A Transactive Memory Approach

Decision Support Systems 39 (2005) 549–562 www.elsevier.com/locate/dsw

Organizational memory information systems: a transactive memory approach

Dorit Nevoa,*, Yair Wandb

a S337H, Schulich School of Business, York University, 4700 Keele St., Toronto, ON, Canada M3J1P3 b Sauder School of Business, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada

Available online 10 May 2004

Abstract

Effective management of organizational memory (OM) is critical to collaboration and knowledge sharing in organizations. We present a framework for managing organizational memory based on transactive memory, a mechanism of collective memory in small groups. While being effective in small groups, there are difficulties hindering the extension of transactive memory to larger groups. We claim that information technology can be used to help overcome these difficulties. We present a formal architecture for directories of meta-memories required in extended transactive memory systems and propose the use of meta- knowledge to substitute for the lack of tacit group knowledge that exists in small groups. D 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Organizational memory information system; Transactive memory; Meta-knowledge

1. Introduction the way organizations store knowledge from the past to support present activities [24]. Organizational memory (OM) and knowledge man- Organizational memory can increase organizational agement are two intertwined topics that have grown in effectiveness by supporting the coordination of work, importance for businesses and academics over the past management of information, the organization’s re- few years. Knowledge management encompasses var- sponsiveness to changes, and the definition and pur- ious practices of managing organizational knowledge suit of organizational goals [25]. Such memory such as knowledge generation, capture, sharing, and generally resides in different retainers in the organi- application [2]. Within these practices, effective shar- zation and organization members retrieve its content ing and use of organizational knowledge depends—to based on their work needs [28]. To support effective a large extent—on the organization’s ability to create management of organizational memory, Stein and and manage its collective memory. This collective Zwass [25] propose the use of information technology memory is often referred to as organizational memory to accomplish four specific processes related to orga- (OM). The organizational memory can be described as nizational memory: acquisition, retention, maintenance, and search and retrieval. In addition, they * Corresponding author. outline a design for an organizational memory infor- E-mail address: [email protected] (D. Nevo). mation system (OMIS) that includes a ‘‘mnemonic

0167-9236/$ - see front matter D 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.dss.2004.03.002 550 D. Nevo, Y. Wand / Decision Support Systems 39 (2005) 549–562 functions layer’’ intended to provide the functionality behaviour perceptions. These retainers of OM may be necessary to support the above four processes. The in different locations and their memories might be general design requirements of this layer include the difficult to combine [3,32]. ability to capture and represent knowledge in OM, the A third problem with OM management is that ability to communicate knowledge, and the mainte- knowledge is often tacit. Tacit knowledge is a highly nance of the contents of the OM. personal knowledge and is hard to formalize. It is While the management of OM is a good candidate rooted in action, commitment, and involvement in a for the use of information technology, the specific specific context [20]. Tacit knowledge is difficult to design of such an information system is not a simple track and maintain in large organizational memories task. We suggest there are five reasons for this. [25]. First, much of the knowledge in the OM is contex- A fourth problem concerns the volatility of orga- tualized. When knowledge is transferred, the receiving nizational knowledge. This volatility results in fre- end of the communication system often does not know quent changes to the contents of the OM [32].In the original context of the knowledge and therefore addition, combined with the problem of context de- cannot interpret it correctly [3,24]. In order to cross pendence, the volatility of knowledge further compli- boundaries—either departmental or organizational— cates the search and retrieval of knowledge included the knowledge needs to be stripped of its context for the in the OM. receiving end to be able to understand it [1].An Finally, since some knowledge is retained outside interesting distinction can be made here about the the organization [28] or from unfamiliar sources magnitude of this problem in high versus low context within the organization, a measure of the retainer’s communication environments. High context commu- legitimacy and reliability is required [3]. In fact, an nication is defined as one in which much of the inquirer is more motivated to retrieve knowledge if he information is embedded in the context—either phys- or she is aware of the knowledge and sees potential ical or personal—and very little information is explic- value in the knowledge [24]. This information should itly coded. Low context communication is on the other be attached to OM to facilitate the retrieval and use of end of the continuum, representing messages in which knowledge. most of the information is explicitly coded in the These five problems create difficulties for members message [10]. Thus, people in low context cultures of the organization in retrieving and using knowledge will rely more on formal communications that can be that resides in OM. As well, they complicate the verbally expressed, while people in the high context design of the mnemonic layer of an OMIS, i.e., the cultures will rely on context variables such as individ- layer intended to support the processes involved in ual background and associations [16]. This distinction using the OM. As a result, organizations might not be implies that the effective application of technology to able to attain the potential benefits of increased support organizational memory might be greater in effectiveness and performance that can be associated low- context cultures and more challenging in high with effective OMIS [25]. context cultures. This paper explores how technology can be used to A second problem concerns the locations of knowl- overcome the above problems and proposes a con- edge. OM generally resides in five different types of ceptual design for an information system intended to retainers [28]: Individuals, who retain knowledge in support effective management and use of organiza- their memory stores or in their belief structures, tional memory. We base our approach on the obser- values, or assumptions; culture that stores knowledge vation that small workgroups—called communities of in language, shared framework, symbols, and stories; practice—are usually efficient in their communication transformations, procedures, and rules, which include and sharing of collective knowledge, even when the embedded knowledge such as the logic behind them; knowledge is tacit [7,8]. Therefore, to gain a better structure and roles that represent the organization’s understanding of possible ways to overcome the perception of the environment, and social expect- barriers for efficient OM management, we examine ations; and finally, the physical settings of the work- the processes involved in the management of the place represent knowledge about status hierarchy and collective memory of smaller workgroups. In partic- D. Nevo, Y. Wand / Decision Support Systems 39 (2005) 549–562 551 ular, we use the concept of transactive memory When new knowledge enters the group, it is systems that has been developed to explain how allocated to the person who is perceived by the group individuals in small workgroup form a collective as the expert on the topic. This expertise differentia- memory [18,30,31]. We propose what the barriers to tion can develop naturally within the group or be extending transactive memory mechanisms to the imposed by defining roles and allocating responsibil- whole organization might be, and suggest how the ities. For example, a hotel reservation manger is use of technology can help to overcome these barriers. formally responsible for knowledge related to the In Section 2 the next section, we review the trans- reservations and guests of the hotel. However, she active memory literature. In Section 3, we propose an may also develop an interest in technological innova- extension of transactive memory systems to large tions and therefore become the informal expert on groups with the help of information technology. In new technologies that may be useful for the hotel. In Section 4, we examine the potential benefits of such either case, relevant knowledge that enters the orga- systems and provide some empirical support for these nization is allocated to her. benefits. Finally, Section 5 provides some conclusions Finally, a group member wishing to retrieve some and recommendations for future work. knowledge will first assess his or her own ‘‘feeling of knowing’’ on the topic and then—if necessary— will evaluate other group members that may possess 2. The transactive memory approach this knowledge. This again requires some evaluation of perceived expertise. For example, if the reserva- A transactive memory system is ‘‘...asetof tion manager would like to know the credit of a individual memory systems in combination with the potential guest, she will probably turn to the hotel’s communication that takes place between individuals’’ credit department for the relevant knowledge. ([31], p. 186]. Such a system is built on the distinction Initial research on transactive memory focused on between internal and external memory encoding. In dating couples [12,31] and later extended to small many cases, individuals encode new knowledge in- groups. In group studies, the existence of transactive ternally, that is —they learn something new and memory was measured by assigning groups the simple catalogue it in memory for future retrieval and use. task of building the AM portion of an AM/FM radio. However, even more often individuals encode knowl- Some of the groups were trained together, while others edge externally either in diaries, in books, or even in were trained individually and assigned to groups after other people’s memory. In these cases, the individual the training session. In three different experiments, the internally encodes the label (subject) of the knowl- results show that training together led to the develop- edge as well as its location, but not the knowledge ment of transactive memory in the group and also itself. Transactive memory systems are built on the resulted in improved group performance [18].An notion of individuals playing the role of external additional benefit of transactive memory is in creating memory for other individuals who—in turn—encode a more efficient problem problem-solving mechanism meta-memories (i.e., memories about the memories of [17]. Since group members know more about each others). Knowledge is encoded, stored, and retrieved other, they are able to match problems with the people through various transactions between individuals. who are most likely to solve them. Three stages are involved in the creation and While most research on transactive memory focuses maintenance of transactive memory systems: directory on small groups or intimate couples, some work relates updating, information allocation, and retrieval coordi- transactive memory to OM [3]. However, these studies nation [30]. At the first stage, group members create do not extend a single transactive memory system to the directories of meta-memories containing information whole organization, but rather remain within the frame- about the memories held by others. These meta- work of small groups, for example, by examining the memories usually include information about the sub- existence and relations between various transactive ject and location of the knowledge but also—tacitly— memory systems within organizational memory [3]. some perceptions about the individual’s own and To apply the above benefits of transactive memory others’ expertise on each subject [22]. to the whole organization, we first examine whether 552 D. Nevo, Y. Wand / Decision Support Systems 39 (2005) 549–562 there is basis to believe that a transactive memory, in role in the organization. In such cases, the fact, develops in organizations. To this end, we exam- knowledge may be allocated to individuals based ine three measures for the existence of transactive on their personal interest or on internal expertise memory: memory differentiation, which addresses the definitions within workgroups. While such infor- specialization of group members in specific topics; task mal allocations work well within small groups, coordination, which reflects the ability of group mem- they can cause problems when applied across the bers to work together smoothly; and task credibility, organization. which is the level of trust between group members in each other’s knowledge [18]. We propose that these two problems—which hin- When organizations are created, formal roles are der the extension of the transactive memory mecha- assigned to people and groups. These roles create nisms to large groups such as an organization—can memory differentiation in the organization. For ex- be alleviated with the use of technology and a more ample, in a business school, knowledge of adminis- formalized approach to meta-memory directories. In tering students is divided between the undergraduate other words, we propose to use an information office, the Masters office, and the PhD office. The system to support an organization-wide transactive departmental structure of organizations also creates memory system. Specifically, we identify the role of coordinated tasks and—in many cases—task credi- technology in the creation and maintenance of the bility issues. In other words, using the three meas- directories of organizational meta-memories. We sug- ures, we can view organizations as a workgroup of gest that by using technology to support organiza- smaller groups that work together. In this case, a tion-wide directories, we can enable individuals to transactive memory system develops [3]. Moreover, identify knowledge retainers across the organization often organizations invest in various knowledge- (i.e., outside their own immediate work groups) even creating social activities, such as employee educa- in very large or geographically dispersed organization, the creation of social networks or brainstorming tions, and thus leverage the benefits of transactive activities [4]. Such activities can contribute to the memory. In the next section, we propose a mecha- natural development of transactive memory within nism for creating such organizational directories of the organization. meta-memories. It seems, therefore, that the mechanisms operating in transactive memory systems in small groups should have been able to support effective OM 3. Technology-enhanced transactive memory management across the organization. Yet, as the analysis of problems in the previous section points Using the notion that small groups succeed in out, this is not the case. We propose two explanations effectively utilizing a shared memory, we view orga- to these observations: nizational memory as consisting of clusters (communities) of individual memory retainers described in 1. The meta-memory directory required for people to Fig. 1. allocate and retrieve knowledge from the right As previous research had shown, transactive mem- group might simply be too large for the ory develops within each community and members individual’s memory capacity. This is especially hold updated directories about other group member’s the case in large or geographically dispersed memories [3,18,22].Toextendthisviewtothe organizations, and even more so if we consider organization, we suggest that a more general directory that individuals may be required to possess some of meta-memories should be formed, linking the knowledge about members within every subgroup different communities and assigning responsibilities in the organization. of knowledge assimilation to specific groups (for 2. Uncertainty might exist as to who should be the example, the sales department is in charge of cus- ‘‘owner’’ of certain types of knowledge. In tomer knowledge). This directory can also support particular, certain knowledge may not ‘‘‘formal- knowledge transfer between individuals in different ly’’’ belong to any department or to any specific communities. D. Nevo, Y. Wand / Decision Support Systems 39 (2005) 549–562 553

Fig. 1. A view of organizational memory.

We begin our discussion of the proposed applica- knowledge beyond the immediate workgroup and tion of transactive memory to the whole organization likely very little reference to instance knowledge (role by identifying the following three types of knowledge: knowledge can be acquired from organizational structure and from the division of responsibilities between 1. Role knowledge—this is knowledge that is re- the various divisions and roles). As our objective is to quired by the definition of the knowledge retainer. use information technology to enhance the individual For example, a project manager is required to retain transactive memory knowledge and extend it to orga- specific knowledge about projects. nization-wide sources, we propose to create artificial 2. Instance knowledge—this is knowledge that is not directories containing transactive knowledge. These required by the formal definition of the knowledge directories will thus provide information about both retainer’s role. For example, the secretary that has the role and instance knowledge of memory retainers been with the company for year may have across the organization. knowledge about former employees or former experiences of the company that is not required 3.1. Artificial directories of meta-memories by her job definition. Individual instances can therefore have an informal role as knowledge Traditionally, there are two main dimensions to the retainers. directories of meta-memories—the subject of the 3. Transactive knowledge—this is the directory knowledge and the location of the knowledge [30]. knowledge a retainer has about group members. Thus, when new knowledge enters the group, it is The availability of transactive knowledge enables categorized in group members’ memories based on retainers to effectively extend the knowledge these two dimensions. In addition to these two dimen- available to them by being able to access their sions, a third—tacit—dimension also exists that group members’ knowledge. This knowledge may includes some perceptions of expertise concerning be either role or instance knowledge. self and others’ knowledge [22]. Based on this tacit dimension, new knowledge that enters the group is In an effective transactive memory system—such allocated to the perceived group’s expert on the topic as those that develop within close workgroups—the and only then are its subject and location stored in transactive knowledge of each retainer will include memory. Similarly, an individual who requires knowl- references to both the role and the instance knowledge edge will assess who in the group is likely to have the of all other retainers. However, when extended to the knowledge. whole organization, individuals’ transactive knowl- To extend transactive memory to a large group edge usually will only include partial reference to role using artificial directories, we therefore need to for- 554 D. Nevo, Y. Wand / Decision Support Systems 39 (2005) 549–562

Table 1 Thus, the notion of the subject of knowledge needs Categories of meta-knowledge to be further formalized. Second, perceptions of Category Examples References expertise when group members do not know each Conceptual Ontology: set of concepts needed [14,21,23] other closely should be formalized. Third, it is diffi- to describe a domain. Meta- cult or even impossible to keep track of the expertise models: formalized descriptions of all members in a large group, as members of one of generalized concepts Descriptive Author information, scope of the [5,15,26] group might not even know about members of other knowledge, intended audience, groups (let alone know about their knowledge). Fi- cost of attaining the knowledge, nally, what we termed ‘‘instance knowledge’’ above, format of the knowledge, date might be easy to perceive within a group, but hard to of knowledge, etc. formalize across the organization. Cognitive Meta memory; meta-cognitive [9,31] knowledge—knowledge about We refer to the above four issues, which together our own knowledge and abilities comprise information about knowledge available to Persuasive Source credibility, expertise, [11,13] individuals, as meta-knowledge. The literature has trustworthiness addressed various elements of meta-knowledge and we summarize some of the most common elements in four categories presented in Table 1. malize the two dimensions of meta-memories as well We propose that the computerized directories of as to substitute for the third dimension consisting of meta-memory be based on this formalized meta- tacit group knowledge. The latter, in particular, is knowledge in order to compensate for the lack of intended to overcome four specific problems of for- the group’s tacit knowledge. In other words, we malizing meta-memories. First, members in different propose to explicate the third (tacit) dimension of groups might not share a set of concepts to describe meta-memories using the notion of meta-knowledge. the contents of knowledge (needed or available). The diagram in Fig. 2 depicts a simple model—based

Fig. 2. A model of extended meta-memory directories. D. Nevo, Y. Wand / Decision Support Systems 39 (2005) 549–562 555 on the entity-relationship notation—linking the three meta-memory dimensions of retainers (location), knowledge (subject), and meta-knowledge. In this model, retainers of knowledge are characterized by cognitive and descriptive meta-knowledge (e.g., years of education or perceived self expertise). These retainers possess knowledge about concepts and/or instances in the organization—i.e., about subjects of knowledge. The knowledge possessed by retainers is in the form of predicates (truth statements) about the state of affairs at a given time, past changes, or possible changes in a domain of interest. The Fig. 3. The knowledge relationship. knowledge predicates are characterized by descriptive meta-knowledge, for example, the currency of the 3.2. Formalization predicate, as well as persuasive meta-knowledge such as the expertise of the retainer on the specific subject We define O as the set representing the organiza- of knowledge. tional ontology: O={xjx is a term relevant to the The subjects of knowledge (concepts and instan- organization}. Effectively, O is the set of terms ces) can also be characterized by descriptive meta- needed to describe the universe of discourse of knowledge. In addition, knowledge subjects are often organizational memory. A term in the ontology may related to other subjects. For example, knowledge be a generic concept (e.g., a person), an instance of about the concept ‘client’ might be related to knowl- another concept (e.g., a specific individual), or a edge about the concept ‘product’. Some common relationship that might exist between concepts and 1 types of relations are instantiation, specialization, or or instances (e.g., ‘John is a client’). complementarities of knowledge (i.e., if you know In addition to the ontology, the retainer set defines how to operate a car, then you also need to know the all the possible memory retainers (based on the five traffic rules). The specific meta-knowledge that char- types of retainers described in Ref. [28]). Again a acterizes this relationship is shown in the model as the retainer can represent a generic concept, in which case conceptual meta-knowledge that signifies the type of it is termed a Role (e.g., ‘Production Manager’) or it the relationship that exists between predicates. More- can be an instance of a role (e.g., ‘Jane, the Marketing over, in the context of conceptual meta-knowledge, an Manager’). organizational ontology defines the domain of orga- We now define the relation2 knows about: K(x,y), nizational knowledge, i.e., the concepts about which where x is a subject and y is a retainer. For example: knowledge might exist and their relationships. There- K(‘Jane’, Client) represents that Jane has knowledge fore, conceptual meta-knowledge is also represented about the concept Client. Fig. 3 illustrates various in Fig. 2 by the ‘concept/instance’ entity itself. types of the relation ‘‘knows about’’. Formally, Based on the above view of organizational mem- retainers in specific roles are required to know about ory, our extended directories of meta-memory include concepts and instances defined by their role defini- three types of elements and the relationships between tion. Individuals inherit the knowledge requirements them: subjects of knowledge (i.e., the organizational of the roles they play in the organization (e.g., all ontology), retainers of knowledge, and cognitive, individual project managers are required to possess descriptive, and persuasive meta-knowledge. We the basic knowledge that is defined in the job now turn to formalizing these three components to description of the project manager role). In addition, examine how they can be handled using information technology. 2 Generally, a relation between concepts and/or instances is represented by an n-place predicate that is true and relevant in 1 ‘c2’ is a sub-concept of ‘c1’ if the set of properties of ‘c1’ is a the universe of discourse (e.g., ‘‘John works in sales’’ ! Works subset of the set of properties of ‘c2’. (John, sales)). 556 D. Nevo, Y. Wand / Decision Support Systems 39 (2005) 549–562 individuals may hold knowledge that is not required The final dimension in the proposed directory of by their formal role but that they have acquired meta-memory includes the four types of meta-knowl- somehow. In transactive memory terminology, this edge described in Table 1. We further distinguish knowledge is assigned to them because of their between two groups of meta-knowledge elements. personal interests or because of some informal role The first group includes conceptual meta-knowledge that they have acquired within the group. For that represents the knowledge subjects and their example, a group member in the accounting division relationships and is represented by the ontology. may be assigned to be the group’s specialist on This meta-knowledge appears in Fig. 2 as an entity technological innovations related to the division’s type representing concepts or instances or as specific work. The formal roles played by memory retainers relationships between these entities. The second have an impact on the way knowledge can be group includes descriptors of roles and knowledge retrieved from organizational memory. Specifically, relationships, specifically the cognitive, descriptive, the existence of formal division of knowledge and persuasive components of meta-knowledge. To facilitates the retrieval of knowledge in transactive demonstrate, consider the following example: memory systems [12]. Using the definitions above, we now can create A consultant wishes to find knowledge on how to simple transactive memory queries. For example, adjust a specific function in an information system. we can query who are all the retainers that possess When asked to select a potential knowledge source knowledge about project ‘x’? Or what knowledge is to turn to (among 10 possible sources) the retained by a specific retainer ‘r’? Note that these consultant enquires about the expertise of the queries can relate to role knowledge or to instance knowledge source in this domain, the accuracy and knowledge, to concepts or to instances of concepts. validity of the knowledge, and the cost of attaining Examples for transactive memory queries enabled by the knowledge. the knowledge relation are: In this example, the consultant (an instance of a Role knowledge about a concept: What does a role) is searching for knowledge on a specific instance project manager know about ‘‘projects’’? Which of the concept ‘information system’. The meta-knowl- roles possess knowledge about ‘‘clients’’? edge requested by the consultant is specific to the Role knowledge about instance of a concept: What problem at hand and includes persuasive and descrip- does a project manager know about a specific tive meta-knowledge about the knowledge requested. project? The conceptual meta-knowledge is represented here Role instance knowledge about a concept: What by the concept ‘information system’ and the instanti- does Jane know about ‘‘projects’’? What individ- ation relationship. In addition, the consultant may uals know about clients? wish to know if there is other relevant knowledge Role instance knowledge about an instance of a that she should be aware of. This again requires the concept: What individuals know about the client x? use of conceptual meta-knowledge to identify related concepts and/or instances. By now we have formalized the two ‘traditional’ To summarize, the traditional transactive memory dimensions proposed by transactive memory theory: model focuses on two dimensions: the subject and the —the subject of the knowledge and the retainer of the retainer of the knowledge. All other information is knowledge. We are able to create a meta-memory assumed to be tacit, in group-members minds. Our directory as well as basic transactive memory queries model intends to make this tacit dimension explicit via to locate knowledge in organizational memory. How- the different aspects of meta-knowledge. Therefore, ever, as discussed earlier, in order to capture tacit our meta-memory directory is three -dimensional, as group knowledge that exists in small groups, we need illustrated by the cube in Fig. 4. to add a third—meta-knowledge—dimension to the Every cell in the conceptual cube in Fig. 4 repre- directories of meta-memories. We now turn to de- sents a piece of transactive knowledge. For example: scribe this meta-knowledge. ‘‘The hotel reservations manager knows about the D. Nevo, Y. Wand / Decision Support Systems 39 (2005) 549–562 557

Fig. 4. The extended meta-memory directory. process of room reservations for large groups’’. Every knowledge. If more than one retainer exist that has a cell is therefore characterized by an ordered triplet that declared expertise on the topic of the new knowledge, includes subject of knowledge, retainer of knowledge, the allocation of the knowledge can be targeted to the and a vector of meta-knowledge components. The use most suitable retainer by examining the additional of ontology as the domain of knowledge subjects meta-knowledge. For example, many people may implies that various cells in the knowledge cube are indicate knowledge concerning the company’s prod- conceptually tied to each other thus providing addi- ucts; however, engineering knowledge will be direct- tional meta-knowledge such as knowledge comple- ed to the production manager while knowledge mentarities or specializations. We claim that using the regarding competing products will go to the sales cube structure as the basis of the organizational trans- and marketing manager. The knowledge relationship active memory directories can facilitate updating and (‘‘knows about’’) defines the topics in which a spe- retrieval of knowledge from the organizational mem- cific retainer is proficient and the organizational ory. This is explained in the next section. ontology relates these topics to more general areas of expertise. 3.3. Directory updating, information allocation, and Similarly, when an individual seeks some knowl- memory retrieval edge, they can query the meta-memory directory to identify the best knowledge for their need. The cube We follow Wegner [30] to show how the trans- structure and the transactive memory queries specified active memory information system can support the in the previous section support fast retrieval of spe- three defining activities of transactive memory: direc- cific knowledge from the organizational memory. For tory updating, information allocation, and memory example, we can query the directory for the people retrieval. These activities are illustrated in Fig. 5. with knowledge about the company’s products. This As new knowledge enters the organization, it in itself may not be different from any other search should be allocated to the right retainer. Using the engine that exists today. However, using the meta- knowledge cube, the recipient of the knowledge can knowledge directories, we can then focus the results identify the subject of the knowledge and locate the on a specific subset proposed by the organizational retainer that has a declared expertise on this topic. The ontology (some specialization of the concept ‘prod- knowledge can then be allocated to this retainer. The uct’) and reduce the set of results. Finally, we can cube structure enables a very precise allocation of select the most suitable source of knowledge by 558 D. Nevo, Y. Wand / Decision Support Systems 39 (2005) 549–562

Fig. 5. Information allocation and retrieval using the meta-memory directory. examining the additional meta-knowledge. For exam- new transactive knowledge with previous knowledge ple, if we are looking for knowledge concerning the [22]. Following this, we propose that the automated sales of a specific subset of our products, we can transactive memory will be set initially to reflect query the system for all the retainers of knowledge about this subset and then select the retainer that we feel is most suitable to answer this query. To illustrate Table 2 Examples for the use of meta-knowledge in knowledge retrieval how meta-knowledge would improve the retrieval of Search goal Search engine Transactive memory approach knowledge from organizational memory, consider the (using keywords) (using meta-knowledge) example of a researcher looking for information on Research a Keyword search The ontology (conceptual how to write a successful grant proposal. Table 2 new topic. brings numerous meta-knowledge) provides shows the differences in the search results between For example, results that the a set of relevant terms and traditional search engines and the transactive memory search for knowledge the relations among them, approach. ‘‘research seeker needs so the knowledge seeker The main challenge posed by this approach is the grant to sort through can refine their search based application’’ on their specific goals. For ability to keep the meta-memory directories updated. example, the search term Some of the updates can be done automatically since ‘‘research grant’’ is tied to much of the knowledge in the organization is re- ‘‘granting agencies’’, quired by some formal job definitions (as illustrated ‘‘ethical review process’’, in Fig. 3). The updates of expertise on knowledge and ‘‘funding rules’’ Find the best Results are often Results can be sorted by that is not formally required by a specific role will result from sorted by some various criteria based on the still be the responsibility of organizational members the search relevance ranking meta-knowledge dimension. and cannot be easily automated. Studies on trans- For example, by relevance, active memory mechanisms in small groups indicate accuracy, or currency of the that groups discuss and encode much of the trans- knowledge itself, or by source characteristics such active knowledge at the early stages of their work. As as background, credibility, the work progresses, the groups have additional or expertise. The knowledge encoding cycles that are initiated by questions about seeker can make a more a task and are followed by the identification and informed selection of the encoding of relevant experts and coordination of this knowledge D. Nevo, Y. Wand / Decision Support Systems 39 (2005) 549–562 559 existing knowledge, and then will be updated accord- Table 3 ing to the encoding cycles in the various groups. We Alleviating the problems associates with OM management also note that the volatility of meta-knowledge is likely Problem with OM Proposed solution to be lower than the volatility of knowledge itself. Knowledge in the OM Conceptual meta-knowledge Hence, periodical (rather than continuous) updates is contextualized can help reconstruct the original should not diminish considerably the effectiveness of context of the knowledge Retainers of OM may be Descriptive meta-knowledge the system. in different locations locates different knowledge A second challenge for encoding transactive and their memories might retainers as well as provides knowledge relates to the combination of memories be difficult to combine information on the most up-to- of different groups within the organization and the date version of the knowledge resolution of conflicting knowledge between these Knowledge may be tacit Tacit knowledge can be located and evaluated using groups. The existence of ontology in the design of meta-memory and the four the system can resolve some of these problems by types of meta-knowledge identifying related concepts and preventing the ambi- The content of OM The responsibility to ‘‘keep guity of concepts. Furthermore, it can be used to changes often track of knowledge’’ is now at identify different instances of knowledge about the the hand of the relevant expert. The system maintains only same concepts. However, the decisions on resolving meta-memory, which is less conflicting knowledge instances are a matter of man- volatile than the knowledge itself agerial practices. Knowledge seekers require Descriptive and persuasive a measure of the retainer’s meta-knowledge is included in legitimacy and reliability the meta-memory directory when retrieving knowledge 4. Discussion

The purpose of the model described above is to demonstrate the ability of information technology to Studying knowledge transfer in organizations, Szu- extend the notion of transactive memory to large lanski [27] identified eight predictors for knowledge groups. Using technology we can create computer- stickiness. These predictors concern characteristics of supported knowledge allocation process that is based the source of the knowledge, the recipient, the con- on the meta-knowledge provided about each of the text, and the message (knowledge) itself. The predic- knowledge retainers. Similarly, the system can assist tors were measured in the settings of best practices in the retrieval of knowledge from organizational transfers within organizations and the most significant memory. predictors of stickiness were the inability to pinpoint We claim that using information technology as the reasons for a success or failure of replicating suggested here can help alleviate some of the prob- knowledge (causal ambiguity) and the recipient’s lack lems of managing organizational memories described of ability to identify, value, and apply knowledge in Section 1. To show this, we present in Table 3 the (absorptive capacity). Other significant factors were set of problems described earlier and explain how a the perceived utility of the transferred knowledge, transactive memory information system can help perception of source as unreliable, lack of motivation alleviate them. of source and recipient, lack of retentive capacity of An additional benefit from using the transactive recipient, unsupportive organizations, and distant re- memory approach is in its potential benefits for group lationship between parties. performance. We claim that the use of meta-memory We suggest that by exposing the receivers of will lead to improvement of knowledge adoption due knowledge to some knowledge about the knowledge to its effect on knowledge transfer from organization- (meta-knowledge) before the knowledge transfer takes al memory to individual users. To demonstrate this, place, it is possible to reduce stickiness. For example, we use the notion of ‘‘‘knowledge stickiness’’’, a using meta-knowledge, we hope to provide individu- measure of the difficulty of transferring knowledge als with information that will enable them to select [27]. knowledge that they can interpret most easily based 560 D. Nevo, Y. Wand / Decision Support Systems 39 (2005) 549–562 on their prior knowledge, thus increasing their absorp- accuracy and currency of the knowledge and the tive capacity. Similarly, the availability of persuasive trustworthiness, knowledgeability, and willingness- meta-knowledge can increase perceived reliability of to-help of the knowledge source. Finally, the studies the knowledge source. show that the probability of information seeking will increase when the seeker is able to identify what 4.1. Empirical support other people know, when the seeker is able to evaluate the other person’s knowledge, and when Several studies exist that provide empirical support the seeker can gain timely access to the other person’s to the potential benefits of the transactive memory knowledge [6]. approach and specifically—the use of meta-knowl- Following these studies and the conceptual ap- edge to support the management of organizational proach presented in our paper, we propose that future memory. In this last section, we describe some of empirical studies examine the following questions: these studies as well as propose research questions for future empirical work. (1) Can technology enable the creation of transactive The first group of empirical studies examines the memory in cases where it does not develop benefits of transactive memory in a group setting. naturally? These studies show that transactive memory naturally (2) Will this artificially created transactive memory develops in groups that train together, and that the lead to the same benefits—namely improved existence of transactive memory leads to improved performance and better problem problem-solving group performance and better problem problem-solv- in the organization—as it does in small groups? ing mechanisms [17,18,22]. These early studies on transactive memory used observations as the measure- The studies described in this section set the ground ment method and determined the existence of trans- for answering these two questions by defining meas- active memory using three specific measures: memory ures of transactive memory and performance as well differentiation, task coordination, and task credibility. as by identifying the meta-knowledge that would A more recent study demonstrated the development of effectively influence the information adoption deci- transactive memory in virtual teams and the positive sion of individuals. This meta-knowledge was pro- effect of this transactive memory on the team’s posed in our paper as the third dimension of the meta- performance [33]. Transactive memory was measured memory directory. The model proposed in the current by a three three-item scale, asking respondents about paper can provide guidance to future empirical stud- their perceptions of the team’s transactive knowledge. ies, in particular in suggesting experimental settings. This study provides important support for the ideas First, we develop the specific design of the organiza- presented in our paper as it identifies the development tional memory system and the three-dimensional of transactive memory in the context of computer- directories of meta-memory to be tested. Second, we based communications. distinguish between three types of knowledge—e.g., A second group of studies providing support for role knowledge, instance knowledge, and transactive technology-supported transactive memory looks at knowledge—that are related to the development of the potential benefits of meta-knowledge for knowl- transactive memory. Specifically, we propose that the edge adoption in organizations. These studies dem- existence of instance knowledge might inhibit the onstrate the importance of cues, such as source development of transactive memory in settings where credibility, for information adoption [29]. In addition, this knowledge is not easily available to all group they empirically identify the specific knowledge and members. We expect that in settings where instance source attributes that should be included as meta- knowledge cannot be fully obtained an information knowledge (cues) in order to increase the likelihood system based on the transactive memory approach of knowledge adoption [19]. These knowledge and proposed here would improve the sharing of knowl- source attributes mainly fall under the descriptive edge. This prediction can be tested empirically by and persuasive meta-knowledge types described ear- creating situations in which transactive memory lier in our paper and include such items as the would not develop naturally by controlling the avail- D. Nevo, Y. Wand / Decision Support Systems 39 (2005) 549–562 561 ability of instance knowledge to group members and Acknowledgements testing the effect of a system based on the principles proposed in this paper. The research was supported in part by a grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. 5. Conclusion

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