Title :
Towards a sociological model of organisational memory
Author :
Corbett, J. Martin
Author_Institution :
Bus. Sch., Warwick Univ., Coventry, UK
Abstract :
In their review of research on organisational memory, J.P. Walsh and G.R. Ungson (1991) argue that the extant representations of the concept are fragmented and underdeveloped. It is argued that this is due, at least in part, to the dominance of psychological models of memory employed by organisational memory system theorists. It is argued that the development of a more sociological theory of memory not only helps us understand the roots of the present confusion surrounding the concept of organisational memory, but also enables the development of a more coherent theoretical model to guide research on the impact of computerisation on organisational memory. The political implications of this model are discussed. The paper concludes by arguing that the development of such organisational memory systems will create a significant technical design challenge to system designers and developers, not least because it calls into question the long standing cognitive disjuncture between computer system designers and users
Keywords :
cognitive systems; politics; psychology; social aspects of automation; systems re-engineering; cognitive disjuncture; coherent theoretical model; computer system designers; computerisation; extant representations; memory system theorists; organisational memory; political implications; psychological models; sociological model; sociological theory; system designers; technical design challenge; Assembly; Business process re-engineering; Humans; Information retrieval; Information technology; Innovation management; Memory management; Psychology; Technological innovation; Technology management;
Conference_Titel :
System Sciences, 1997, Proceedings of the Thirtieth Hawaii International Conference on
Conference_Location :
Wailea, HI
Print_ISBN :
0-8186-7743-0
DOI :
10.1109/HICSS.1997.665504