Organizational memory information systems: a transactive memory approach

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.

[1]  J. Brown,et al.  Organizing Knowledge , 1998 .

[2]  D. Wegner.  Transactive Memory: A Contemporary Analysis of the Group Mind , 1987 .

[3]  Charles C. Manz,et al.  An Organizational Memory Approach to Information Management , 1998 .

[4]  Jule B. Gassenheimer,et al.  The Moderating Effects of Cultural Context in Buyer-Seller Negotiation , 2000 .

[5]  Rose F. Gamble,et al.  Using meta-knowledge within a multilevel framework for KBS development , 1997, Int. J. Hum. Comput. Stud..

[6]  J. Flavell.  Metacognition and Cognitive Monitoring: A New Area of Cognitive-Developmental Inquiry. , 1979 .

[7]  Rob Cross,et al.  A Relational View of Information Seeking and Learning in Social Networks , 2003, Manag. Sci..

[8]  Enrico Motta,et al.  Meta-knowledge in systems design: panacea … or undelivered promise? , 2000, The Knowledge Engineering Review.

[9]  D. Wegner.  A Computer Network Model of Human Transactive Memory , 1995 .

[10]  Linda Argote,et al.  Socially shared cognition at work: Transactive memory and group performance. , 1996 .

[11]  Ahmed H. Helal,et al.  Information Superhighway: The Role of Librarians, Information Scientists, and Intermediaries. Proceedings of the International Essen Symposium (17th, Essen, Germany, October 24-27, 1994). , 1995 .

[12]  Gabriel Szulanski.  The Process of Knowledge Transfer: A Diachronic Analysis of Stickiness , 2000 .

[13]  B. Mullen,et al.  Theories of group behavior , 1987 .

[14]  Dorothy E. Leidner,et al.  Review: Knowledge Management and Knowledge Management Systems: Conceptual Foundations and Research Issues , 2001, MIS Q..

[15]  Vladimir Zwass,et al.  Actualizing Organizational Memory with Information Systems , 1995, Inf. Syst. Res..

[16]  J. Brown,et al.  Organizational Learning and Communities-of-Practice: Toward a Unified View of Working, Learning, and Innovation , 1991 .

[17]  David G. Schwartz,et al.  When email meets organizational memories: addressing threats to communication in a learning organization , 1999, Int. J. Hum. Comput. Stud..

[18]  Fons Wijnhoven,et al.  Development Scenarios for Organizational Memory Information Systems , 1999, J. Manag. Inf. Syst..

[19]  Margaret Higgins,et al.  Meta-Information, and Time: Factors in Human Decision Making , 1999, J. Am. Soc. Inf. Sci..

[20]  Mark S. Ackerman,et al.  Reexamining organizational memory , 2000, Commun. ACM.

[21]  Diane Liang Rulke,et al.  Investigating the Encoding Process of Transactive Memory Development in Group Training , 2000 .

[22]  Lorne Olfman,et al.  Organizational Memory , 1998, Proceedings of the Thirty-First Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences.

[23]  Youngjin Yoo,et al.  DEVELOPMENTS OF TRANSACTIVE MEMORY SYSTEMS AND COLLECTIVE MIND IN VIRTUAL TEAMS , 2001 .

[24]  William A. Katz,et al.  Introduction to reference work , 1969 .

[25]  Eric W. Stein,et al.  Organization memory: Review of concepts and recommendations for management , 1995 .

[26]  Stephanie Watts,et al.  Informational Influence in Organizations: An Integrated Approach to Knowledge Adoption , 2003, Inf. Syst. Res..

[27]  I. Nonaka.  A Dynamic Theory of Organizational Knowledge Creation , 1994 .

[28]  David Stoker,et al.  Evaluation of Networked Information Sources , 1994, Essen Symposium.

[29]  H. Kelley,et al.  Communication and Persuasion: Psychological Studies of Opinion Change , 1982 .

[30]  R. Moreland,et al.  Exploring the Performance Benefits of Group Training: Transactive Memory or Improved Communication? , 2000 .

[31]  Joel A. C. Baum,et al.  The Blackwell Companion to Organizations , 2002 .

[32]  A. Hollingshead.  Perceptions of Expertise and Transactive Memory in Work Relationships , 2000 .

[33]  Dee G. Appley.  Beyond Culture , 1977 .