Et relationsskabende intranet: Udvikling af nyt intranet hos 3M Danmark

Abstract

This thesis investigates the potential advantages of a company intranet containing elements of social technology. My motivation behind the thesis can be traced to my own personal experiences with 1) social technologies and online communities, and 2) intranets that do not fulfil their potential as the main channel of a company’s or organisation’s internal communications. Thus, the ambition of the thesis is to find out how Web 2.0 ideas and technologies such as virtual communities and online communication can contribute to the strengthening of an organisation from within as well as the improvement of internal communications and creation of job satisfaction and enthusiasm among the individual employees. The case company of the thesis is 3M Danmark, which is the Danish branch of American manufacturing company 3M. 3M Danmark employs approximately 160 people and the company decided in 2008 that it was time to replace its existing intranet, which has been in use since 2001. The problem statement of the thesis is: How can the internal communications of 3M Danmark be improved and made more efficient by means of a new company intranet as relation-creating channel for communication? In order to answer this question and thereby solving the problem statement, I carry out an empirical study in the thesis. This study encompasses both quantitative and qualitative research, which consists of a group interview and a survey conducted among selected employees of 3M Danmark. The results are compared to an already existing amount of data on 3M Danmark’s employees and their attitudes to and satisfaction with the existing intranet. Four topics turn out to be of noticeable importance and relevance in the course of the study and are therefore turned into the main themes of the thesis’ analysis. The themes are: • Management communications • The organisation seen as a single unit • Usability • The intranet as social media Among other things, the empirical data and evidence point to the facts that the employees of 3M Danmark are dissatisfied with the nature and amount of communication from the company’s management, that they have little knowledge of what is happening in other departments than their own, and that their own contribution to the creation of the intranet’s content is very limited. In the analysis, I draw upon literature and theory relevant to e.g. organisational culture, corporate communication, management and usability in order to be able to provide 3M Danmark with recommendations for the creation and development of a new and improved intranet. These recommendations are for 3M Danmark to: 1. Establish management and department blogs 2. Develop an employee forum on the intranet 3. Include a certain extent of personalisation of the intranet 4. Focus on usability when developing and implementing the intranet 5. Carefully plan a strategy for the implementation 6. Maintain orientation towards possible new technologies in the future. In the conclusion of the thesis, these recommendations are deemed capable of providing the right framework for the creation of a new, efficient and improved intranet for 3M Danmark. By embracing and welcoming the above recommendations, 3M Danmark can develop a new intranet, which will be able to make way for better and more frequent and relevant management communication, a broader knowledge among the employees regarding company activities, greater and wider contribution by more people to the content of the intranet, and relationcreating and user friendly interaction and usage of the intranet.