The effect of e-mail use and adoption on organizational participation: the case of a public administration

Improving organisational participation is becoming more and more important as organisations are trying to shift from a bureaucratic model based on work specialisation and division of labour towards knowledge-intensive organisations built on competence sharing and team working. The aim of this paper is to investigate participation in decision making mediated by e-mail (e-PDM) among organisational members that are in similar hierarchical positions. The conceptual background of the study integrates the organisational theories on PDM and the computer-mediated communication (CMC) literature. Data analysis, based on an empirical research conducted in an Italian governmental agency, investigates the factors that affect the adoption of horizontal e-PDM in the workplace and to what extent this is mediated by the interplay between technology and social context. Our results suggest that social structuration of technology and social processes in organisations do have an impact on e-mail use for participative purposes, and that, along with group characteristics, leadership plays a major role in enabling work group members to increase horizontal e-PDM.