Allen, T. J. (1977). Managing the flow of technology,. Cambridge, MA, MIT Press.

Since much of required information cannot be encoded efficiently or effectively, engineers must rely upon interpersonal communication to acquire and disseminate technical information.

Job performance related to colleague interactions.

Engineers often approach strangers outside their own organizations for information rather than their own colleagues even when the quality of information they obtain from the outsiders is much inferior. They fear hurting their reputation among their peers.

Allen also compared technical communication and participation in recreational activities and found significant degrees of overlap.

He also developed a communication log used by the subjects.

Notes from his book:

The engineering is more dependent on colleagues for information than scientists (Allen 1977). They use colleagues more often than other sources (like literature) for problem solvin (Allen 1977).

Allen states that Pelz and Andrews (1966) found that technical performance related to frequency and variety of individual's contacts with organizational colleagues. Allen found that higher erformances also spoke more to their fellow project members and espcially other colleagues.

Allen (1977) did a study of 19 engineers who ranked nine information channels (literature, vendors, customers, external sources, technical staff, company research, grouop disussion experimentaiton, and other) by accessibility and technical quality. This provides estimates of "channel cost" vs "channel payoff". He found that frequency of use was much more correlated to accessibility than to quality. Accessibility was also correlated to first use (which channel was used first). Zipf called it the "law of least effort". "but if the psychological cost involved in asking someone for help with a problem is included as a form of effort, then engineers do attempt to minimize effort by turning first and most frequently to more accessible sources of information." p. 185 Thus he concludes that merely increasing the quality of a source will not increase it's use -- you must ensure accessibility is high. Managers must ensure they they encourage and reward people for both asking and answering questions.

Allen also found a high correlation between experience with a channel and perceived accessibility. "...the degree of experience that an engineer acquires with an information channel does tend to lower his perception of the cost of using that channel" (p. 188).

In this study of 19 engineers, he asked them to indicate the sequence of channels they consulted during 111 information searchers. He found that engineers approached internal contacts far less frequently as a first source than 'their overall use would suggest". Engineers seem reluctant to first go to other non-team staff members for information. They often went to the literature first and then to colleagues. "From interviews, we were able to learn that they are often consciously aware of this practice and follow it in order not to be caught in a position in which they appear too uninformed or naive when they approach a colleague for help". P. 191

Blau found the concept of "diminishing returns" with consulting. The psychological cost of asking the question rises with each consultation, but the ego rewards rapidly diminish. Homans (1961) states that "the more often a man has in the recent past received a rewarding activity from another, the less valuable any further unit of that activity becomes to him" (Allen p. 192).

Key paragraph in Allen:

"On the other side of the bargain, the information seeker also sees the transaction as a costly one. For him, the perceived cost very often exceeds perceived value from the very outset. This is particularily true, when, in the case of strangers, there is even a very remote possibility in the information seeker's mind that the potential consultant will respond in an ego-threatening way. Moreover, even when initially perceived costs are not so high as to preclude consultation, they soon increase if repeated consultations are necessary." p. 192

"An engineers prestige among his colleagues is founded to a great degree upon an almost mystical characteristic called "technical competence". However, Allen hypothesizes that the cost would be less to search outside one's own organization.

One of his informants says the following: "I think people, being human, are somewhat reluctant to go to a person they they don't know. Either you are afraid you are going to look like a 'schnook' when it's all over or you are afraid that this guy may not have enough time. I think everybody goes though this ever since they were kids". p. 194

"This reluctance to communicate openly is observed not only among newer employees but alsom among those who have been with the organization for several years". In fact, the cost of seeking information may increase with time in the organization.

Strategies for Reducing Cost

From his interviews Allen found several strategies engineers use to reduce these costs:

1. Tell the person you are asking a dumb question. Allen states that "By denigrating himself, the inquirer deprives his colleague of an opportunity to make a derogatory comment and simultaneously evokes empathy from the person being questioned" p 195. But it's probably the poorest in overall effectiveness and is primarily a function of overall personality.

2. Literary preparation before face-to-face communication. Helps make you sound more intelligent. "Very often the information seeker will find it difficult to formulate his question properly. " p. 196

3. Restrict communication to those engineers who are known socially. Neutral social interactions (recreation, borrowing equipment, etc.). develop interpersonal understanding. Plus if they know each other, it is easier to recover from an akward situation. "It is the implicit awareness of this mechanism that makes the engineer more willing to approach someone with whom he has become acquainted". Social interaction also helps both parties determine their abilities.

Shepard (1954) found that exchange of technical information was a social act.

One solution would be for management to create interesting discussions where the relative status of people wouldn't change but that everyone would come away with more information than they started with.

Networks (Allen)

"When there is social contact between any two individuals, the probabability of technical communication is significantly higher then when no social contact exists". p.207