Exploring horizontal communication of matrix-structured organization with social penetration theory

With the generalization of information and communication technology, instant messaging (IM) has emerged as a tool for synchronous and asynchronous communication in recent years. Among all of the IM applications, Line and Skype are the most frequent used in corporate internal communication. As IM has become one of the necessary means for communication upon workplace, its appearance is also gradually changing the corporate internal communication culture. Using the matrix organizational structure as the research context, this study mainly aims to investigate project communication of project members through IM during the operation of art, entertainment and recreation business. With social penetration theory as the theoretical perspective, this study discusses horizontal communication among project members, and identifies the corresponding antecedents including self-disclosure, social presence, social anxiety and more. Through empirical validation, the study results demonstrate that self-disclosure, social presence and social anxiety would affect the communication between the project members. In addition, the tactic of strengthening social presence could stimulate the perception of individuals or reconcile with the emotion, in situ.