Eder, Lauren Beth; PhD
DREXEL UNIVERSITY, 1998
BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION, MANAGEMENT (0454); INFORMATION SCIENCE (0723)
In today's global business environment, knowledge is among the most valuable
assets of a firm.
Accordingly, the accessibility of relevant computer-based information can be
extremely important. The
growing number of variant computer systems within organizations presents a potential
problem for
information sharing and knowledge development if the systems are not inter-operable.
In recent years,
the open architecture of Internet technology has become attractive to business
organizations for internal
use because it enables the standardization of information system interfaces
as well as the connectivity of
disparate systems. When Internet technology is used within the bounds of an
organization, the network
is referred to as an intranet. Using intranets to connect heterogeneous systems
provides a mechanism in
which information sharing can be facilitated between existing information systems
without major changes
to the applications themselves. Because the use of intranet technology is a
fairly new phenomenon,
there is little, if any, empirical research to date that examines the success
of intranet deployments in
organizations once the technology has been adopted. Using theoretical foundations
from established
information systems implementation research and innovation diffusion literature,
this study seeks to
explain intranet implementation success by examining organizational, technical,
and contextual factors
that may be associated with intranet diffusion and infusion within organizations.
A survey was mailed to
1,000 senior level computer executives in the United States. The organization
was the unit of analysis.
Seven independent variables were measured with intranet diffusion and infusion:
top management
support, organizational structure, organizational size, industry, competition,
IT infrastructure, and IS
structure. Results indicate that these variables affect diffusion and infusion
differently. Top management
support was found to be positively related to intranet diffusion, whereas top
management support, IT
infrastructure, and competition were found to be positively related to intranet
infusion. Organizational
size was negatively related to intranet infusion. Implications and areas for
further research are discussed.
Social
Systems Simulation Group
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