【正文】
ail.Findings – The paper finds that the nature of information has changed from facetoface to staring at puter screens. Research shows that over onequarter of recipients of s misunderstood the munication, even where those interacting are close colleagues, while research at three US business schools found that colleagues were more likely to be dishonest with one another when using because of the lack of facetoface interaction. Studies have also shown that business teams cooperate less if they have not talked facetoface.Originality/value – The paper will be of relevance to all those working under time constraints in various cultural settings.Keywords Timebased management, Culture, Communication, Electronic mailPaper type ViewpointTime has long been viewed as important. In Greek mythology, Chronus or Khronos (the god of time) emerged, selfformed at the beginning of creation.Today, there is a multiplicity of concepts we can apply to time. There is Confucianism, fatalism, reincarnation, the work ethic,Weltschmertz, and so on. Concepts of time and space are strikingly different. As regards time, the Western Hemisphere we are mostly monochronic. Time is scarce. We prefer to do one thing at a time and concentrate on it.In the East, for many people time is polychronic. In the West time is linear, whereas in Eastern cultures, time is cyclic when God made time he made plenty of it.Great care has to be taken over time orientation, for failure to do so can produce culture clashes. Time orientation is:■ The degree to which people feel they can control their time.■ The relative importance society places on relationships versus keeping schedules.■ Attitudes towards timekeeping and punctuality.■ Comfort level with shortrange versus longerrange planning.■ The appropriateness of assigning set times at which social functions or business meetings will start and finish. In some countries this can be plicated and pounded by other cultural values, such as investing in relationships and the need for harmony and hierarchy.Yet, irrespective of the culture we are from and how time is viewed, the importance of effective time management cannot be underestimated. Today, however, the focus must cease to be on what may be called the ‘‘boxticking’’ approach。 we have to drill deeper to