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Dissertation Information for Nathaniel S. Bulkley

NAME:
- Nathaniel S. Bulkley

DEGREE:
- Ph.D.

DISCIPLINE:
- Library and Information Science

SCHOOL:
- University of Michigan, Ann Arbor (USA) (2006)

ADVISORS:
- Michael Cohen
- Marshall W. Van Alstyne

COMMITTEE MEMBERS:
- Jeffery King MacKie Mason
- Thomas Finholt
- Gerald Fredrick Davis

MPACT Status: Fully Complete

Title: Email and output: Communication effects on productivity

Abstract: My dissertation is an econometric case study of relationships between email patterns and individual performance that develops techniques aimed at improving the measurement of white-collar productivity. While interpersonal communication patterns are likely to influence individual and organizational performance, researchers have had difficulty measuring these effects in white collar settings. I address the problem of measurement by using email as proxy for more general communication patterns, within a setting, executive recruiting, in which I was able to obtain individual measures of output.

My work contributes to existing knowledge in two main areas. First, I develop methodology for using email data as an alternative to social network surveys. This includes developing email measures and assessing their validity and reliability. Second, I use email measures to operationalize novel tests of classical theories that may explain variation in individual performance within organization settings.

Multiple theoretical perspectives, including sociology, economics, coordination theory and organizational learning, motivate hypothesis testing. Findings are consistent with existing research that relates social network centrality to performance. In addition, an individual's benefit from intra-organizational networking appears to evolve over the course of a career from an emphasis on accumulating to exercising social capital. Non-topological measures related to performance include message sizes, response times and proportional measures of information flow. They suggest that aspects of how people communicate also predict performance. Perceptual data, gathered in an online survey and interviews, provide context for interpreting results.

MPACT Scores for Nathaniel S. Bulkley

A = 0
C = 0
A+C = 0
T = 0
G = 0
W = 0
TD = 0
TA = 0
calculated 2008-01-31 06:30:44

Advisors and Advisees Graph