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Emails From the Boss—Curse or Blessing? Relations Between Communication Channels, Leader Evaluation, and Employees’ Attitudes

Braun, Stephan, Hernandez Bark, Alina, Kirchner, Alexander, Stegmann, Sebastian, van Dick, Rolf (2015) Emails From the Boss—Curse or Blessing? Relations Between Communication Channels, Leader Evaluation, and Employees’ Attitudes. International Journal of Business Communication, 56 (1). pp. 50-81. ISSN 2329-4884. E-ISSN 2329-4892. (doi:10.1177/2329488415597516) (Access to this publication is currently restricted. You may be able to access a copy if URLs are provided) (KAR id:81608)

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https://dx.doi.org/10.1177/2329488415597516

Abstract

The present research investigates if and how a more digitally centered communication between supervisors and employees satisfies employees’ needs regarding the communication with their supervisors and influences employees’ attitudes toward the supervisor and the job. In a cross-sectional online study, 261 employees rated their supervisors’ actual and ideal use of different communication channels (i.e., telephone, face-to-face, email) regarding quality and quantity. Employees’ job satisfaction and their perceptions of their supervisors’ effectiveness and team identification were measured as dependent variables. Employees perceived face-to-face communication to be of higher quality than telephone and email communication, and they indicated a preference for more face-to-face communication with their supervisors than they actually had. Moreover, the perceived quality of communication, especially via face-to-face, was strongly and positively related to the dependent variables. These results provide insights into potential problems of increasing e-leadership in organizations. We conclude with recommendations to reduce these problems.

Item Type: Article
DOI/Identification number: 10.1177/2329488415597516
Uncontrolled keywords: e-leadership, leadership, communication, face-to-face, email
Subjects: H Social Sciences
Divisions: Divisions > Division of Human and Social Sciences > School of Psychology
Depositing User: Alexander Kirchner Hausler
Date Deposited: 08 Jun 2020 10:37 UTC
Last Modified: 17 Aug 2022 11:02 UTC
Resource URI: https://kar.kent.ac.uk/id/eprint/81608 (The current URI for this page, for reference purposes)

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