Paper info

Characterizing Online And Off-Line Communications In Business Relationships

Alison Trimble, Katherine Tyler and Paul Schurr

The paper was published at the 19th IMP-conference in Lugano, Switzerland in 2003.

As partners in a business relationship interact, they rely on a variety of communication channels as their relationship develops. Although much has been made of the cycles of interaction that contribute to a working relationship, we are only beginning to develop the frameworks and theories that explain the specific communications that play such a large role in interpersonal interactions. Our paper contributes to understanding business communications by characterizing face to face and computer-mediated communications along dimensions pertinent to business interactions. Also, we describe a framework that identifies influences on communication channel selection. We conclude with an illustration of a research approach drawn from our on-going investigations of the institutional investment industry.