Gender and Hierarchy as Factors of Leadership Practices and the Use of Email

OBJECTIVE
The study examined how organizational leaders are using email to interact within organizations, and how this might vary among leaders with different practices of communicating, as impacted by hierarch and gender.

METHODOLOGY
Data was collected during an organizational leadership retreat held by Meridan Health Systems (comprised of three hospitals and 75 non-hospital affiliates) located in located in central New Jersey. Of the 350 managers who attended, 233 (66% response rate) participated in the study. Respondents completed the Leadership Practices Inventory and a researcher-designed survey to measure the venues leaders would use in responding to everyday communications. Approximately three quarters of the participants were female.

KEY FINDINGS
There were no statistically significant differences between leadership Practices groups with respect to the intervening variables of gender, attitude, experience proficiently, and social influence.