Intranets et entreprises : technologie, apprentissages et organisation de la cohérence

Intranets are paradoxically both inescapable and still little known. Following the non deterministic, processual and multi-leveled emergent perspective on the relationships between ICT and organization, this paper presents the first results of 12 case studies of French firms that have implemented intranets. Analyses have shown that the implementation and evolution of intranets correspond to a succession of shared and specific tendencies, to gradual and radical evolutions and to local and general learning processes. This diversity suggests that intranets should not be reduced to mere technology. Their traditional definition of internet standards used in the internal firm network is therefore inadequate. The study of intranets requires to take into account numerous structuration processes which are more linked to the representations of the technology than to the technology itself. This broadened perspective helps to understand the intranets' occasions for organizing as well as a new organizational coherence, thanks to the surpassing of three major tensions : local / central levels, action / communication, deliberate / emergent changes.