Many organizations have embraced intranets with the intent to harness the technology to support knowledge management initiatives. Despite the promise that intranet technology holds in this regard, many of the early research studies indicate rather disappointing results. In this paper we propose a model that organizations can use to conceptualize and reflect on their intranet applications with a view towards more fruitful results, specifically in terms of knowledge creation. We do so by drawing upon Nonaka’s well-known framework of knowledge creation and combining that with a taxonomy of five intranet use modes. For each of Nonaka’s four knowledge creating activities we associate and describe the corresponding primary intranet use mode that we argue can foster the knowledge creation process. We illustrate the arguments with findings from our own empirical intranet field studies and other documented intranet-related knowledge management research. We conclude with some implications of the model and we suggest avenues for further research.
History
Event
European Conference on Information Systems (9th : 2001 : Bled, Slovenia)
Pagination
674 - 686
Publisher
Association for Information Systems
Location
Bled, Slovenia
Place of publication
[Bled, Slovenia]
Start date
2001-06-27
End date
2001-06-29
Language
eng
Publication classification
E1.1 Full written paper - refereed
Editor/Contributor(s)
S Smithson, J Gricar, M Podlogar, S Avgerinou
Title of proceedings
ECIS 2001 : Proceedings of 'Global co-operation in the new millennium', the 9th European Conference on Information Systems (ECIS 2001), Bled, Slovenia, 27-29 June 2001