Enhancing Hybrid OSS Development Through Agile Methods and High Media Synchronicity

Open source software (OSS) is increasingly being developed by hybrid teams that consist of a mix of company employees and volunteer developers. While hybrid OSS teams are becoming more prevalent, they also face unique challenges due to the involvement of different constituents. To address those challenges, this paper develops and validates a new organizing model. Specifically, the paper draws on media synchronicity theory (MST) to theorize that hybrid OSS teams would benefit from adopting an organizing model that involves practicing agile methods and using communication tools with multiple symbols sets and high transmission velocity. The paper also extends MST by conceptualizing the theory's key concept of communication convergence as consisting of two distinct dimensions: affective and cognitive convergence. Using primary survey data from hybrid OSS teams, the paper presents empirical evidence that such an organizing model can enhance those teams' affective convergence and cognitive convergence and, in turn, their development productivity and the quality of the software. In addition, the results show that affective convergence has a stronger impact on hybrid OSS teams' performance than cognitive convergence.

Media features and communication control in the digitalized workplace: a study about regulating negative emotional communication

PurposeOne challenge facing the digitalized workplace is communication control, especially emotion regulation in which individuals try to manage their emotional experiences and/or expressions during organizational communication. Extant research largely focused on the facilitating role of a few media features (e.g. fewer symbol sets). This study seeks to provide a deeper understanding of media features that individuals, as receivers of negative emotions expressed by communication partners, could leverage to support regulating negative emotional communication in the workplace.Design/methodology/approachThis study used qualitative research methods to identify media features that support regulating negative emotional communication at work. Data were collected using interviews and was analyzed using directed content analysis in which media features discussed in media synchronicity theory (MST) were used as the initial coding schema but the researcher was open to media features that do not fit with MST.FindingsIn addition to media features (and capabilities) discussed in MST, this study identified five additional media features (i.e. message broadcasting, message blocking, receiving specification, recipient specification and compartmentalization) and two underlying media capabilities (i.e. transmission control capability and participant control capability) that may support regulating negative emotional communication. Two major mechanisms (i.e. reducing or eliminating emotion regulation workload, and providing prerequisites or removing obstacles for emotion regulation) via which media features support emotion regulation were also identified.Originality/valueThis paper provides a more comprehensive understanding regarding communication media features that may support emotion regulation in particular and communication control in general. Findings of this study contribute to several literatures and may also transfer to other similar contexts.

Instructional changes instigated by university faculty during the COVID-19 pandemic: the effect of individual, course and institutional factors

The purpose of this study was to investigate instructional changes made by faculty for emergency online teaching necessitated by the COVID-19 pandemic, and hence to explore key factors related to those changes from an ecological systems perspective. Data on various individual, course, and institutional factors and instructional change variables were collected from 201 educators at higher education institutions. Results revealed that the level of instructional changes made by faculty was on average between substituting their existing course for an online one with some functional improvement (augmentation-level 3) and critical course redesign (modification-level 4), but that educators did not reach the level of the creation of new tasks which were previously inconceivable (redefinition-level 5). The biggest instructional change was found to be in teaching behaviors, followed by technology use, with only small changes in beliefs about online teaching. Factors that most highly correlated with instructional change were individual educators’ technology acceptance and innovation propensity, media synchronicity of the course, and the fidelity of institutional support. Recommendations are provided to aid strategic coping by universities facing a major crisis, with insights that may ultimately improve the quality of higher education in non-crisis contexts.

The Impact of Social Media Usage on Work Efficiency: The Perspectives of Media Synchronicity and Gratifications

As prevail of mobile networking, social media became ubiquitous in either work or our personal life. Based on Media Synchronization Theory and transformational framework, this study proposed a research model and examined how the social media' attributes impacting the work effectiveness through the work-oriented or social-oriented usage. The data of 322 valid questionnaires from respondents was analyzed by SmartPLS 3.2.8. The results indicated that the features of social media including availability and symbol variety had the significant influences on their work efficiency through work-oriented usage of social media. Publicness and symbol variety had impact on work efficiency via social-oriented usage of social media. In addition, both social media for work-oriented and social-oriented usage influenced employees' work efficiency. There were different considerations when people selected social media for work or for social purpose. Managers or companies could guide their employees to use the social media in a right way to increase their work features to complete their work efficiency, and create groups for employees so the work information could be shared efficiently.

The impact of media use on the spillover and crossover effect of couple conflict

This 5-day daily diary study examined the influence of media use on the spillover and crossover effect of couple conflict among married and dating couples. Couples aged 18–38 years recorded their daily overload, negative mood, couple conflict, media use, flooding, and satisfaction. The results showed negative spillover and crossover effects: individuals reported more negative moods and couple conflict in response to their own and their partners’ increase in daily overload. Following media synchronicity theory, the more synchronous media couples used in conflict, the more they resolved the conflict. In addition, the more couples segmented their channels, the less they flooded and the more they resolved the conflict. The results suggest that dating and married couples might benefit from managing conflict associated with spillover and crossover effects using synchronous channels that are segmented.

Remote Oral Doctoral Dissertation Defenses in Management, Leadership, and Business: Benefits, Pedagogy, and Practices

Remote oral doctoral dissertation defenses are an alternative to face-to-face meetings when the latter are not feasible, but remote defenses also have their own advantages. This article explores the challenges and benefits of remote oral dissertation defenses and theories relevant to understanding and supporting remote defenses as a unique learning and assessment event. Drawing on the technology pedagogy content knowledge model, remote work research, and media synchronicity theory, we review key principles relevant to translating defenses from a face-to-face to a remote format. The article includes two appendices with recommended readings and detailed practical guidelines to support the planning and facilitation of remote defenses.

Preferences for Written and Spoken Expressions of Thanks Among American Professionals

Expressing thanks in the workplace involves thoughtfulness and skill. Based on a gratitude journaling exercise over the course of a month by 58 American professionals (Study 1) and a survey of over 1,200 American professionals (Study 2), this research demonstrates the many written and spoken ways in which professionals value receiving thanks in low-effort, high-effort, minor-accomplishment, and major-accomplishment situations. The research suggests gratitude expressions can be interpreted through media synchronicity theory and social comparison theory. A variety of training and teaching approaches are offered.

Reageren op een e-consult : De ontwikkeling en validering van een protocol voor de arts

Responding to an e-consult: the development and validation of a protocol for the doctorFrom Media Synchronicity Theory and the so-called egocentrism hypothesis, it is predicted that answering a patient message in an e-consultation in comparison with the face-to-face consultation places a number of specific requirements to ensure that the patient values the communication positively. These requirements have been elaborated on the basis of a number of preliminary studies and converted into a protocol against which a doctor's answer can be tested. In a main study, (a) it was investigated to what extent answers that advanced medical students create without any prior instruction comply with the protocol and (b) whether answers that meet the protocol to a higher degree indeed receive a higher rating from patients than answers that don’t comply with the protocol. The latter appears to be the case. Because it appears that e-consultations of many medical students do not yet comply with the protocol, we can conclude that this protocol can form the basis for training doctors and medical students.