Managing Impressions with Information Technology

The contributors to this volume demonstrate the evolving ways in which impression management is conducted through the use of information technology. Whether consciously or unconsciously, individuals create and manage impressions of themselves when they use or interact with IT or in an IT environment. How? By managing the symbolism embedded in the technology. For example, technology is often the primary medium in interactions between a client and a work team, or virtual team, dedicated to servicing the needs of that client. The team itself may be geographically dispersed, lending a deeper layer to the management of impressions among members of the team via their use of technology, including e-mail, groupware, videoconferencing, and Intranet development.

Researchers in the behavioral effects and consequences of information technology will find much of value here. This book is also of interest to information technology practitioners and professors alike who work with or study the broader organizational and individual signals, perceptions, and effects of IT-related decisions. Graduate students will find it appropriate as supplemental reading for courses on the organizational implications of IT, the behavioral effects of IT, the impact of IT on corporate strategy, and the impact of organizational design decisions.

JON W. BEARD is Associate Professor in the Computer Management and Information Systems Department at Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville. Prior to joining the faculty of SIUE, he taught in the Management Department of Lowry Mays College and at the Graduate School of Business at Texas A&M University. He is the editor of Impression Management and Information Technology (Quorum Books, 1996), an earlier exploration of some of the questions and issues posed in the current volume.