iS CHANNEL Rational, Interpretivist, and Practical Approaches to Organizational Memory Dmitrijs Kravcenko PhD Candidate in Innovation, Knowledge, and Organizational Networks Research Centre (IKON) Warwick Business School The University of Warwick KEYWORDS ABSTRACT Organizational Memory To study organizations means to study their memories. At different points in time, organizational memory has been considered in the literature as a time-capsule, Practice Theory a social system that attributes meaning, and a teleological aspect of a practice. Building on these theories this essay will attempt to present a holistic overview of the mnemonic phenomenon. A proposed distinction between short- and long-term manifestations of practice memory and the role of organizational memory in solidifying regimes of practices within an organization is discussed. Possible questions for further research are put forward. Introduction that I will consider into two broad categories. These categories attempt to group theories together based Organizational memory is a feature that contextualizes on their common ontological and epistemological and communicates an organization both internally orientations towards the rationality of organizational and externally. It is difficult, if not impossible, to memory, i.e. the collective orientation to the efficient understand an organization without looking at accomplishment of functional collective goals (Scott, where it came from and how it got to where it is. 1987). Ontological assumptions concern such areas as Furthermore, memory is a key epistemic feature – nature and mechanics of memory and epistemological Tsoukas and Vladimirou (2001), for example, place assumptions concern how memory is defined and prior experience and history as primary aspects in the operationalized. generation of knowledge. Following this review I will argue that there has been The prevalent way of thinking about memory a misrepresentation of the role and relationship of stresses the importance of preservation juxtaposing the collective memory as it relates to organization. this against the fear of loss. Good memory is pre- I propose an alternative way of thinking about emptive to the loss of information and knowledge, practice memory as an essentially recursive, and poor memory is inadequate at preservation of continuing accomplishment of practice memory at those. A rational course of action in those cases is to an organizational level and within the greater field of minimize or eliminate those aspects of memory that practice as a whole. I will demonstrate how thinking cause defects to the preservation process - achieving of practice memory in such a way aligns the field of this goal would allow for next to ideal background organizational memory with the epistemology of to knowledge codification, dissemination, and practice. absorption. However, this is not the only way of looking at organizational memory. In this essay I will Rational approaches to collective memory journey through academic literature on organizational memory and attempt to infuse this thinking with Key assumption on the rational approach to the epistemology of practice to allow for the role organizational memory is that there is a purposeful of power and contestation. To assist in navigating function to it. This function is normally to do with the considerable body of work on organizational storage and retrieval of information and knowledge. and collective memory I have grouped the theories By storing knowledge through time and enabling a way of retrieving it, organizational memory should allow organizational members to gain deeper and Corresponding Author broader understanding of organizational history and Email Address: [email protected] (D. Kravcenko) past actions in order to learn and avoid repeating 14 iSCHANNEL 9(2) iS CHANNEL certain organizationally undesirable courses of etc.). When memorizing into ‘external’ memory, action. There is a noteworthy paradox generated individuals ‘internally’ make a note of the type of by the rational approach to organizational memory knowledge and its location, but do not memorize the which provides a snapshot of this entire theoretical knowledge itself. platform - organizational knowledge is cumulative As individuals make notes of where the knowledge and persists indefinitely through time (Argote, is, or who has the knowledge, they enact ‘meta- 2013). Despite individual persons moving within memories’ (i.e. memories about the memories of and outside of the organization, technologies others). Wegner (1995) distinguished between two and structures changing, organizations fail to not types of meta-memories – one, where individuals remember and persist in learning for the length of collect information about what each person in the the existence of the organization, and possibly longer organization knows (i.e. areas of expertise); and (Burt, 2002). another, where individuals collect information about the locations of the knowledge and ways of reaching From a rational perspective, the way organizational them (i.e. how, and where to look in the database). memory works is by recording information useful Remembering is achieved when knowledge that is to organizational goals, maintaining it through time encoded and stored in various locations across the and space, and releasing it to those members of organization is identified and retrieved by means the organization who can make use of it. There are of transactions (verbal, material, political, etc.) variations across different theoretical approaches, between individuals, based on their meta-memories. but the fundamental ontology assumes that Individuals do so by ‘verbalizing details about the individuals are willing contributors and distributors context in which the knowledge was obtained, posing of organizational memory, and that those individual questions, or verbalizing associations with the question’ inputs into the memory of the organization are (Hollingshead, 1998: 661). As, in order for individuals equally valid. The entire concept of memory is to enact ‘meta-memory’ a knowledge of ‘who only meaningful when defined against the idea of knows what’ is required, the transactive memory ‘knowledge’ as well as some rudimentary aims and/ systems perspective potentially allows to account or objectives of knowledge, such as ‘learning’ and for inequality amongst actors. Indeed, Bunderson ‘forgetting’. In the case of organizational memory, and Reagans (2011) have indirectly touched upon the the rational approach implicitly proposes that subject, but even their work concludes, in key with individuals are able to take these concepts into the rational paradigm, that transactive memories can account when engaging in collective action, recognize be functionally managed by altering the behaviour of how their (inter)action will align with these concepts, powerful actors. and regulate their behaviour accordingly. Directly following the transactive memory system In this section I will identify and group a variety of view is the idea of organizational memory as a approaches to organizational and collective memory knowledge repository. Otherwise known as the that may, otherwise, be perceived as incompatible. repository model, this view considers organizational While I concede to the internal heterogeneity of these memory as a ‘set of repositories of information and schools of thought, I believe that it is useful to group knowledge that the organization has acquired and retains’ them in this way so as to highlight fundamentally (Huber, Davenport & King, 1998: 3), or simply ‘stored similar assumptions about the role of the organization knowledge’ (Moorman & Miner, 1998; de Holan & that they make, rather than dwell upon the different Phillips, 2004). approaches to memory that they take (see Rowlinson et al., 2010 for a good review). A detailed literature review by Walsh and Ungson (1991), conducted with this concept of memory in Transactive memory systems and the repository mind, is widely acknowledged to have established model organizational memory as a sub-field of its own (Olivera, 2000). They defined organizational memory The concept of a transactive memory system is as ‘stored information from an organization’s history that based around the idea that individuals serve as can be brought to bear on present decision’ (Walsh and external mnemonic aids to each other (Wegner, Ungson, 1991: 61) with the fundamental proposition 1987). When applied to organizations, this suggests that organizational memory should be understood in that individuals are capable of benefitting from each terms of its function and location. Where ‘function’ other’s individual knowledge and expertise if they is the benefit of ‘good’ memory in preserving develop a shared understanding of ‘who knows what’ information that may aid organizational decision in the organization. A transactive memory system making and ‘location’ is the whereabouts of such is built on the assumption that there is internal and information within the organization. external memory. Routinely individuals memorize into their ‘internal’ memories (i.e. brains), and Walsh and Ungson (1991) were not naïve in their ‘external’ memories (i.e. diaries, notes, documents, understanding of organizations – they did not D. Kravcenko / iSCHANNEL 9(2) 15 iS CHANNEL think of them as machines that can be reduced to Social memory studies their constituent parts. Walsh and Ungson (1991) though of organizations as interpretative systems Critique of the repository