Week 11, Friday Lecture Outline
- I. Media richness theory
- II. The Challenger launch decision
- III. How the medium constrained the message
- complex messages are best sent via a rich medium
- simple messages are best sent via a lean medium
- managers who correctly match messages to media outperform other managers
(e.g., Trevino, Daft, & Lengel, 1987)
- observe how the NASA and Thiokol managers chose to communicate during their
critical meeting
- consider how the use of communication media influenced decision processes
- think about the effect of communication media on the strength of groupthink
symptoms
- a key symptom of groupthink is the creation of an illusion of unanimity
- the meeting was conducted via a conference call
- telephone conversations inadequately convey non-verbal cues
- new technology provides video conferences
- in video meetings participants can see and hear each other
a video
channel might have changed the Challenger outcome -- by allowing the
NASA managers to see how uncomfortable the Thiokol managers were
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Revised -November 4, 1996