Abstract

Organintion, MIS, and media choice theories all try to describe how information flows through a business organization. Organization theory concentrates on the use of interpersonal methods of communications. MIS theory focusses on computer-based technologies for communications. Media choice theory concentrates on factors that contribute to selection of communication medium. Each research area tends to ignore the others. The result is conflicting and often irreconcilable conclusions. One important subset of business communication is the flow of information to coordinate the activities of various units of a company. In this study, the selection of coordination methods for one type of job is analyzed. Based on a case study of equity traders, a theory of information coordination is hypothesized for future empirical evaluation. The hypotheses synthesize and reconcile the organization, MIS, and media choice literature. The case results presented in this work exemplify the hypothesized relationships.

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