http://www.sajim.co.za/peer67.6nr2.asp?print=1 Peer Reviewed Article Vol.6(2) June 2004 Knowledge sharing via enterprise intranets – asking the right questions C. van der Walt Ernst & Young vdwalce@ey.co.za P.A. van Brakel Department of Information Studies Rand Afrikaans University pavb@rau.ac.za J.A. Kok Department of Information Studies Rand Afrikaans University jako@rau.ac.za Contents 1. Introduction 2. Literature study 3. Empirical results 4. Conclusion 5. References 1 Introduction The corporate intranet is a common feature of both public and private sector enterprises today. It has been found that once the infrastructure and architecture are in place, the real challenge for enterprises is to get users to contribute their own knowledge willingly and to use that of others. The culture of the enterprise needs to promote it. To stay competitive, enterprises need relevant and current knowledge from a variety of sources to allow them to innovate and create new knowledge and consequently new products or solutions for their clients. The enterprise intranet could be the ideal tool to make this possible. For effective knowledge sharing to take place, a knowledge sharing culture and proper knowledge sharing tools and facilities are required. To understand the process of knowledge sharing, enterprises should understand the broader concept of knowledge management. Many knowledge management concepts are old ones with Page 1 of 19 new labels. There are some important and lasting principles that help us better understand how knowledge-based enterprises work. An essential factor in launching a successful knowledge management initiative is to make sure that the enterprise knowledge management strategy fits the enterprise's needs and goals and matches its strategic objectives. A common challenge for enterprises is to stimulate innovation and create new products and services. To accomplish this, attitudes towards sharing information and knowledge need to change and a 'knowledge-friendly culture' needs to be encouraged. Such a culture has a positive orientation to knowledge and highly values learning on and off the job. It is a culture in which experience, expertise and rapid innovation are encouraged. This implies that employees are not inhibited in sharing their knowledge and expertise. The ideal is to provide an infrastructure, such as a corporate intranet, that supports the corporate knowledge management strategy, that is, an infrastructure that could encourage employees to contribute to this knowledge sharing culture and facilitate the sharing processes. From the above discussion the following research problem arose: What enables the implementation of a knowledge sharing culture and could the enterprise intranet be one of the enablers? To answer this question, it was necessary to know why a knowledge-sharing culture is important for knowledge management and what role the corporate intranet could play in such a knowledge sharing culture. The following sub-problems were consequently identified: Why is it necessary to manage and share knowledge and what are the processes and issues involved? Why is the enterprise culture so important and what is the difference between traditional corporate cultures and knowledge cultures? How can the corporate intranet be used to enhance knowledge management and, more specifically, as a tool for enhancing a knowledge sharing culture? What measurement tools are available to determine the success or failure of knowledge sharing via enterprise intranets? How is the corporate intranet used to enhance a knowledge sharing culture in a business environment? Answers to the sub-problems required an in-depth literature study of available sources that discuss the current thinking and findings on the relationship between knowledge management, knowledge cultures and the corporate intranet as a tool for integrating these elements. As a result of the literature study, the following tools were identified that could determine the knowledge management effectiveness of an enterprise: The 'KOPE' Knowledge Management Tool by Gemini Consulting and the Henley Knowledge Management Forum (2000); Tiwana's knowledge management assessment kit (2000); intranet user survey by Curry and Stancich (2000); the 'Intranet benchmarking and business value' survey by Smith and Newman (1999) (an evaluation tool for determining the success of a corporate intranet); and Stoddart's (2001) intranet questionnaire. Using the knowledge sharing evaluation elements of these tools and adding other knowledge Page 2 of 19 sharing issues identified in the literature, a prototype questionnaire was compiled to determine the barriers to and enablers of a knowledge-sharing culture. These questions needed to be tested on an enterprise that had a knowledge management initiative and intranet in place. To address the final sub-problem, a practical example was required. The management consulting industry was a good example because its core product is knowledge itself. Its members were among the first businesses to pay attention to and make significant investments in the management of knowledge. They were also among the first to aggressively explore the use of Information Technology (IT) to capture and disseminate knowledge. A South African management consulting firm was used as the case study. 2 Literature study There has been a significant amount of literature written about knowledge management. Yet documents bringing knowledge management, enterprise culture and corporate intranets together are rare. While no ready-made solutions for implementing and achieving improvements in knowledge management performance exist, some effective practices and processes have emerged. Knowledge management is largely regarded as a process involving various activities. Slight discrepancies appear in the literature, namely relating to the number and labelling of the processes rather than the underlying concepts themselves. For the purpose of this research, the knowledge management process as described by Bukowitz and Williams (1999) was used, but other authors' theories were also relevant. According to Bukowitz and Williams (1999:10-11), the knowledge management process spans four steps: People gather the information they need for their daily work (Get) They use knowledge to create value (Use) They learn from what they create (Learn) They feed this new knowledge back into the system for others to use (Contribute). The processes of 'Get' and 'Use' are the most familiar to enterprises. Employees have always sought out information and then used it to solve problems and make decisions. However, the advent of new technologies that allow huge amounts of information to flow into the enterprise is changing the face of 'Get'. Now, instead of being forced to take action based on little or no information, employees are more likely to be challenged by working through too much information to get to the critical information. This process could be made more efficient by the tools and services that the enterprise makes available to its members, such as the corporate intranet. During the 'Use' process, employees need to combine information in new and interesting ways to create more innovative solutions. Enterprises could provide many tools to enhance out-of-the- box thinking and to establish the kind of environment where creativity and experimentation are encouraged. According to Bukowitz and Williams (1999:10-11), the processes of 'Learn' and 'Contribute' are relatively new to enterprises. In the past, these processes were not always recognized as a means to creating competitive advantage. The challenge for the enterprise has been to find ways of top Page 3 of 19 embedding the learning process into the way people work. Getting employees to contribute what they have learned to the corporate knowledge base, which may reside on the corporate intranet, has been one of the toughest challenges. Contribution is not only time-consuming, but it is also seen as a threat to individual employee viability. Creating a user-friendly, knowledge-sharing infrastructure could help to send out value-added information and knowledge for enterprise-wide consumption. When launching a knowledge management initiative, it is important to identify which knowledge management processes are most relevant to the enterprise's environment and systems, and processes should be created that support these activities and integrate them into daily operations. Merely to review the knowledge management processes is not sufficient when analysing the knowledge-sharing initiative of an enterprise. The literature study revealed broader elements and issues to be identified and recognized for the influence they have on the knowledge management process. The elements mentioned were: Enterprises should encourage individuals to interact, to work together on projects, or to share their ideas on an informal basis Systems are needed to codify the knowledge of individuals so that others can use it Enterprises should have access to new knowledge from outside their boundaries, as a means of updating and renewing their own knowledge bases. Applying these elements involves three sets of tools (Birkinshaw 2001:14-15): Information technology Formal and informal structures Specific knowledge management tools. Of the different knowledge management processes mentioned in this article, the knowledge sharing or contribution part of the knowledge management process seemed to be the most difficult for enterprises. ad hoc knowledge sharing is usually already taking place in organizations through employees' informal networks. Knowledge management could help to make this a more systematic process. For any knowledge management and knowledge-sharing initiative to succeed, it should be linked to the creation of economic value and competitive advantage for the enterprise. Grounding knowledge management and knowledge sharing within the context of the enterprise's business strategy could accomplish this. Part of this strategy is to ensure that through knowledge management and other initiatives there is opportunity for learning, experimentation and growth. An environment conducive to learning and knowledge sharing needs to be created by integrating knowledge management into the general culture and knowledge culture of the enterprise. Each enterprise has specific beliefs, values and norms, thus creating a unique corporate culture. Creating a corporate culture where knowledge is valued and shared effectively could be a challenge. Skyrme and Amidon (1997:259) found that appropriate cultures are those that value change, learning, innovation, openness and trust. The success of a knowledge management initiative also requires enterprises to be aware of their specific corporate culture and how it influences their behaviour and attitude towards knowledge sharing. Enterprises should identify and clarify existing norms and practices that may be barriers to improved behaviours, and decide if those elements of the corporate culture can be changed to support these behaviours. Because employee behaviour determines the sharing of knowledge, leadership has an important role to play and they could use various motivational practices to encourage knowledge sharing. Knowledge management, like any other programme, requires leadership commitment to create Page 4 of 19 an environment within which employees are able to share, assess and experiment with new knowledge gained. The corporate intranet could be used as such an environment, but employees need to be trained to use these knowledge management IT tools, making it as easy as possible for employees to contribute to the enterprise knowledge base. Furthermore, the enterprise intranet, as a tool, could promote information seeking and knowledge sharing by functioning as a front-end to a knowledge management system that could stimulate enterprise knowledge sharing. Therefore, the design of the intranet should facilitate the sharing and re-use of knowledge. A behavioural-ecological framework, by Choo, Detlor and Turnbull (2000:118), can be suggested for intranet design as an open infrastructure that supports the creation, sharing and use of knowledge. The intranet should be seen as an essential part of the enterprise's knowledge management system and should be designed to suit and enhance the enterprise knowledge-sharing activities and culture. Choo et al. (2000:86) suggest an information-based model for cultivating enterprise knowledge and intelligence via an intranet. The components of their model are: A content space to facilitate information access and retrieval A communication space to negotiate collective understanding, interpretation and shared meaning A collaboration space to support co-operative work action. It is important that an organization's intranet should be evaluated regularly to determine its current contribution to as well as future potential of the knowledge-sharing capability of the enterprise. A prototype questionnaire was consequently compiled by using measurement tools used by other researchers, while adding and building onto their suggested measures. The evaluation tool was used to measure how an enterprise uses its corporate intranet as a possible knowledge-sharing tool. The questionnaire brought together the concepts of knowledge management, knowledge- sharing cultures and intranet functionalities. The questionnaire measured the following focus areas: The intranet as a technology that enables knowledge sharing Organizational and cultural enablers Knowledge management strategy and intranet strategy. A number of diverse tools have been developed to examine or identify knowledge management areas in which an enterprise could be weak. Examples of these tools are: 'Knowledge Management Diagnostics' by Bukowitz and Williams (1999); 'Knowledge Management Assessment Tool-KMAT' as discussed by De Jager (1999); and the 'KOPE' Knowledge Management Tool developed by Gemini Consulting and the Henley Knowledge Management Forum (2000). All of the tools mentioned above covered or touched on enterprise culture and knowledge culture. Finding a tool that examines the components and issues of a knowledge-sharing culture appeared more problematic. As mentioned before, a knowledge-sharing culture needs to be encouraged to make any knowledge management process or project a success. The enterprise should use motivation and Page 5 of 19 reward systems that encourage this sharing of knowledge and learning, as well as participation and contribution to the development of new ideas and innovation (Bryson 2000:2). An open sharing culture should promote the success of the knowledge management programme and incentives could in turn help to make this culture possible. An important element of this research was an exploration of IT as an enabler for knowledge sharing and knowledge management. The assumption that technology could replace human knowledge or create its equivalent has repeatedly proven false. It is important to recognize that developments in technology are among the positive factors fuelling interest in knowledge and its management. The World-Wide Web and groupware applications such as Lotus Notes have made certain forms of structured knowledge easier to collect, store in repositories and distribute to desktops. Enterprise intranets tend to be sold as a means of automating low-value, high-volume, hitherto paper-based transactions. The challenge is to make the connection by adding value to processes and creating high-value knowledge transactions. It is therefore important to benchmark or evaluate the enterprise intranet from time to time. The 'Intranet benchmarking and business value' report by Smith and Newman (1999) was one such evaluation tool used in this research. A strong correlation between knowledge-based enterprises and learning enterprises has been found. Senge (1990:5-13) describes the tools or set of practices (the five learning disciplines) for building learning capabilities in an enterprise, namely personal mastery, shared vision, mental models, team learning and systems thinking. Intranets build learning enterprises almost as a side- effect. Hinrichs (1997:155-156) explains how these five disciplines could be incorporated into a corporate intranet. To conclude, it is clear that technology, and more specifically the corporate intranet is a useful enabler of knowledge management and for a knowledge-sharing culture. It is important to remember that IT must be treated as one part of managing and sharing knowledge and that more focus needs to be placed on changing the enterprise's culture or adjusting to a knowledge-sharing culture. 3 Empirical results As indicated earlier, the purpose of the empirical study was to develop and test a model or measurement tool that could be used to determine the effectiveness or failure of an enterprise intranet as a knowledge-sharing enabler. Two sets of results were obtained. Firstly, a prototype questionnaire was tested in the case study's local intranet environment and the necessary changes were made to the questionnaire. Results and additional comments by the employees were used to change and adapt the prototype version of the questionnaire. Even with these changes to the prototype, the questionnaire (Appendix A) should only be seen as a guideline and general structure that future researchers could use to create their own customized version of a measurement tool. It is impossible to design a template that accommodates all possible enterprise types and industries. Secondly, and surprisingly, the results of the questionnaire survey indicated the definite absence of a successful knowledge-sharing culture at this well-known management consulting firm and the intranet could therefore not be considered an enabler, but rather a further barrier to their top Page 6 of 19 effective knowledge management. Recommendations were made on how the leadership team of the enterprise could improve the general knowledge-sharing culture within the enterprise. Once that has been achieved, changes should also be made to the intranet itself to make it more conducive to knowledge sharing. The recommendations can be summarized as follows: A. Intranet as technology to enable knowledge sharing B. Organizational and cultural enablers Problem identified Recommendation Poor remote connectivity to the intranet Invest in technology to resolve the problem Lack of useful information on the intranet Identify gaps and populate the intranet with relevant information as soon as possible and continue to update information on a regular basis Using the intranet is not part of routine, daily tasks Integrate applications for routine tasks with the intranet environment Difficult to find submitted information and knowledge via the intranet search engine Improve search engine functionality and train employees on how to use it effectively Limited measurement of contributions made by employees Evaluate quality of submissions via peer review and value added to enterprise and clients Poor sharing of knowledge from project sites Each client project team should have an intranet site where members could share and publish knowledge themselves Poor sharing of departmental knowledge Each department should have an intranet site where delivery teams could share and publish knowledge themselves. Evaluate these sites regularly Submission process not easy for users Improve current submission tool and train employees to use the tool Key learnings are not captured at completion of projects Make it compulsory and part of official project close-down process Communities of Practice and White Pages are not utilised Train users and show them the benefits of using these tools Problem identified Recommendation Leadership team does not encourage employees to share knowledge via the intranet They should lead by example and show commitment to knowledge sharing through action Consultants do not have time to submit key learnings from a project Half a working day or a full day should be dedicated to this process before consultants are assigned to new project sites Employees do not receive incentives for participating in knowledge-sharing Identify and implement reward and recognition processes that suit the culture Page 7 of 19 C. Knowledge management strategy and intranet strategy The general conclusion was that the knowledge management initiatives were not supported and maintained by all departments within this particular enterprise. The reason why most employees did not participate in knowledge-sharing activities could be because they felt excluded from knowledge management initiatives. Another major concern was that insufficient resources had been committed to their knowledge management initiatives. Leadership should invest in the right tools and the right people to make knowledge sharing throughout the practice a success. Leadership also urgently needed to invest personal time and effort in creating a knowledge- sharing culture in the enterprise. The questionnaire itself could be customized even further by enterprises wishing to use it. After some time, and once certain changes and developments have been made to enhance the knowledge-sharing culture within the enterprise, the questionnaire could be redistributed. This could determine and measure success and progress. Perhaps it would be best to conduct face-to- face interviews with employees or distribute the questionnaire by e-mail, in order to avoid remote access problems. 4 Conclusion The purpose of the survey was to evaluate the effectiveness of a management consulting business's intranet for enhancing the enterprise's knowledge-sharing culture. In general, it is important to note that the format (online, structured interviews or e-mail) of a questionnaire depends on the technology available and culture of the enterprise. For example, when activities of the enterprise Lack of refresher training courses to update all employees on intranet developments and new tools Develop and customize training sessions to specific user needs Employee relationships not strengthened by knowledge sharing via intranet Combine intranet functionalities with human interaction/face-to-face discussion Knowledge sharing via the intranet does not create new business opportunities Project-related war stories or success stories should be shared via the intranet to identify new solutions to client problems Problem identified Recommendation Knowledge management initiatives come from one department Each department should identify a knowledge-sharing champion to demonstrate and encourage knowledge sharing via the intranet Insufficient resources committed to knowledge management initiatives Invest in the right tools and technology. Employ people who want to share their knowledge Communication of future knowledge needs development plan Plan and message should support and enhance leadership's message of committing to a knowledge-sharing culture top Page 8 of 19 participating in the online version of a questionnaire, employees need to have the skills and the necessary access to technology. They should also be comfortable with submitting information online. In the light of technical constraints experienced at the management consulting firm, an e- mailed questionnaire could have been more effective. Filling in a questionnaire was, in fact, knowledge sharing in a structured and formal way. A reward of some kind motivates employees to participate. The type of reward should depend on the enterprise culture. The questionnaire was adjusted after analysis of the pilot results, to ask the most relevant, clearly formulated questions. The questionnaire results were also used to analyse the current knowledge-sharing culture in the case study and the specific role the intranet played as a possible knowledge-sharing enabler. The questionnaire determined that a successful knowledge-sharing culture was absent in this management consulting firm. To improve their general knowledge-sharing culture, leadership teams should: Lead by example and show commitment to knowledge sharing through action Invest their own time and effort in creating a knowledge-sharing culture in the enterprise Identify and implement reward and recognition processes that suit the culture of the enterprise Promote sharing of project-related war stories or success stories via the intranet to identify new solutions to client problems Communicate a knowledge management plan and message that support and enhance commitment to a knowledge-sharing culture. Changes also needed to be made to the intranet itself to make it more conducive to knowledge sharing. Often, employees did not see or experience their intranet as a knowledge-sharing enabler. Recommendations to change these issues included: Investment in the right tools and employees to ensure success of knowledge sharing throughout the enterprise Investment in technology to resolve possible remote access problems Integration of applications for routine tasks within the intranet environment Peer evaluation of quality of knowledge submissions and value added to the enterprise and clients Improving submission tools if relevant and training employees to use these tools more effectively Compulsory capture of key learnings as part of official project closure. Intranets represent a tool of potentially high value to any enterprise but, to realize this value, intranets should be properly managed and every employee should take ownership and buy into the concept of the intranet as a knowledge-sharing enabler. This calls for employees to be motivated in various ways, so that they can see and experience the value they could add and receive by using the intranet for knowledge-sharing activities. Although an enterprise intranet should not be perceived as the sole answer to resolving knowledge-sharing issues, its development and growth is becoming a cornerstone and an essential tool of knowledge management strategies (Stoddart 2001:21). Page 9 of 19 5 References Birkinshaw, J. 2001. Why is knowledge management so difficult? Business strategy review 12 (1):11-18. Bryson, J. 2000. Putting the K back into the organizational equation. Information management report (January):1-6. Bukowitz, W.R. and Williams, R.L. 1999. The knowledge management fieldbook. London: Financial Times-Prentice Hall. Choo, C.W., Detlor, B. and Turnbull, D. 2000. Web work: information seeking and knowledge work on the World Wide Web. London: Kluwer Academic Publishers. Curry, A. and Stancich, L. 2000. The intranet – an intrinsic component of strategic information management? International journal of information management 20:249-268. De Jager, M. 1999. The KMAT: benchmarking knowledge management. Library management 20(7):367-372. Henley Knowledge Management Forum. 2000. KOPE – a survey of knowledge management practices. Oxfordshire: Henley Management College. Hinrichs, R.J. 1997. Intranets: what's the bottom line? California: Prentice Hall. Senge, P.M. 1990. The fifth discipline: the art and practice of the learning organisation. New York: Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group. Skyrme, D.J. and Amidon, D.M. 1997. Creating a knowledge-based business. London: Optima Publishing. Smith, G. and Newman, V. 1999. Intranet benchmarking and business value – summary report. London: Cap Gemini. Stoddart, L. 2001. Managing intranets to encourage knowledge sharing: opportunities and constraints. Online information review 25(1):19-28. Tiwana, A. 2000. The knowledge management toolkit: practical techniques for building a knowledge management system. New Jersey: Prentice Hall. Appendix A Questionnaire: Knowledge sharing via the Gemini intranet top top Page 10 of 19 Kindly provide the following background information. This information will only be used to facilitate comparisons of groups of people. Part 1: Bibliographic detail Part 2: The intranet as technology that enables knowledge sharing 2.1 How often do you share your experience of knowing where to find information with other members of staff via the intranet? Personal Gender: Male/Female Age group in completed years: 20–30 31–40 41–50 51 or older Complete years in current position: 0 (i.e. less than one year) 1-3 4-5 6 or more Which one of the following best describes your job function (mark one option only): Sales Strategic Research Marketing Information Services Finance Consulting Facilities Management Human Resources IT Support Services Other (please specify): Level within your enterprise: Executive Management Middle Management Technical Professional Other (please specify): Never Seldom Often Always Page 11 of 19 2.2 How often do you share your experience of knowing whom to ask for help with other members of staff via the intranet? 2.3 How often do you share your experience of knowing how to resolve a problem with other members of staff via the intranet? 2.4 How frequently do you use Gemini's intranet for work related tasks? 2.5 What improvements do you believe could be made to the intranet to make knowledge sharing easier for daily work? 2.6 What improvements could be made to the intranet to make knowledge sharing easier for projects? 2.7 What improvements could be made to the intranet to make knowledge sharing easier for company information? 2.8 What improvements could be made to the intranet to make knowledge sharing easier for departmental information? 2.9 How easily do you locate information on the intranet relevant to your work? Never Seldom Often Always Never Seldom Often Always Daily Weekly Monthly Seldom (less than once a month) Very easily Easily With some difficulty With great difficulty Page 12 of 19 2.9.1 If you experience difficulty-locating information on the intranet, kindly indicate the reasons why you believe this is so: 2.10 Have you published on the intranet in the last year? 2.10.1 If yes, how easy is it to publish on the intranet? 2.11How do you publish items on the intranet (mark one option only) 2.12 If you publish directly on the intranet, how often do you publish? 2.13 What type of information do you publish? 2.14 To what extent are the tools for publishing directly on the intranet adequate for your needs? 2 I you do not publish on the intranet, would you like to publish information on the intranet? Yes No Very easy Easy Somewhat difficult Very difficult Directly Via the Webmaster Both directly and via the webmaster Daily Weekly Monthly Seldom (less than once a month) Very adequate Adequate Somewhat inadequate Very inadequate Yes No Page 13 of 19 2.16 Please state briefly why you don't publish on the intranet? 2.17 To what extent does using the intranet help to improve your productivity? answer in 2.18. 2.18 2.19 What benefits do you think Gemini could realise if it improved the ways it organizes and reuses existing skills and experience on the intranet? How often do you use each of the following intranet features for work activities? 2.20 Communities of practice (medium that allows users to converse electronically and exchange ideas about topics of common interest): 2.21 White pages (record of the organisation's employees, their job, experience, interests, etc.): 2.22 Search engine (facility that allow users to flexibly search and retrieve information): 2.23 Workflow process (online process for submittal, approval and progressing of tasks): To no extent To a small extent To a moderate extent To a large extent Daily Weekly Monthly Seldom (less than once a month) Daily Weekly Monthly Seldom (less than once a month) Daily Weekly Monthly Seldom (less than once a month) Page 14 of 19 2.24 Scenario planning (facility for exploring potential scenarios for a situation, in order to choose the best option or facilitate planning): 2.25 Is the success of knowledge sharing via the Gemini intranet being measured? 2.26 If yes, which of the following methods are being used (please mark all applicable)? • Feedback from users on the effectiveness of knowledge sharing via the intranet • Feedback from users on the usefulness of knowledge sharing via the intranet • Tracking of intranet usage figures • Tracking of content contribution via the intranet Part 3: Organizational and cultural enablers 3.1 To what extent does Gemini have a culture of sharing ideas via the intranet? 3.2 To what extent does Gemini have a culture of sharing knowledge via the intranet? 3.3 To what extent does the Gemini leadership team encourage you to share your knowledge with other members of staff via the intranet? Daily Weekly Monthly Seldom (less than once a month) Daily Weekly Monthly Seldom (less than once a month) Yes No To no extent To a small extent To a moderate extent To a large extent To no extent To a small extent To a moderate extent To a large extent Page 15 of 19 3.4 To what extent does the Gemini culture encourage risk taking and experimentation via the intranet? 3.5 How good is Gemini at sharing key learnings from project work via the intranet? 3.6 Select which of the following types of incentives do you receive in return for your knowledge sharing on the intranet? • Award and recognition • Monetary– part of annual bonus scheme • Promotion opportunities • Training or educational opportunities • Funding for travel and attendance of conferences Name others: 3.7 Did you receive the right level of training to participate effectively in knowledge-sharing initiatives on the intranet? 3.8 Do new employees attend an induction session on how to use the intranet? To no extent To a small extent To a moderate extent To a large extent To no extent To a small extent To a moderate extent To a large extent Poor Mediocre Good Excellent Yes No Page 16 of 19 3.9 What were and continue to be barriers to knowledge sharing on the intranet? 3.10 To what extent does sharing your knowledge on the intranet strengthen the relationship between yourself and other members of staff? Why? P rea 3.12 To what extent does sharing your knowledge via the intranet create new business opportunities for Gemini? Part 4: Knowledge management strategy and intranet strategy 4.1 To what extent do new ideas for knowledge management initiatives come from all departments in Gemini? 4.2 To what extent do new ideas for knowledge management initiatives just come from one department? 4.3 To what extent does Gemini commit an appropriate level of resources to knowledge management initiatives? Yes No To no extent To a small extent To a moderate extent To a large extent To no extent To a small extent To a moderate extent To a large extent To no extent To a small extent To a moderate extent To a large extent To no extent To a small extent To a moderate extent To a large extent Page 17 of 19 4.4 To what extent does the intranet make a contribution to the performance of your department or unit? 4.5 To what extent have Gemini future knowledge needs been prioritized and identified? 4.6 To what extent does Gemini have a development plan in place to meet their future knowledge needs? 4.7 To what extent is this plan being communicated to the employees? 4.8 Do you have any other comments that you would like to make about the sharing of know-how via the Gemini intranet? Thanks for your time to complete the questionnaire. To no extent To a small extent To a moderate extent To a large extent To no extent To a small extent To a moderate extent To a large extent To no extent To a small extent To a moderate extent To a large extent To no extent To a small extent To a moderate extent To a large extent To no extent To a small extent To a moderate extent To a large extent Disclaimer Articles published in SAJIM are the opinions of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the Editor, Board, Publisher, Webmaster or the Rand Afrikaans University. 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