Evolutional Patterns of Intranet Applications

Abstract

The objective of this chapter is to propose a theoretical examination, strengthened by an empiric survey of intranet evolutional patterns and the neologism that designates a communication system, for access to and searching of business information based on Internet technologies. This chapter analyses intranet applications and functionalities in order to classify them according to a taxonomy that allows us to distinguish between an institutional intranet, a knowledge management intranet, and an operating intranet. The main research hypothesis is the existence of an intranet life cycle, as an evolutional model starting from an institutional intranet that moves to a knowledge management intranet and then to an operating one. This last one is considered as a proxy for successful IS implementation. To substantiate the above-mentioned hypothesis an empirical study was conducted among 110 large Italian corporations, with a response rate of 66% (73 corporations). The method used was a survey conducted during the months of March, April, and May 2010, applying a mix of random sampling (randomly selected interviewees from the directory) and “snowball” sampling (contacting interviewees through leads). The results show how, basically, companies approach intranet implementation processes in an incremental way, which begins with the integration of the basic functionalities as “communication channel,” “service platform,” or “document management.”