The Impact of E-mail Communication on Organizational Life

Computer-mediated communication (CMC) has become mainstream in work life. This raises the question what the impact of CMC on our daily work is. Since e-mail is still the most prevalent form of CMC in organizational life, we focus predominantly on e-mail communication. The central aim of this paper is to give an overview of research on the impact of e-mail provided by personal computers and smart mobile devices on work using the JD-R model as a framework. In other words we interpreted the results of the studies used to show which aspects of e-mail communication can be considered as demands and resources, and hence complicate or facilitate our working life. The costs of e-mail seem to be disproportionally loaded on the recipient who has to deal with excessive amounts of e-mail and the pressure to answer these e-mails as soon as possible. A smartphone increases the flexibility of an employee but facilitates working long hours with a risk of disturbed work-home balance at the same time. Technology in itself is neither a demand nor a resource; it is how we deal with it