Mid Sweden University

This paper presents a study carried out 2002, concerning the Intranet in five Swedish organizations. The purpose is to investigate in what way different aspects influence the use and understanding of an Intranet. An explorative approach is used, based on two interview guides. The first guide is aimed at managers and IS representatives and covers background aspects of the Intranets, as well as data about the businesses and their Intranets. The second guide is directed to all kinds of users and covers aspects of the use of Intranet and in what way users can influence the content and understanding of the Intranet. The persons interviewed represent end-users, managers and members of the IS staff. Results show that the Intranets in the study are poorly matured and that the main use mode is ‘publishing’. The underlying philosophy of the Intranets seems to be self-information rather than informing others. Furthermore, the use and understanding of Intranet differs between end-users, managers and IS –staff, according to trust and ideas of responsibilities. Finally, important aspects to be considered when investigating the use of Intranets in further research are identified. These aspects are strategies, social context, further development process, competence and the Intranets’ organizational affiliation as well as the culture of the organization.

In this paper we briefly present ongoing research related to Intranets in order to define shortcomings and needs for further research. An Intranet often mirrors the organization’s and the managers’ view of employees. An Intranet is more a tool to support the organization in common than to solve separate tasks. We outline the ‘map of the world of research of intranets’ where knowledge management, organization theory, design and informatics are the main cornerstones that overlap each other. There are different kinds of approaches depending on the Intranet researchers’ choice of problem domain. One approach is Intranet development in a broad sense as the problem domain. Other researchers have knowledge management as the problem domain and consider Intranet as one way to handle KM. Researchers, who have chosen Intranet as the secondary problem domain, might have their theoretical starting points in other disciplines/spheres of interest. Examples of these disciplines might be organization theory, social science and knowledge. Ongoing research on Intranet mainly focuses on different aspects of implementation, initiative, development processes, knowledge management and roles. There are lacks due to the number of empirical studies. The use of Intranets is poorly investigated and questions about aspects that influence the understanding and use of an Intranet are being raised.

The Viable System Model, VSM, by Stafford Beer is a model used for diagnosing and designing organizational structure and communication to facilitate necessary and sufficient conditions for viability. The model has been used for diagnosing different kinds of organizations at different levels where its use highlights existing or missing communication patterns and information flows in different communication channels and relates findings to a viable system. In a previous article, VSM and Intranet have been discussed and examples of advantages of combining the two concepts when designing organizations, has been given. In this article, VSM is combined with Intranet and possible functions in an intranet that support information exchange between different systems are identified and described. The suggested functions identified in this article are finally related to Intranet use modes, and the concepts of Empowerment vs. control.

Abstract. The potentiality of the intranet concept, enabled by the empowerment of employees, is to a high degree missing in examples of successful implementation. Intranet implementation is not an end in itself. The purpose of this technology is to support an organisation. In order to make the organization viable, the intranet should be designed to support and facilitate interaction when sharing knowledge and communication throughout the organisation. This paper presents ideas to be considered when planning and designing an intranet in an organisation. These ideas are primarily based on the concept of empowerment and common making owing to the technology in use. First, making the view of the technology common can be carried out through the active use of Philosophy of Technology, here represented by the CUT-P model which shows the connections between conceptions, use, technology and policy. Second, ideas have been inspired by the Viable System Model. Corresponding functions in an intranet are presented in VSM terminology. Contributions can be divided into four paragraphs: Recommended functions based on VSM are suggested. Recommendations owing to completion of the policy with ideas how to work with the CUT-P model representing the Philosophy of Technology are presented. Furthermore, fundaments for 1) an implementation model according to functions and the corresponding changes in the organization, is recommended as well as 2) an interface model with the aim to develop the interface so the underlying technology is visible and the ideas of the VSM is �visible� in the interface.

The number of Intranets increases in organizations but their potential to support viability is not fully exploited. The cybernetic model, the Viable System Model, has not been connected to the Intranet concept before. Characteristics of the VSM, such as highlighting the importance of production, monitoring of production units through Early Warning Systems, autonomy and empowerment, are used as patterns and a base for de-signing essential parts and/or functions of an Intranet. The result is a brief description of functions vital to the operational parts of organizations. Examples are Early Warning Systems, control systems, "gate-keepers," amplifying and damping information to and from the organization and "agents" supporting search abilities on an Intranet.

Philosophy of technology can serve as an aid in handling our mistrust and support for a new technological culture and increase our reflection upon technology. Development of technology must be influenced and controlled so it become understandable and human. We should as individuals at all levels develop a viable view of technology such as information systems in general and intranets in particular. In order to guarantee creation of human, flexible and adaptive intranets of high quality in the future, the philosophy of technology in organisations should be identified, made visible and shared. The intranet should be a common concern for all persons in an organisation due to shaping, further development and use. This paper covers different views of philosophy of technology with the CUT-P model as a starting point. This model represents the dynamic dependencies between Conception, Use, Technology and Policy. These parts are further refined and divided into sub parts where for example Use has been divided into actual use, desirable use, misuse, underuse and so on. The model is discussed related to intranet in common and a study of intranets in Swedish organizations carried out during 2002, in particular. The model can further developed and tested empirically, work as a tool in order to analyse and develop a sustainable view of technology in organisations.