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This article introduces the concept of telephone apprehension, argues that the concept is potentially useful to management scholars, and reports a series of five studies that yield a reliable and valid self-report instrument for measuring telephone apprehension, the Telephone Apprehension Measure (TAM). The first two studies demonstrate the reliability and validity of the TAM for college undergraduates. The third study uses the TAM to explore a possible etiology of telephone apprehension among employed adults. The fourth study combines and reanalyzes data from the earlier studies to rigorously evaluate the TAM, exposing both strengths and weaknesses and yielding a more efficient version of the test. The final study demonstrates the ability of the TAM to predict telephone use among practicing managers.

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A voice mail (VM) system was pilot tested at a Canadian tar sand mining site. User responses were generally favorable, indicating that training and usage aids were effective, favoring continuation of VM, and identifying improved intershift communication as an important advantage. VOICE MAIL (VM), IS A RELATIVELY NEW technology capable of transforming business communication systems.' Unfortunately, little is known about user reactions to VM or about the effects of VM. Stewart and Finn have accurately described the published reports as consisting primarily of &dquo;trade and marketing publications aimed at 'selling' the technology. &dquo;2This paper reports an analysis of data gathered during pilot installation of a VM system in a tar sand mining operation. This project was noteworthy because of its novel application of VM to a mining operation and because of the systematic efforts by a purchaser (rather than a vendor) to assess user reactions.This study was the sort which organization development scholars term action research;3 that is, the study was conducted in a field setting and designed to assist managers who were attempting to introduce VM into an organization. The organizational environment imposed certain constraints and precluded some research strategies (e. g. , an experiment), but the sacrifice of some scientific rigor seemed justified in order to observe the introduction of a new technology into an organizational setting unlike any to which the technology had been introduced previously. REVIEW OF LITERATUREMany articles have described and extolled VM technology but only a few scholars have attempted to carefully assess the impact of VM. The paucity of research is primarily due to the newness of the technology. Thefirm, VMX, which is sometimes called the &dquo;originator of the voice messaging industry&dquo; did not sell its first product until 1981.4 A second reason for the lack of VM research is the tendency of social scientists to neglect the telephone.5 5