Effectiveness of channel use for communication of strategic vision for information technology to organization members

A theoretical model for the development and communication of a strategic vision for information technology (IT) is presented in this paper. Based on the communication process for strategic IT vision, a research model is developed. This research studies the effectiveness of channel use for communicating a strategic vision for information technology in an information-intensive organization throughout the organization. Two bank holding companies were used to examine the relationship between the awareness of the strategic vision for information technology at each organization and several constructs related to channel use and communication source legitimacy.;Support was found for the relationship between strategic IT vision awareness and source legitimacy, represented by the source's hierarchical level in relation to the communication recipient, the source's perceived credibility and the source's perceived information technology expertise. Partial support was found for the relationship between strategic IT vision awareness and channel richness and between awareness and the number of channels used to communicate the strategic IT vision. No support was found for the relationship between strategic IT vision awareness and potential for exposure of a channel and frequency of interaction with a source. Support was found for the moderating relationship of the communication recipient's organizational level with channel richness and the number of channels used. The study also revealed a difference in the outcomes of strategic communication between manager and worker level communication recipients.;A dual dynamic proposed here posits that manager and lower level workers have different mental models with which to interpret and recall strategic messages. Whether or not this results in differences in organizational outcomes is not the focus of this research but should be examined in future research. Support for the construct of source legitimacy outside of the marketing discipline was also confirmed in this study.