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The Blackwell Encyclopedic Dictionary of Organizational Behavior

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variety <strong>of</strong> language, and personal cues. Generally, face-to-face communication is classified as the<br />

richest and highest social presence medium, followed by meetings, videoconferencing, telephone and<br />

teleconferencing, e-mail, written memos, and, finally, numerical information. Achieving the correct<br />

match between media richness and the communication situation is an important determinant <strong>of</strong><br />

effectiveness. Variables governing media choice include a degree <strong>of</strong> equivocality and uncertainty in the<br />

situation (the more uncertain, the richer the medium needed), sender and receiver characteristics, and<br />

organizational norms (see GROUP NORMS). Also important in media choice is what the medium<br />

symbolizes; a personal meeting might signal the importance the convener attaches to an issue, whereas<br />

an electronic mail message might suggest the same issue is less critical. While social presence, richness,<br />

and symbolism are<br />

file:///C|/downloadnetlibrary/<strong>Blackwell</strong>%20Ency/nlReader.dll@BookID=48684&FileName=Page_79.html (2 <strong>of</strong> 2) [2008-04-01 01:25:44]

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