Media Richness Theory Considered By Richard L. Daft, And Robert H. Lengel

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Media richness theory proposed by Richard L. Daft, and Robert H. Lengel in 1984. The theory indicates that all communication media vary in their ability for users to communicate and change understanding, as the name "richness". In specific, this theory argues that people rationally chose different channels for different purpose of communication based on channel richness and message equivocality (Richardson & Smith, 2007). Message equivocality means ambiguity and confusion which would cause by shallow understanding or even conflicting interpretation of the intend information (Daft & Lengel, 1986; Daft, Lengel & Trevino, 1987). The richness level of a given media can be evaluated by the following characteristics: the ability to handle multiple …show more content…

24) identified nine different types of languages: "art nonverbal cues, poetry, general verbal expression, jargon, linguistic variables, computer languages, probability theory and analytical mathematics." Draft and his colleague (1987) broadly group these alternatives into two categories: natural language and numbers. All three-basic media (video, audio, and computer text) provides the equal similar capabilities of using natural language and number excluding the variations provide by varying multiple cues. Media richness theory is loose about the definition and measurement of performance. Daft and Lengel (1986, p.567-568) state that organizations process information to "attain adequate performance" without ever defining "performance." In a summary of media richness theory articulating its conceptual framework, Trevino et al. (1990, p.71-96) discuss performance in "three terms: making better decisions (decision quality), establishing shared systems of meaning (consensus among participants), and making better use of participants' time (time required to reach conclusions)." Users' satisfaction is also suggested as an element of performance, albeit less directly (Lengel & Daft, 1988). Satisfaction has long been a key factor in-group work (Hackman, 1990; McGrath, 1984), so communication satisfaction of sender and receiver is another element of

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