Email overload: Exploring the moderating role of the perception of email as a ‘business critical’ tool

Sumecki, David; Chipulu, Maxwell; Ojiako, G.U.

Abstract

The management of email remains a major challenge for organisations. In this article, we explore the extent of the perceptions of email as a business critical tool within an organisation and how the level of such perceptions may moderate the level of email overload experienced by individuals within the organisation. Data from a sample of 1100 employees of a multinational technology firm are analysed using multivariate techniques. The results suggest that without a clearly stated code of email practice within an organisation, there are likely to be large variations in what is perceived as ‘business-critical’ email and, as a result, a substantial amount of email generated within the organisation may not be ‘business-critical’, potentially increasing the level of ‘email-overload’ experienced by individuals within the organisation.

Research highlights
▶ We explore links between email overload and its efficacy as a business communication tool.
▶ Data is obtained from a sample of 1100 employees of a multinational technology firm.
▶ Findings highlight need for a clearly stated code of email practice within firms.

Citation

Sumecki, D., Chipulu, M., & Ojiako, G. (2011). Email overload: Exploring the moderating role of the perception of email as a ‘business critical’ tool. International Journal of Information Management, 31(5), 407-414. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijinfomgt.2010.12.008

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Online Publication Date: Jan 17, 2011
• Publication Date: 2011-10
• Deposit Date: Sep 28, 2021
• Print ISSN: 0268-4012
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 31
• Issue: 5
• Pages: 407-414
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijinfomgt.2010.12.008
• Keywords: Email, Overload, Information, Management
• Public URL: http://researchrepository.napier.ac.uk/Output/2802549
• Publisher URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S026840121000191X