摘要：Firms are increasingly tempted to implement virtual Forums to enhance the efficiency of
their processes. We argue that conditions which explain the success of these tools on the open Internet
space are not always met within the firm. In the internet, the Forum is seen as a powerful tool for
knowing communities since it enables frequent interactions based on a ‘pseudo-oral’ communication.
On the Intranet, the challenge is to find the right dosage between management by design and
management by communities. When moving from a pure oral communication mode to the pseudo-oral
one, knowing communities face the risk of direct monitoring/intrusion by the hierarchy. Therefore,
what we see as a genuine strength of Internet Forums appears to be a weakness in the Intranet context.
