The Impact of Electronic Mail on Business

Alexander Beer, born and bred in Vienna in 1969, received his Master's and Ph.D. degrees in Commerce from the Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration. To broaden his horizon, he also started a couple of other studies on the side (translation, law). Since 1991 he has been an assistant professor of Business English at his Alma Mater

List of Figures

7

(1)

List of Tables

8

(1)

Preface

9

(2)

Methodology and Research Design

11

(6)

Research questions

11

(2)

Research design

13

(4)

Internet and E-mail -- Past, Present, and Future

17

(22)

A brief history of the Internet

18

(10)

Digression: The History of the `@' Symbol

19

(6)

The `e-' Prefix

25

(1)

Intranets

26

(2)

The Significance of E-mail

28

(5)

The significance and development of e-commerce

33

(6)

Internal vs. External Communication

39

(10)

Internal Communication

39

(3)

External Communication

42

(1)

Convergence of Internal and External Communication

43

(6)

Orality vs. Literacy

49

(14)

Definition

49

(1)

Diffusion of Differences between Orality and Literacy

50

(3)

Orality vs. Literacy in E-mail Communication

53

(10)

Differences between Internal and External E-mail Communication -- a Corpus-based Analysis

63

(18)

Degree of Formality

65

(3)

I vs. YOU vs. WE

68

(7)

Negations

75

(2)

Language Errors

77

(4)

Choice of Medium

81

(20)

Characteristics of Channels of Communication

82

(5)

Combination of Media

87

(2)

Advantages of Traditional Mail

89

(2)

Person-to-person Communication (vs. E-mail)

91

(4)

Advantages of E-mail

95

(3)

E-mail Communication Strategies

98

(3)

General Aspects

98

(1)

The MADE™ format

99

(2)

Impact of E-mail on Corporate Communication

101

(14)

Impact of E-mail on Other Channels of Communication

101

(7)

Telephone

101

(2)

Fax

103

(2)

Paper-based memos

105

(1)

Face-to-face Communication

106

(2)

Impact of E-Mail on Overall Amount of Corporate Communication

108

(7)

Applications of E-mail

115

(22)

E-mail as a management tool

115

(3)

E-mail Marketing

118

(11)

Spamming

118

(3)

Strategies and Guidelines for E-mail Marketing

121

(1)

Financial and Legal Aspects of E-mail Marketing

122

(5)

Market Segmentation and other Technological Aspects

127

(2)

Customer Relationship Management (CRM)

129

(3)

E-mail as a Negotiation Tool

132

(1)

Possible Contributions of E-mail to Other Areas

133

(4)

Instant Messaging in Companies

137

(4)

The Impact of Technology on Organizational Structures

141

(14)

Literature Review and Secondary Data

142

(5)

Primary Data

147

(8)

Interviews

148

(1)

Questionnaire-based Data

149

(6)

Netiquette

155

(10)

Emoticons

160

(2)

TLAs

162

(1)

Flaming

163

(2)

How Business People React to Sloppy Mails -- A Literature Review

165

(10)

Descriptive Sources

165

(3)

Prescriptive Sources

168

(7)

Organizational Aspects of Electronic Mail -- Empirical Findings

175

(20)

Use of Official E-mail/Internet Policy

176

(10)

What Is E-mail Policy?

176

(6)

E-mail Policies in Selected Companies

182

(4)

Significance of E-mail Within Companies

186

(1)

Dependence on E-mail Systems

187

(3)

Impact on Decision-making

190

(1)

Special Units Dealing with E-mail

191

(4)

Linguistic Aspects of Electronic Mail -- Empirical Findings

195

(16)

Reaction to Errors in Incoming E-mails

195

(11)

Errors in E-mails from Customers

196

(1)

Errors in Job Applications

196

(2)

Errors in Internal Mails

198

(2)

Errors in Mails from (Potential) Vendors

200

(6)

The Use of Emoticons and TLAs in Business E-mails

206

(1)

Impact of Rank on Care Exercised in Writing Mails

207

(1)

Perceived Impact on a Company's Bottom Line

208

(3)

Conclusion

211

(2)

Appendix 1: Questionnaire Used for This Thesis

213

(6)

Appendix 2: Notes for Semi-structured Interview

219

(2)

Appendix 3: Description of Selected Interviewees

221

(4)

Appendix 4: Sample Interview Transcript

225

(12)

Bibliography

237

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The Impact of Electronic Mail on Business Processes: And the Relevance of Proper English in This Context

Author Biography

Table of Contents

Supplemental Materials

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The Impact of Electronic Mail on Business Processes: And the Relevance of Proper English in This Context

Author Biography

Table of Contents

Supplemental Materials

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