Digital Communication in the Absence of Institutional Email: A Case Study of Academic Staff at the Institute of Management and Technology, Enugu, Nigeria

Abstract

This study investigates adaptive communication practices developed by academic staff at the Institute of Management and Technology (IMT), Enugu, in response to the absence of institutional email infrastructure. We used a mixed-methods case study approach to examine 189 academic staff members through surveys and interviews. Results reveal that 100% of staff use personal email for official communication, with 93.1% utilising WhatsApp as a supplementary platform. Despite significant challenges in information security (87.3%) and professional boundary blurring (76.2%), overall communication satisfaction remained moderately high (3.6/5). Factor analysis revealed three primary dimensions of adaptive strategies: Digital Innovation, Social Networking, and Formal Documentation, explaining 68% of the variance in communication practices. Personal email proficiency emerged as the strongest predictor of communication effectiveness (β = 0.35, p < 0.001). The findings suggest institutions can maintain effective operations through strategic adaptation despite infrastructure limitations.