Justifying the information technology investment for organizational memory

While the potential of information technology (IT) systems to support organizational memory has been recognized, there remains some difficulty in “selling” organizational memory systems to organizations. By means of a questionnaire we determined that organizational memory is the least likely component of organizational learning to be implemented with IT and the least likely component to be perceived as providing a return on investment in IT. We interviewed representatives of organizations who indicated they experience positive returns from organizational memory technology, and found the payoff is usually expressed in terms of business function operations, not in terms of decision support. Organizational memory is often supported within systems that were designed to support business functions, rather than in systems designed exclusively for organizational memory or even for decision support. These systems typically supported the operational level of decision making. Respondents made no mention of systems that support tactical or strategic decision making. The higher levels of decision making represent an area of untapped potential for organizational memory information systems