Theoretical Model and Empirical Exploration” by Jones (2004), which studies the
impacts of online group discussion technology (Usenet newsgroup) on their user
interactions, and “Toward Contextualized Theories of Trust: The Role of Trust in Global
Virtual Teams” by Jarvenpaa (2004), which examines how trust affects attitudes and
behaviors of people engaged in a global virtual tool, this article does not specify a
particular communication technology. Rather, it creates a new model of organizational
communication based on prior studies to explain the choices of strategies, messages, and
media and ultimately to design more effective and efficient communication technology.
The research method of this study is my most interesting concern. Te’eni proposes
various assumptions based upon a tremendous number of prior studies. He controls the
scope of the study, analyzes and categorizes prior work from his proposed research
framework, and generates an integrated model to demonstrate how technology should be
designed to make communication more effective by changing the medium and the
attributes of the message itself.
IS 7890: IS Research Seminar
Spring 2006