Ž . Decision Support Systems 23 1998 3–17 Organizational knowledge and the Intranet Judy E. Scott ) Department of Management Science and Information Systems, B6500, Graduate School of Business, The UniÕersity of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712-1175, USA Abstract Ž. The Intranet phenomenon has been driven by the push of technology standards and the pull of organizational need to 1 Ž. communicate across geographic, organizational and functional barriers, and 2 collaborate among sites and with suppliers and customers. The objective of this study is to generate a theoretical framework for the interaction between organizational knowledge and the Intranet. The contribution of this paper is 4-fold. First, we generate a theoretical framework using the paradigm model of grounded theory. We show interactions between the Intranet and three organizational knowledge strategies taking into account drivers, the context, and intervening conditions. Second, previous research on organizational knowledge creation theory is incorporated into the framework. Third, the framework forms the basis for future empirical research on the business value of the Intranet. Finally, the study raises implications for IS developers, IS departments, management and researchers. q 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. Keywords: Organizational knowledge; Intranets; Knowledge management; Knowledge creation; Integration 1. Introduction The Intranet has been hailed as the solution to organizational technology issues as far reaching as faster information systems development, access to legacy system data, integration of incompatible sys- w x tems 79 , and progress towards the ‘paperless of- fice’. Moreover, Intranets enable work-flow manage- ment and project management, and are a platform for w x process redesign 23,51 . Yet possibly the most far reaching impact of the Intranet is on organizational knowledge. Intranets are providing institutions and organiza- tions with opportunities to create knowledge. A high proportion of the pioneers are high technology com- ) Tel.: q1-512-471-7858; fax: q1-512-471-0587; e-mail: jescott@mail.utexas.edu panies making use of intranets for knowledge inten- sive new product development. Intranets enable com- munity expertise to develop, as engineers brainstorm and give each other feedback in discussion groups, and share product specifications and product test w x result queries 22,70,95 . The scope of interest in intranets is evidenced by w x diverse articles and applications in the medical 44 , w x legal, engineering, training, travel 11 , technical, computer-related and manufacturing industries w x 22,59 . Although some definitions restrict intranets w x to internal information on internal webs 23 ; ac- w x cessed exclusively by internal users 79 , in this paper we adopt a broader definition that includes customers and suppliers in the extended enterprise Ž w x. also called an ‘Extranet’ 45 , and industry wide w x applications 51 . Thus, an intranet is a ‘‘powerful tool for institution-wide communications, collabora- 0167-9236r98r$19.00 q 1998 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. Ž . PII S0167-9236 98 00032-3