{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,11,19]],"date-time":"2025-11-19T19:22:54Z","timestamp":1763580174816,"version":"3.41.2"},"reference-count":35,"publisher":"Emerald","issue":"1","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[1999,3,1]],"date-time":"1999-03-01T00:00:00Z","timestamp":920246400000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/www.emerald.com\/insight\/site-policies"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":[],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[1999,3,1]]},"abstract":"<jats:p>The changing role of technology in the virtual workplace has been accompanied by a proliferation of research activity focusing initially on the technical aspects and, more recently, on the social and political aspects of the diffusion process, including power and politics. This paper builds on the work of Kling and Markus on power and politics in IT, extending it to e\u2010mail and more specifically, to the use of e\u2010mail for petty tyranny. Reviews the literature on petty tyranny and its implications to IT and e\u2010mail. Presents a case study in which e\u2010mail was used by a department chair to manipulate, control, and coerce employees. The discussion links the events in the case with the literature on petty tyranny. In conclusion, demonstrates that e\u2010mail features make it amenable to political abuse and elaborates on the more general, theoretical, practical and ethical implications from this research.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1108\/09593849910250510","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2002,7,28]],"date-time":"2002-07-28T18:52:06Z","timestamp":1027882326000},"page":"27-43","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":18,"title":["The office tyrant \u2010 social control through e\u2010mail"],"prefix":"10.1108","volume":"12","author":[{"given":"Celia T.","family":"Romm","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Nava","family":"Pliskin","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"140","reference":[{"key":"key2022021319563381800_b1","unstructured":"Adorno, T.W., Frenkel\u2010Brunswik, E., Levinson, D.J. and Sanford, R.N. 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(1988), \u201cWork group structures and computer support: a field experiment\u201d, ACM Transactions on Office Information Systems, Vol. 6 No. 4, pp. 354\u201079.","DOI":"10.1145\/58566.58568"},{"key":"key2022021319563381800_b5","unstructured":"Goffman, E. (1961), Asylums: Essays on the Social Situation of Mental Patients and Other Inmates, Anchor Books, New York, NY."},{"key":"key2022021319563381800_b6","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Haney, C., Banks, C. and Zimbardo, P. (1973), \u201cInterpersonal dynamics in a simulated prison\u201d, International Journal of Criminology and Penology, Vol. 1, pp. 69\u201097.","DOI":"10.21236\/AD0751041"},{"key":"key2022021319563381800_b7","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Hofstede, G. (1978), \u201cThe poverty of management control philosophy\u201d, Academy of Management Review, Vol. 3, pp. 450\u201061.","DOI":"10.5465\/amr.1978.4305727"},{"key":"key2022021319563381800_b8","unstructured":"Kets de Vries, M.F.R. 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(1981), Implementation politics \u2010 top management support and IS involvement\u201d, Systems, Objectives, Solutions, pp. 203\u201015."},{"key":"key2022021319563381800_b14","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Markus, M.L. (1983), \u201cPower, politics, and MIS implementation\u201d, Communications of the ACM, Vol. 26 No. 6, pp. 430\u201044.","DOI":"10.1145\/358141.358148"},{"key":"key2022021319563381800_b15","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Markus, M.L. (1994a), \u201cElectronic mail as a medium of managerial choice\u201d, Organization Science, Vol. 5 No. 4, pp. 502\u201027.","DOI":"10.1287\/orsc.5.4.502"},{"key":"key2022021319563381800_b16","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Markus, M.L. 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(1997), \u201cThe impact of e\u2010mail on the evolution of a virtual community during a strike\u201d, Information & Management, Vol. 32, pp. 245\u201054.","DOI":"10.1016\/S0378-7206(97)00027-X"},{"key":"key2022021319563381800_b23","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Pliskin, N., Ball, L.D. and Curley, K.F. (1989), \u201cImpediments to proliferation of electronic mail: a study from the users\u2019 perspective\u201d, Human Systems Management, Vol. 8 No. 3, pp. 233\u201041.","DOI":"10.3233\/HSM-1989-8308"},{"key":"key2022021319563381800_b24","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Pliskin, N., Romm, C.T. and Markey, R. (1997), \u201cE\u2010mail as a weapon in an industrial dispute\u201d, New Technology, Work and Employment, Vol. 12 No. 1, pp. 3\u201012.","DOI":"10.1111\/1468-005X.00018"},{"key":"key2022021319563381800_b25","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Pliskin, N., Romm, T., Lee, A.S. and Weber, Y. 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