Chapter 1
INTRODUCTION
This chapter shall discuss the problem that the
study want to address as well as the circumstances related to the study. The
researcher would also provide the hypothesis that shall be examined and tested
in the course of this study. This portion of the research will also define the
limitation and the aspects covered as well as the importance of the study to the
current field of intranet technology. The researcher shall also provide
definitions of the terms used in the study.
Background of the Study
Confusing Intranet with Internet is
natural -- the technology, like the spelling, is nearly identical. Both require
the same network protocol (TCP/IP) and both use email and World Wide Web
standards. (Christensen, 1996) The Intranet is essentially a private Internet
operating on your company's internal network. Intranets exploit the incredibly
popular and low-cost Internet tools to gain strategic advantage over
competitors, cut costs, and improve operational effectiveness. An Intranet
typically has three features lacking on the Internet, speed, security, and
control. The said technology has a broader bandwidth than the latter. Likewise,
the system is more secured since it has a
private internal network
(LAN/WAN), protected from Internet users by a firewall. In addition, it could
also be more manageable compared to the Internet since the enterprise network
management to ensure reliability.
Furthermore, the Intranet can be viewed as
an information utility for the enterprise. (Christiansen, 1996) It doesn't
matter whether one uses a Mac, Windows or a UNIX workstation – it is plugged in
to the Intranet and find what you need, from documents to email to data to audio
and video. Corporate and department information is accessed via the standards of
the Internet: e-mail, WWW, file transfer, and other Internet services. The
information utility concept has broad appeal. It enables everyone to be a
'knowledge worker' by providing real-time information access to all published
documents and data in the corporation. The rapid and near-universal adoption of
Internet standards is producing an avalanche of new products and refurbished,
web-enabled applications from all major applications vendors.
Physically, an Intranet is formed by linking the
various pieces of information and communications technologies that an
organization owns or uses; interconnected in such a fashion that all the
resources of the organization are readily available to anyone who needs them,
wherever and whenever they are needed. (Gareiss, 1996) These resources that are
linked together are not merely the physical devices such as computers or fax
machines. The data that is stored in or accessed through the physical devices
are resources too; as are the software applications that can operate on and
manipulate those data resources.
An Intranet encourages the members of the
organization to make better and more informed decisions. (Gareiss, 1996) An
Intranet encourages and supports more effective use of people by people and
should support faster and more efficient decision making processes.
To repeat the point: An Intranet weaves together
three essential components; tangible resources such as computers, intangible
resources in the form of data and, most important of all, the experience and
knowledge of people within the organization.
Moreover, an Intranet achieves its purposes by
providing a small number of common but very generalized software tools of great
power and flexibility, rather than a large range of discrete specialized power
tools that cannot work effectively with each other. Intranets are therefore
mechanisms for harmonization and integration. (Gareiss, 1996)
The key issues here are experience and
knowledge. A well designed Intranet should make it possible for an organization
to gain better access to its primary resource: the knowledge and experience of
the individuals who work within it. A well-designed Intranet should be an
enabling technology. A well designed and properly implemented Intranet is a
creative and empowering tool for the entire organization that permits any
individual to bring the entire resources of the organization to bear on any
specific task they undertake and to bring their own resources and expertise to
bear upon the general purposes of the organization with greater effect.
The study would be assessing the intranet system
of Mosscare Housing LTD (MC). It was chosen as the case study for the project
due to its easy accessibility of information and largely traditional structure.
There are several definitions of Intranet, but they all generally refer to
network activities where protocol replaces physical items such as paper and pen.
Mosscare Housing LTD is a not-for-profit organization, and is responsible for
over 2,500 properties and sheltered accommodation schemes in the Greater
Manchester area. It provides accommodation services for the community by
developing new properties, renovating existing ones, and managing the tenancies.
Statement of the Problem
The study intends to investigate the benefits
of Intranets within an organization, particularly in Mosscare Housing LTD.
Specifically, the study seeks to:
1.
Describe the characteristics of
the employees in terms of age and departmental affiliation.
2.
Identify the challenges and
opportunities institution face as a result of Intranet technology.
3.
Assess the behavior and attitudes of the employees regarding the use of
Intranet within the organizations.
4.
Recognize the adaptation method of MC to Intranets.
5.
Identify the factors affecting intranet usage.
Hypothesis
The study intends
to test the hypothesis:
“Has the proliferation of intranet had a positive or negative
effect on working paradigms within business organization?”
Significance of the Study
The study would benefit several areas of the
corporate system. First of all, the study would be able to benefit the
Information Systems of corporations in general as well as with Mosscare. The
research would be able to provide them the idea on the departmental distribution
of the employees who use the technology. This would allow them to furnish
additional data that would be valuable for the department who has the greatest
number of employees clicking to the company’s intranet. This would allow the
said department to modify a section for frequently asked questions (FAQs) to
allow easier access for the employees.
In this light, the management of companies in
general as well as with Mosscare would also benefit from this study. The results
of this study would allow the employees to become more aware of the company
mission and vision through the intranets. This way, the management would be able
to easily keep the employees informed of company affairs and in the same time,
continue to place their moral in a high level.
Likewise, the employees of Mosscare would also
benefit from this study. This study would convey their concerns regarding the
intranet network within their company. This would provide them additional
aspects of the intranets that would be able to cater to their specific needs.
Moreover this study would do well to the Intranet technology as a whole. This
would provide the followers in the field of networking and other related
technologies a concrete representation on the impact of intranets on an
organization.
Scope and Limitations
The study would be limited to the analysis of
the Intranet utilization of the company Mosscare Housing LTD. This would utilize
a researcher made questionnaire that would be provided to the employees of the
said company. The employees that would be given the said instrument would amount
to twenty-five (25) respondents.
Definition of Terms
Browser
This is a program that allows the user to read and access information on the
World Wide Web.
Cyberspace
The conceptual or virtual area where pages, data, images, and all the rest fly
back and forth from computer to computer, user to user.
FAQs - Frequently Asked Questions
These are questions and answers that occur regularly within a
user group. FAQs are a timesaving feature for all kinds of users.
Firewall
A protection of the internal company network against unauthorized access via the
Internet.
FTP - File Transfer Protocol
It is a very common method of moving files between two Internet
sites. FTP is a special way to log in to another Internet site for the purposes
of retrieving and/or sending files. There are many Internet sites that have
established publicly accessible repositories of material that can be obtained
using FTP by logging in using the account name anonymous. Thus, these sites are
called anonymous FTP servers.
HTTP - Hypertext Transfer Protocol
The way Web pages are transferred over the Internet or an
Intranet. Icon A small picture or graphic used to represent a location in the
inter- or Intranet (for example a flow-chart graphic to take the user to the
departmental flow chart); an action (a mailbox as a place to send feedback); or
a program (a W to indicate Microsoft Word).
Internet
Interconnected computer networks from around the world.
Intranet
Interconnected computers and networks within an organization.
ISDN - Integrated Services Digital Network
Basically, it is a way to move more data over existing regular
phone lines. It can provide speeds of roughly 128,000 bits-per-second over
regular phone lines.
LDAP - Lightweight Directory Access Protocol
LDAP is preferred for creating directories. LDAP provides a
standard way for Internet clients, applications, and servers to access directory
services using TCP/IP, regardless of the hardware/software platform.
Network
Lots of computers connected together. Lots of networks all over the world are
connected to make the Internet. Lots of networks connected within an
organization such as a university or company make an Intranet.
Search Engine
Software used to find information on the Web. Examples are Lycos
and Yahoo.
Server
This is a computer with the capacity to provide connectivity
(sharing) to multiple personal computers.
Surfing
Going from page to page, link to link, via a browser. Surfing could have been
called "clicking" for the mouse clicks that make the process possible, or
"linking" from the program logic, which makes the process, occur.
TCP/IP
Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol. This is the suite of
protocols that defines the Internet. Originally designed for the UNIX operating
system, TCP/IP software is now available for every major kind of computer
operating system. To be truly on the Internet, your computer must have TCP/IP
software.
URL - Uniform Resource Locator
It is the address of location for accessing Web pages. Clicking
on an icon or "hot text" is the most common means of accessing and using a URL.
Web or Net
The World Wide Web (a server) consisting of a hypermedia system
(linking sounds, text, pictures, video) which your computer (a client) can
access.
Webmaster
The supervisor ensuring that the system is up and running; the coordinator of
access; the relay for communications between users and hosts to sites.
Chapter 3
METHODS AND
PROCEDURES
This chapter shall discuss the
research methods available for the study and what is applicable for it to use.
Likewise the chapter shall present how the research will be implemented and how
to come up with pertinent findings.
Method of
Research to be Used
There
are three kinds of research methods, correlational, experimental and
descriptive. (Walliman and Baiche, 2001) The correlational kind of research
method is used due to ethical problems with
experiments. Moreover, it is also used due to practical problems with
experiments. Moreover, inferring causality from correlation not actually
impossible, but very difficult. This mode of study is widely applicable, cheap,
and usually ethical. Nonetheless, there exist some "third variable" issues and
measurement problems. The correlational research refers to studies in which the
purpose is to discover relationships between variables through the use of
correlational statistics (r). The square of a correlation coefficient yields the
explained variance (r-squared). A correlational relationship between two
variables is occasionally the result of an outside source, so we have to be
careful and remember that correlation does not necessarily tell us about cause
and effect. If a strong relationship is found between two variables, using an
experimental approach can test causality.
On
the other hand, the experimental method is
the only method that can be used to establish cause-and-effect relationships.
(Creswell, 1994) That is, it is the only one that can be used to explain the
bases of behavior and mental processes. In this method, the
subjects are split into two (or more)
groups. One group, called the
experimental group gets the treatment
that the researcher believes will cause something to happen (this treatment is
formally called the
independent variable). The
experimental and
control groups are compared on some
variable that is presumed to reflect the
effects of the treatment, or outcome. This is formally referred to as the
dependent variable.
And lastly, the descriptive
research method uses observation and surveys. In this method, it is possible
that the study would be cheap and quick. It could also suggest unanticipated
hypotheses. Nonetheless, it would be very hard to rule out alternative
explanations and especially infer causations. Thus, this
approach was used for this study. This descriptive type of research utilized
questionnaires and observations in the study. To illustrate the descriptive
type of research, Creswell (1994) will guide the researcher when he stated:
Descriptive method of research is to gather information about the present
existing condition. The purpose of employing this method is to describe the
nature of a situation, as it exists at the time of the study and to explore the
cause/s of particular phenomena. The researcher opted to use this kind of
research considering the desire of the researcher to obtain first hand data from
the respondents so as to formulate rational and sound conclusions and
recommendations for the study.
The research described in this
document is based solely on
qualitative
research methods. This permitted a flexible and iterative approach. During data
gathering the choice and design of methods were constantly modified, based on
ongoing analysis. This allowed investigation of important new issues and
questions as they arise, and allowed the investigators to drop unproductive
areas of research from the original research plan.
The study intended to investigate the benefits
of Intranets within an organization, particularly in Mosscare Housing LTD.
Specifically, the study sought to describe the characteristics of the employees
in terms of age and departmental affiliation; identify the challenges and
opportunities institution face as a result of Intranet technology; assess the
behavior and attitudes of the employees regarding the use of Intranet within the
organizations; recognize the adaptation method of MC to Intranets; and identify
the factors affecting intranet usage.
The
primary source of data came from a researcher-made survey questionnaire, which
will be given to the respondents. The respondents of this study were randomly
selected employees at Mosscare.
The secondary sources of data came from published
articles from social science journals, theses and related studies on modern
technologies, online applications, and network technologies.
For this research design, the researcher gathered data, collate published
studies from different local and foreign universities and articles from social
science journals, distribute sampling questionnaires; arranged interviews;
conducted surveys; and made a content analysis of the collected documentary and
verbal material. Afterwards, the researcher summarized all the information, made
a conclusion based on the null hypotheses posited and provided insightful
recommendations on the issues dealing with the development of intranets.
Respondents of the
Study
The general population for this study was composed of Mosscare
employees, numbering twenty-five (25) respondents. The respondents were randomly
selected.
Instruments to be Used
To determine the impact of intranets in working institutions, the researcher
will prepare a survey questionnaire, which will be given to the intended
respondents.
Part 1 of the survey asked for the characteristics of the employees in terms of
gender and affiliated department.
Part 2
determined the
behavior and attitudes of the employees with the use of the intranet technology.
Part 3 identified the challenges and opportunities of the
technology of intranets as perceived by the respondents.
Validation of the Instrument
For validation purposes, the researcher initially submitted a survey
questionnaire and after approval, the survey was given to three respondents.
After the survey questionnaire has been answered, the researcher asked the
respondents for any suggestions or any necessary corrections to ensure further
improvement and validity of the instrument. The researcher again examined the
content of the survey questionnaire to find out the reliability of the
instrument. The researchers excluded irrelevant questions and changed words that
were deemed difficult by the respondents, to much simpler terms.
Administration of the Instrument
The revised instrument was consequently administered to the respondents of the
study, which were chosen through random sampling. The researcher will exclude
the three respondents who were be initially used for the validation of the
instrument. The researcher also tallied, scored and tabulated all the relevant
data in the survey questionnaire.
Limitations Encountered
In the course of the collection of the data required by this study, the
researcher bumped into several slight inconveniences. Initially, the
administration of the research instrument took several ounces of sweat than
expected because of the slightly stubborn personnel department, which was
apparently too busy to accommodate the researcher. Nonetheless, they have
provided the researcher with the approval to conduct the research, this is
without assistance though. This means that the researcher has to interact
personally to the respondents.
In addition, the researcher also realized that the population is slightly
biased. Apparently, this is because they perceive that they would be sacked by
the company if ever they say anything bad about their system. It was fortunate
for the researcher that the greater majority of the population realized that
they wouldn’t be affected by any breach of information since the researcher
assured them that it would only be used for academic purposes. Besides, placing
their names on the questionnaire was not among the option providing them their
much-needed anonymity.
Another problem was the schedule changes that inevitably hounded the research
process. This has been a slight inconvenience for the researcher considering
that he has provided a considerable leeway for the research process. Moreover,
the researcher as well encountered several hassles in collating the secondary
data. The secondary data was hard to collate due to a notable number of
important articles. Choosing the right literature and studies has consumed a
bulk of the researcher’s schedule. Nonetheless, the study has evidently
completed containing relevant information about the technology of intranets.
Statistical Treatment of Data
When all the survey questionnaire have been collected, the researcher used
statistical methods to analyze all the data.
The researcher statistically
treated the data on Part 1,
characteristics of the employees in terms of gender and departmental
affiliation.
The statistical formulae used in the second and third part of the survey
questionnaire are the following:
1. Percentage
– to determine the magnitude of the responses to the questionnaire.
n
% = --------
x 100 ; n – number of responses
N N – total number of respondents
2.
Weighted Mean
f1x1 + f2x2 + f3x3
+ f4x4 + f5x5
x
= --------------------------------------------- ;
xt
where:
f – weight given to each response
x – number of responses
xt – total number of responses
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