The Development of a Beneficial Intranet System and the Implementation of a Knowledge Management System in a Large-scale Pharmaceutical Company

Abstract

The Internet is highly commercialized and heavily trafficked by people of all ages. A person can find anything they can dream of on the Internet. Many people, clubs. companies. and even some pets have web site nowadays. For a company, a web site can be a very effective means of conveying information about what they do and the products they sell. However, in order for a company to be profitable, a company needs more than a good Internet web site. Communication is key. especially in large-scale companies. In order to keep the doors of communication open when a company has several locations around the world, a company needs a way to make information available to all employees, no matter where they may be working. A company Intranet does just this. If the Intranet is developed and the company agrees to keep it up to date, then internal users will know it is a reliable source and '"will use the intranet for all the various types of information they need in their work life" (Nielsen, 265). At the start of my internship at Pharmacia Corporation, they had an Intranet, but were still searching for a way to make it benefit the company. With the size of the company and the numerous locations they had, I knew a company like this could gain more than they realized from having a more advanced and up to date Intranet system. The company had also recently implemented a knowledge management system, but it appeared the employees were not taking advantage of this powerful tool they had available at their fingertips. This is where I stepped onto the scene. After being hired to work at Pharmacia Corporation as a web designer, I knew I could tum these two areas of the company into something employees would learn to use and rely on. Little did I know that something that seemed so simple to me previously, creating web sites, and showing people how powerful and beneficial a knowledge management system is~ could lead to so many problems.