This case presents the experiences of a large multinational firm trying to integrate a company-wide Intranet. Groupe Schneiders Intranet began as decentralized marketing and IT groups worked independently on projects for their units. A high level committee then decided to work to manage the development of the multiple intranets in order to integrate them into a corporate-wide intranet. The case illustrates the difficulty of managing company-wide information technology projects in an organization whose IT function is highly decentralized.
The case provides the opportunity to discuss information technology structure, to consider the ability of small corporate IT units to effectively set and maintain corporate standards when IT is decentralized in the organization, to consider the reactions of multiple units to issues associated with intranets (such as whether the posting of positions available by human resources will lead to a more internally mobile employee base), and to consider the role of a non-IT corporate committee in encouraging an IT project.
- AR1998
