Communication and Decision Making

Week 11, Friday

Psychology 360
Outline
I. Media richness theory
II. The Challenger launch decision
III. How the medium constrained the message
Differences in conveying complexity
Ordering of communication media
The richness continuum
The matching hypothesis
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)
The Challenger launch video
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
How the medium constrained the message
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
A hypothesis
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

Copyright © 1996, The Regents of the University of Michigan, All rights reserved.
Revised - November 4, 1996