NOTICE OF RESEARCH SEMINAR
No: 2004.2

Date: Wednesday, 31 March 2004
Time: 12h30-14h00
Venue: Leslie Commerce, Upper Campus, Room 6.14
Speaker: Kevin Johnston
Topic: Does the Intranet Empower Knowledge Workers? A survey in the Western Cape of South Africa
 

SPEAKER

Kevin Johnston is a senior lecturer in the Department of Information Systems. He graduated from UCT with a M.Com. He has held various managerial positions within IT Departments at BOE, Lifegro, Liberty Life and De Beers.

TOPIC

Internet and Intranet technology have contributed towards improvements in business processes, particularly where manual methods were previously used. Intranets enable easier and quicker information sharing, group collaboration and data retrieval and access.

Hayward et al (2000) stated that the Knowledge Worker represents the intersection of three key trends: the leverage of intellectual capital; the virtualization of the workplace; and the shift from hierarchical to organic models of management. Decision-making processes are no longer the sole domain of management, but appear to have been delegated to Knowledge Workers. Knowledge Workers appear to be more empowered, and to assume more responsibility and decision-making processes. The organisational structure and dynamics are reported to have been changed by the Internet and Intranet. Intranet technologies affect the working environment of Knowledge Workers by providing the worker with more timely information and with the means to manipulate and distribute information to the entire organization quickly and effectively.

This paper presents the results of a research project in the Western Cape of South Africa. Data was collated using observation and interviews from organisations which had implemented Intranet technology. The research found that Intranet technology (a) empowered knowledge workers by integrating decision-making into the actual work instead of referring up the management hierarchy; (b) had no noticeable effect on organizational dynamics and (c) empowered Knowledge Workers by providing a focused user-centred work environment.

A finger lunch and refreshments will be provided. Please RSVP to Aayesha.Patel@uct.ac.za for catering purposes. For further information on the seminar, please contact: Ms. Aayesha Patel on 650-4028; e-mail Aayesha.Patel@uct.ac.za