VIDEO: Employee at computer reading e-mail. Various shots of computer screens and keyboards.

Cut to shot of business manager (female) receiving e-mail.

VOICEOVER: MORE EMPLOYEES ARE GIVING THE BOSS BAD NEWS WITH THE ADVENT OF E-MAIL, ACCORDING TO RECENT STUDIES. BUSINESSES NEED FACTUAL INFORMATION TO MAKE GOOD DECISIONS EVEN IF THE NEWS IS BAD. STEPHANIE WATTS SUSSMAN, AN ASSISTANT PROFESSOR AT CASE WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSITY'S WEATHERHEAD SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT, SAYS HER STUDIES SUGGEST A GREATER WILLINGNESS TO DELIVER BAD NEWS BY E-MAIL THAN BY TELEPHONE OR IN PERSON, AND THAT SHE SAYS, COULD BE GOOD FOR THE BOTTOM LINE.

SOT & SUGGESTED SUPER: Stephanie Watts Sussman, Assistant Prof., Information Systems, CWRU Weatherhead School of Management

VIDEO: Cut-away shots of business manager sending e-mail to employee (during sound bite).

Cut to another shot sequence of employee sending and receiving e-mail.

INTERVIEW: "People say do you want the good news or the bad news and we often say give me the bad news. Tell it to me like it is and get it over with, and that's the kind of thing that we're seeing with e-mail. And people that are maybe at more senior levels need to hear that negative information and e-mail may be a good way for them to receive it." (TRT = 0:20)

VOICEOVER: SUSSMAN SAYS, E-MAIL SHOULDN'T BE VIEWED AS AN EASY WAY OUT FOR DELIVERING LIFE'S TOUGH MESSAGES AND CAUTIONS THAT SENDING E-MAIL ISN'T NECESSARILY THE BEST WAY TO COMMUNICATE ALL UNPLEASANT NEWS.

INTERVIEW: "Clearly this doesn't suggest that people ought to be using E-MAIL to deliver bad news that is not something that we can learn from. For example, lay-offs are not something we can learn from and we're not suggesting that bad news be delivered by e-mail in that respect." (TRT :14)

Cut to black.

THIS IS DAVE NAROSNY REPORTING FROM CASE WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSITY, CLEVELAND.