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In 1999, Organon Technika, a biopharmaceutical company in the Netherlands, introduced Livelink, a suite of web-based applications with facilities for document management, workflow management, e-mail and version control. The aim was to improve the management of knowledge and to increase collaboration by changing the attitude of employees and making them actively seek information instead of passively waiting for new information. This article reports on a pre- and post-measurement field study of employees. It evaluates whether an existing culture can be changed into a collaborative culture independently of specific training. The study was based on a survey of employees using a questionnaire which contained a number of background questions about age, gender, educational level and leadership style of the business area manager together with multiple choice and Likert questions grouped in four sections: computer skills; perceived goal and utility; levels of collaboration; and learning style. The findings indicate that while it may be possible to change an existing culture without making use of training that uses the environment in a collaborative way, such changes are unlikely to last. The right skills to operate the supporting infrastructure need to be developed and the manager's cultural influence is necessary if these changes are to last.