1. Intranets, Portals and Organizational Knowledge Presenter: Pei-Yu Wang 10-31-2006

2. Intranet (1/2) An Intranet is “a network within a single company which enables access to company information through the familiar tools of the Internet such as web browers.” (Chaffey, 1998) Dell’s intranet homepage in 1999 Tools for the job You & Dell (Progress/Report) Department information Product information News

3. Intranet (2/2) Examples: –In IBM's "Jam" program, large numbers of employees could discuss key issues in online forums, and key ideas surfaced with the aid of text analysis tools.IBM –“The success of Cisco Systems has been largely attributed to its innovative corporate intranet” –Ford Motor Co has more than 175,000 employees in 950 locations worldwide, each of which has access to the company’s intranet, called Myford.com. –The People's Republic of China (PRC) is attempting to build a national intranet while limiting access to information forbidden by Chinese Internet regulations. If they are successful in their attempt it will be the largest intranet.

4. Portal A portal is “a single Web browser interface used within organizations to promote the gathering, sharing and dissemination of information throughout the enterprise.” (Detlor, 2000) Bank One Intranet Portal in 2002 Search Engine Company information is categorized for easy access Communication/ collaboration tools are provided

5. Making sense of portal pandemonium Corporate portal is KM’s killer application What drives the corporate portal –Thin clients (i.e. web browsers): easy and universal –Highly-dispersed workforce 3 types of portals: –Data – structured resources; such as numbers –Information - less structured resources ; such as documents –Collaborative - group interactive functionality Corporate portals enable corporations to capitalize on what workers know and should know

6. Personalized user interface Including streaming media such as video and audio One major portal with role definitions, allowing each role a different company view Employ neural- net methodologies for context-sensitive smart searching Tap existing document- based content from file systems and DMS repositories through intelligent Web publishing systems Become meeting places for experts in various fields to connect with "consumers" of their knowledge services How will corporate portals converge and evolve over the next two years?

7. Design to Kids: Design Criteria for Children's Web Portals (1/2) Study of 4 focus groups - Web users (10-13 years old) To identify design criteria to subsequently develop kids’ portals, including portal goals, visual design, information architecture, and personalization Portals: Ask Jeeves for Kids, KidsClick, Lycos Zone, Yahooligans! Ask Jeeves for KidsKidsClickLycos ZoneYahooligans!

8. Disign to Kids: Design Criteria for Children's Web Portals (2/2) Conclusion: Portals to kids should –educate and entertain –be visually attractive –provide keyword search facilities –allow user personalization Prime use of Internet in schools: Web as information resource to support class projects

9. Design to Organization: A Design for a Group Memory System Using Ontologies Organization memories –It means a comprehensive computer system which captures a company’s know-how and make them available for enhancing work process. Ontology –Ontology is a formal and explicit specification of shared conceptualization. –Organizational ontology brings terms and relationships in work place for describing knowledge about the domain.

10. Example of organizational ontology Shared conceptuali zation of the organization

11. Portals to Organization: A Design for a Group Memory System Using Ontologies Group Memory Ontology: Set up a high-level specification of terms and relationships in work place Design Rational System: Store the results of meetings of employees Case-Based Reasoning System: Refine cases/ experiences for retrieval Application layer: Provide interface for employees to access knowledge

12. Reexamining Organizational Memory : Recognize how an interpersonal memory may be defined (1/2) Study of organizational memory (OM) Telephone helpline for HR questions –Use of Call Tracking system (CAT) –Distributed memory - telephone, paper, CAT, EMPLOY, employee

13. Reexamining Organizational Memory : Recognize how an interpersonal memory may be defined (2/2) Boundary objects –Dependence on external maintenance. Ex: employee records –Decontextualizing for reuse Organization memory is distributed –decontextualization and recontextualization is needed

14. Understanding the Benefit and Costs of Communities of Practice (1/2) Community of practice –A group of common disciplinary background, similar work activities and tools, and shared stories, contexts and values. –Companies tend to develop communities of practices to share ideas / increase idea creation improve social interaction promote collaboration enhance problem-solving abilities increase quality of knowledge and advice

15. Understanding the Benefit and Costs of Communities of Practice (2/2) Balance between the benefits and costs –Organizational benefits Successfully executed projects Product innovation Time-saving –Costs Participation time for community members - supporting community roles (other than own work roles) Meeting and conference expenses - travel, accommodation, teleconferencing Technology - group messaging, community websites Content publishing - online content development, production of media and promotional materials Measurement and demonstration is difficult

16. Knowledge Acquisition Processes in Internet Communities (1/2) Collaborative software –Traditional groupware Support small groups of individuals working together with well-defined roles and mutual awareness. Ex: e-mail –Emergent socioware Support large virtual communities and cooperative interactions (loosely collaborative communities) –“Computer-mediated environments for supporting community-wide processes which expedite virtual cooperative interactions.” Ex: Newsgroups (USENET), list servers

17. Knowledge Acquisition Processes in Internet Communities (2/2) Difference between the groupware and socioware Suggestions of information service –Improvement of message quality –Incorporate the role of hyperlinks –Reduction of time in locating relevant information GroupwareSocioware AwarenessStrong mutual awareness Weak mutual awareness Time cycle of interaction Short to medium (seconds to days) Medium to long (day to years) Motivation for cooperation Individual social exchange Collective social exchange Power relations Well-defined roles as part of team definition Emergent roles from investment in social power capacity

18. 18 Thanks for Listening ^^ Happy Halloween!!