Differences in the Use of Media Across Cultures

It has been estimated that managers spend the majority of their day in face-to-face communication (McKinnon & Bruns, 1992; Rice & Shook, 1990), and a major portion of the rest of their day in either voice or written communication (Mintzberg, 1973; Panko & Kinney, 1995), although this may be changing as more employees work in locations other than the headquarters or where their manager works (Dennis & Kinney, 1998). The issue of concern is: Which tasks are suited to which type of media? Understanding the effectiveness of media choices can help in designing information and communication technologies (Fulk & Boyd, 1991). These questions are particularly important to virtual organizations who, by their very nature, usually communicate using methods other than face to face.