|About
the Study|

This is the first phase of a three-part study profiling three separate companies that use intranets as competitive tools. Each company was selected to demonstrate one of the following impacts of an intranet: organizational, financial, and technical. Silicon Graphics was selected to demonstrate the organizational impact due to the company's highly entrepreneurial spirit and established worldwide intranet. To demonstrate how an intranet has been leveraged across Silicon Graphics, the survey portion of the Silicon Graphics study was hosted on the Silicon Graphics worldwide intranet. The result was an immediate widespread global distribution and collection of the survey and a faster analysis process compared to conventional survey methods. The preliminary findings of this study, as they relate to Silicon Graphics, are detailed in this document. The full study including all three companies will be available in the fall 1996.

|Evolution of the
Intranet at Silicon Graphics|

Silicon Graphics has gained industry attention for creating one of the fastest-growing and largest corporate intranets. The intranet's development has been propelled by the company's unique cultural characteristics and management philosophies:

  • Taking advantage of new technology
  • Strong entrepreneurial spirit
  • Freedom of individual creativity
  • Open and free exchange of information
  • Open management style
  • Customer satisfaction
  • Empowerment of employees
As shown in Figure 1, the culture of Silicon Graphics and an overwhelming need for enhanced communication has fueled the intranet's rapid development over the last 18 months. This evolution is best described in the following phases:
  • Phase 1: Grassroots Development-- individuals creating Web pages for better communication and data sharing with team members, creating a warehouse of corporate knowledge
  • Phase 2: Development of business strategy-- management recognition of an intranet as a critical component to the daily business activities of Silicon Graphics employees
  • Phase 3: Process improvements-- identification and development of critical business applications to increase competitiveness