Abstract

Email has changed the way we work. A significant proportion of the communication in organizational life, with clients and colleagues, far away or in close proximity, takes place online (Renaud, Ramsay, & Hair, 2006). The reputation of email is that it is less time consuming, more reliable, and more efficient than face-to-face meetings or phone calls (e.g. Berghel, 1997). People can be reached easily and quickly (Manger, Wicklund, & EIkeland, 2003), and communicating asynchronously facilitates collaboration with individuals irrespective of geographical location (Renaud et al., 2006).