Use & Benefits of Intranets

Intranets are private networks designed to help employees share information within the company. Typically, they are used to improve communications and provide access to information among employees, and occasionally, vendors and clients (Adams, 2000, p. 56). Nearly all intranets are similar in appearance to the Internet, and provide various ways for users to navigate the site. Some intranets are organized by function (purchasing, human resources, finance, for example) and maintained by the individual departments. Others have a central point where intranet information is developed and distributed; this usually occurs in larger organizations and the task is often handled by the MIS or IT group.

At the end of 1999, more than half of all American employees had access to the Internet through the workplace; that number is expected to increase to three-fourths of all workers by the end of 2000 (Gantz, 2000, p. 33). Making the Internet available to workers is neither difficult nor particularly costly; companies can set up a high-speed connection, a firewall to protect internal security, and provide browser software (which is readily available). Employees are then able to use the Internet for business purposes for everyt

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fit of intranets. Companies which implement intranets fully expect that employee communication will improve both from a top-down perspective as well as peer-to-peer. While intranets can also be used for bottom-up communication, companies typically do not expect (nor do they realize) significant benefit in this area. Some companies assume that the improved employee communication is part of the increased productivity that they expect, but companies who take such a simplistic view overlook the very real effect that increased and easier communication can have on morale. Companies which have a significant amount of information available, whether through an intranet or through some other means, tend to have higher employee morale and lower employee turnover as a result, as well (Sharples, 1998, p. 102). Some companies expect more than just improved productivity and enhanced employee morale. As intranets have become more sophisticated and moved past being merely company bulletin boards, companies have found ways to use them to provide competitive advantage. Thus Duke Energy is able to use its intranet to provide critical data to decision makers which allows the organization to realize maximum profit in a highly competitive environ
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Approximate Word count = 3000
Approximate Pages = 12 (250 words per page)

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