Abstract

Some companies have begun to restrict the use of e-mail with the conviction that the information overload it causes undermines labor productivity. But the problem is not the tool, but the interruptions caused by excessive exchange of messages, often with irrelevant information. Therefore, the real solution is to establish appropriate management strategies and avoid excessive communication. Some initiatives are committed to moving the internal communication to social media, although it tends to fragment the information required to complete tasks.

Abstract

During the last decade we have witnessed the generalized use of email as a tool for communication in our society. Its use within organizations follows this general trend and a large portion of a company’s internal information flow occurs in this way. Thus, monitoring its use, while preserving the anonymity of its users, is a very valuable tool to know the informal structure of an organization and to compare it with the prescribed formal structure. In particular, we present a community analysis performed on the email network of the Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Tarragona, Spain.