Researching Organisational Memory

Abstract

The modem view of organisations assumes that organisational processes are associated with the creation of new knowledge. Moreover it is recognised that this knowledge needs to be shared and reused. The concept of organisational memory (OM) is indispensable in this respect as a collection of knowledge that can and should be applied in the context of current activities. In this sense, OM is dynamically maintained and facilitates organisational leaming. It is these aspects, as components of knowledge management, that enables organisations to evolve and transform in response to their dynamic environment and internal changes. Recognition of organisational knowledge as a resource has prompted an increased interest in research into OM. From the information systems perspective, the focus is on OM systems (OMS) and the technology to support such systems to achieve the desired organisational outcomes. In this paper we constrain our discussion of OMS to its external manifestations (and exclude what people know) because such explicit manifestation of memory can be supported with information technology. However, the danger inherent in focussing on an OMS facilitated by information technology is that organisational knowledge can be (mis)interpreted as simply an information store. This would repeat the history of information systems failure where the mere provision of, or access to, information or technology is deemed to constitute organisational outcomes. We believe that the approach outlined in this paper specifically precludes such misunderstanding Our objective for this paper is to provide a broad position on the issues related to OMS research and practice. In addition the paper identifies a number of directions which will need to be followed in order to establish a strong theory of OMS with benefits flowing from the application of theory into practice.