Upward Communication Strategies in a CMC Environment: A Case Study of Six University Presidential BBS in Taiwan

Upward communication strategies were investigated at six university presidential BBS in Taiwan. A 12 CMC upward influence strategies scheme was developed including demand, facts, questioning, comparing, hitchhiking, rational persuasion, feelings only, sarcasm, inspirational appeals, ingratiating, alliance, and threatening. Two major research questions were proposed asking about the differences between CMC and FTF upward strategies, distributions of CMC upward influence tactics, and are there differences among six universities in terms of usages of upward strategies?? The results indicated that demands and facts are the most frequently used upward strategies; and no significant different of tactics usages were found among six universities.