Organizational memory

Organizational memory (OM) (sometimes called institutional or corporate memory) is the accumulated body of data, information, and knowledge created in the course of an organization's existence.

Quotes

 * Organizations do not literally remember.
 * Chris Argyris and Schon (1978) as cited in: James P. Walsh and G.R. Ungson. "Organizational memory." 1991, p.59; Argyris and Schon argued that organizational memory is only a metaphor.


 * Rules, procedures, technologies, beliefs and cultures are conserved through systems of socialization and control.
 * Barbara Levitt and James G. March. (1996: 524) as cited in: Fiedler, Marina, and Isabell Welpe. "How do organizations remember? The influence of organizational structure on organizational memory." Organization Studies 31.4 (2010): 381-407.


 * Change that works by recapturing something that was there in the past has many resources on which to draw and a whole network of support on which to rely.
 * Alan M. Kantrow, The Constraints of Corporate Tradition: Doing the Correct Thing Not Just What the Past Dictates. 1987. p. 147. As cited in: James P. Walsh and G.R. Ungson. "Organizational memory." 1991, p. 72


 * Organizations are mental entities capable of thought.
 * Lloyd E. Sandelands and R.E. Stablein (1987, 136) as cited in: James P. Walsh and G.R. Ungson. "Organizational memory." 1991, p. 59.


 * A memory is a persistent record not dependent on a tight coupling between sender and receiver.
 * Eric W. Stein, "Organization memory: Review of concepts and recommendations for management." International journal of information management 15.1 (1995): 17-32. as cited in: Linda Argote (2012), Organizational Learning: Creating, Retaining and Transferring Knowledge. p. 72


 * Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.
 * George Santayana, as cited in: James P. Walsh and G.R. Ungson. "Organizational memory." 1991, p.72


 * The extant representations of the concept of organizational memory are fragmented and underdeveloped. In developing a more coherent theory, we address possible concerns about anthropomorphism; define organizational memory and elaborate on its structure; and discuss the processes of information acquisition, retention, and retrieval. Next, these processes undergrid a discussion of how organizational memory can be used, misused, or abused in the management of organizations.
 * James P. Walsh and Gerardo Rivera Ungson. "Organizational memory." Academy of management review 16.1 (1991): 57-91. p. 57


 * In its most basic sense, organizational memory refers to stored information from an organization's history that can be brought to bear on present decisions. This information is stored as a consequence of implementing decisions to which they refer, by individual recollections, and through shared interpretations.
 * James P. Walsh and Gerardo Rivera Ungson. "Organizational memory." Academy of management review 16.1 (1991): 57-91. p. 61