Mobile Phone Usage in Organizational Communication and Decision-Making

Through individual in-depth interviews, the authors examine employees' use of mobile phones for decision-making and internal/external communication in the China branch of a multinational company. The study shows that mobile phones are a key communication tool in the company. Voice calls are the most preferable way of mobile phone use due to their synchronous nature for instant communication and the rich verbal cues they carry. Text messaging is an unobtrusive way of business communication and it can be used as the formal documentation of business decision-making. Group text messaging turns the mobile phone into a mass communication platform for customer relationship maintenance. Contingency theory is applied to further discuss the findings, and practical recommendations are also provided.