eThekwini Municipality’s intranet for augmenting knowledge–sharing in the organisation

Abstract

Background: The age of technology, where information and knowledge perform important roles in the organisational context, creates an opportunity for local government organisations (such as metropolitan municipalities) in South Africa to support knowledge–sharing. One such technology that supports knowledge–sharing is an intranet. If an intranet is not effectively managed, knowledge–sharing in an organisation shall not be augmented.Objective: To investigate whether or not an intranet augments knowledge–sharing in the selected organisation of eThekwini Municipality.Methods: In this study a quantitative research approach was adopted.Results: The results of this survey suggest that firstly the intranet appears to be at a medium maturity level; secondly, whilst there is information sharing, the intranet does not appear to be effective as a knowledge–sharing structure; and thirdly there appears to be scope for improvement of the content on the intranet. The implication thereof is that eThekwini Municipality’s recently formed Municipal Institute of Learning (MILE) may be ideally poised to address the identified shortcomings.Conclusion: Intranet technology plays an important role in an organisation by enabling the effective acquisition, sharing and presentation of knowledge. Because of this an intranet must be effectively managed to readily augment knowledge–sharing in the organisational context of local government organisations (such as metropolitan municipalities) in South Africa.