Abstract
Internet technologies have opened up vast possibilities for many organizations, including their application purely within the organizational boundary in the form of intranets. However, little is known about the organizational role players in the context of this technology. This paper describes afield study that examines the role players in the initiation and implementation of intranet technology in three large organizations in two countries. Using organizational innovation process theory and available intranet literature, the role players, their roles, their challenges and interrelationships are identified. Five key interrelated roles are isolated: the technology champion, organizational sponsor, intranet coordinator, intranet developer and content provider. Technology champions play the important role of initiating the technology in the organization. The organizational sponsor nurtures and protects the budding technology and its change agents throughout the process. The key role of intranet coordinator features prominently in organization-wide coordination, control and feedback across functional boundaries, while stimulating organizational use and content generation simultaneously. The intranet developer role is crucial for more advanced organizational application of the technology. Finally, the role of content providers is significant in creating a critical mass of content early during implementation to ensure progress.
The original version of this chapter was revised: The copyright line was incorrect. This has been corrected. The Erratum to this chapter is available at DOI: 10.1007/978-0-387-35566-5_20
Chapter PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Ashby, W. R. An Introduction to Cybernetics. London: Chapman and Hall, Ltd., 1956. Attewell, P. “Technology Diffusion and Organizational Learning: The Case of Business Computing,” Organization Science (3: 1 ), February 1992, pp. 1–19.
Bansler, J. P.; Havn, E.; Thommesen, J.; Damsgaard, J.; and Scheepers, R. “Corporate Intranet Implementation: Managing Emergent Technologies and Organizational Practices,” in Proceedings of the Seventh European Conference on Information Systems,J. Pries-Heje, C.
U. Ciborra, K. Kautz, J. Valor, E. Christiaanse, and D. Avison (eds.). Copenhagen, Denmark, June 23–25, 1999.
Beath, C. M. “Supporting the Information Technology Champion,” MIS Quarterly, September 1991, pp. 355–371.
Beatty, C. A.; and Gordon, J. R. M. “Preaching the Gospel: the Evangelists of New Technology,” California Management Review (33:3), 1991, pp. 73–94.
Beer, S. Cybernetics and Management, 2nd ed. London: The English University Press Ltd., 1959. Benbasat, I.; Goldstein, D. K.; and Mead, M. “The Case Research Strategy in Studies of Information Systems,” MIS Quarterly (11:3), September 1987, pp. 369–386.
Bernard, R. The Corporate Intranet. New York: Wiley and Sons, 1996.
Bhattacherjee, A. “Management of Emerging Technologies: Experiences and Lessons Learned at US West,” Information and Management (33), 1998, pp. 263–272.
Clement, A. “Computing at Work: Empowering Action by low-level users’,” Communications of the ACM (37:1), January 1994, pp. 53–105.
Damsgaard, J., and Scheepers, R. “Power, Influence and Intranet Implementation: A Safari of South African Organizations,” Information, Technology and People,1999a (forthcoming). Damsgaard, J. and Scheepers, R. “A Stage Model of Intranet Technology Implementation and
Management,“ in Proceedings of the Seventh European Conference on Information Systems
J. Pries-Heje, C. U. Ciborra, K. Kautz, J. Valor, E. Christiaanse, and D. Avison (eds.). Copenhagen, Denmark, June 23–25, 1999b.
Dyson, P.; Coleman, P.; and Gilbert, L. The ABCs of Intranets. San Francisco: Sybex, Inc., 1997. Eisenhardt, K. M. `Building Theories from Case Study Research,“ Academy of Management Review (14:4), 1989, pp. 532–550.
Ginzberg, M. J. “Key Recurrent Issues in the MIS Implementation Process,” MIS Quarterly, June 1981, pp. 47–59.
Goles, T., and Hirschheim, R. (eds.). Intranets: The Next IS Solution? Houston, TX: Information Systems Research Center, College of Business Administration, University of Houston, 1997. Hills, M. Intranet Business Strategies. New York: Wiley and Sons, 1997.
Howell, J. M., and Higgins, C. A. “Champions of Technological Innovation,” Administrative Science Quarterly (35), 1990, pp. 317–341.
Humphrey, W. S. Managing the Software Process. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, 1989.
Jarvenpaa, S. L., and Ives, B. “Introducing Transformational Information Technologies: The Case of the World Wide Web Technology,” International Journal of Electronic Commerce (1:1), 1996, pp. 95–126.
Keen, P. G. W. “Information Systems and Organizational Change,” Communications of the ACM (24:1), 1981, pp. 24–33.
Klein, H. K., and Myers, M. D. “A Set of Principles for Conducting and Evaluating Interpretive Field Studies in Information Systems,” MIS Quarterly (23:1), March 1999, pp. 67–92.
Kling, R., and Iacono, S. “The Control of Information Systems Developments after Implementation,” Communications of the ACM (27:12), December 1984, pp. 1218–1226.
Lawless, M. W., and Price, L. L. “An Agency Perspective on New Technology Champions,” Organization Science (3:3), 1992, pp. 342–355.
Lucas, H. C.; Ginzberg, M. J.; and Schultz, R. L. Information Systems Implementation: Testing a Structural Model. Norwood, NJ: Ablex Publishing Corporation, 1990.
Lyytinen, K.; Rose, G.; and Welke, R. “The Brave New World of Development in the Internetwork Computing Architecture (InterNCA) or How Distributed Computing Platforms Will Change Systems Development,” Information Systems Journal (8), 1998, pp. 241–253.
Markus, M. L. “Power, Politics, and MIS Implementation,” Communications of the ACM (26:6), June 1983, pp. 430–444.
Markus, M. L. “Toward a `Critical Mass’ Theory of Interactive Media: Universal Access, Interdependence and Diffusion,” Communication Research (14:5), 1987, pp. 491–511.
Markus, M. L., and Benjamin, R. I. “Change Agentry: The Next IS Frontier,” MIS Quarterly, December 1996, pp. 385–407.
Martinsons, M. G. “Cultivating the Champions for Strategic Information Systems,” Journal of Systems Management, August 1993, pp. 31–34.
Oppliger, R. “Internet Security: Firewalls and Beyond,” Communications of the ACM (40:5), May 1997, pp. 92–102.
Orlikowski, W. J.; Yates, J.; Okamura, K.; and Fujimoto, M. “Shaping Electronic Communication: The Metastructuring of Technology in the Context of Use,” Organization Science (6:4), 1995, pp. 423–444.
Rogers, E. M. Diffusion of Innovations, 4`h ed. New York: The Free Press, 1995.
Romm, C. T., and Wong, J. “The Dynamics of Establishing Organizational Web Sites: Some Puzzling Findings,” Australian Journal of Information Systems (5:2), 1998, pp. 60–68.
Scheepers, R., and Damsgaard, J. “Using Internet Technology Within the Organization: A Structurational Analysis of Intranets,” in Proceedings of GROUP’97 Conference of Supporting Group Work, S. C. Hayne and W. Prinz (eds.), Phoenix, AZ, Association for Computing Machinery, November 16–19, 1997, pp. 9–18.
Schön, D. A. “Champions for Radical New Inventions,” Harvard Business Review (41:2), 1963, pp. 77–86.
Swanson, E. B. “Information Systems in Organization Theory: A Review,” in Critical Issues in Information Systems Research, R. J. (Boland and R. A. Hirschheim (eds.). Chichester, England: Wiley and Sons, 1987, pp. 181–204.
Walsham, G. Interpreting Information Systems in Organizations. Chichester, England: Wiley and Sons, 1993.
Wynekoop, J. L., and Senn, J. A. “Case Implementation: The Importance of Multiple Perspectives,” in Proceedings of SIGCPR, New York, Association for Computing Machinery, April 1992.
Yin, R. K. Case Study Research: Design and Methods. Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications, 1989.
Zaltman, G.; Duncan, R.; and Holbek, J. Innovations and Organizations. New York: Wiley and Sons, 1973.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1999 IFIP International Federation for Information Processing
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Scheepers, R. (1999). Key Role Players in the Initiation and Implementation of Intranet Technology. In: Ngwenyama, O., Introna, L.D., Myers, M.D., DeGross, J.I. (eds) New Information Technologies in Organizational Processes. IFIP — The International Federation for Information Processing, vol 20. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-35566-5_12
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-35566-5_12
Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA
Print ISBN: 978-1-4757-5994-5
Online ISBN: 978-0-387-35566-5
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive