Climate for Computer-mediated Communication Technology Implementation and Implementation Success

MEYER, DAVID CHARLES. Climate for Computer-Mediated Communication Technology Implementation and Implementation Success. Electronic mail and the world-wide web may be particularly helpful to university faculty members as they implement these technologies into their teaching. However, effective implementation depends on a host of social, technical, and historical factors. This study creates and tests a "climate for computer-mediated communication technology implementation" survey. This quantitative climate measure correlates specific departmentlevel policies and practices with implementation success. The implementation climate at a large state university based on 420 faculty members representing 58 different academic departments suggests that a climate for computermediated communication (CMC) technology implementation does exist at the department level within the university. In addition, the climate for CMC technology implementation accounts for variance in implementation success over and above more traditional implementation correlates measured in prior MIS research (i.e., individual expectations, task urgency, technical expertise). The research results demonstrate the applicability of MIS research findings to educational settings and quantitatively confirm the existence of a department-level climate for implementation. ii BIOGRAPHY David Meyer studied history, English, and education at the University of Minnesota and received his bachelor’s degree (cum laude) in Secondary Education. His career path has included teaching secondary school, facilitating teamwork within management teams, organizing community service programs for at-risk youth, and coaching collegiate alpine ski racing. David’s career activities are dedicated to the belief that the solutions to complex social and business problems require interpersonal communication skills and team-based problem solving approaches. This applied experience coupled with an academic background in organizational psychology, management of information science, and research methods provides the foundation of this dissertation. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am grateful for the financial support that I received from the Division of Undergraduate Affairs at North Carolina State University. This work also received partial support from the National Science Foundation’s Science and Technology Center (STC) under Agreement Number CHE-9876674. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation. I owe my friends and faculty advisors at North Carolina State University, Duke University, and Boise State University many thanks for their guidance and support. I’m also grateful for all the good advice Dr. Denis Gray, my committee chair, has given me over the years. Research involves choices—it is good to have wise counsel. Watching someone write a dissertation may be more work than actually writing one. This dissertation is dedicated to my best friend, Jill Galanter. Thanks for being my biggest fan.