How do organizations remember? The influence of organizational structure on organizational memory

Author:

Fiedler Marina1,Welpe Isabell2

Affiliation:

1. University of Passau, Germany,

2. Technische Universität Munchen, Germany,

Abstract

How do organizational factors influence knowledge retention and storage within companies? In this study, we examine the influence of organizational structure on organizational memory. We are specifically interested in the effects of specialization and standardization—dimensions of the organizational structure—on organizational memory as conceptualized by Walsh and Ungson (1991) and Argote (2005). This study is based on recent survey data from 122 respondents of multi-unit organizations that are mainly from the consulting, financial, automotive, and electrical industries. The results suggest that structural organizational factors, i.e. specialization and standardization as well as organizational processes such as codification and personalization of information and electronic communication influence organizational memory. Furthermore, the results show that codification of information fully mediates the relationship between standardization and organizational memory and that electronic communication partially mediates the relationship between specialization and organizational memory. Overall, the results suggest that the processes of codification of knowledge as well as electronic communication are conducive to the formation of organizational memory and that respective organizational memory bins have unique associations with the organizational structure factors. Our study is one of the first to empirically test propositions with regard to the concept of organizational memory.

Publisher

SAGE Publications

Subject

Management of Technology and Innovation,Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management,Strategy and Management

Cited by 49 articles. 订阅此论文施引文献 订阅此论文施引文献,注册后可以免费订阅5篇论文的施引文献,订阅后可以查看论文全部施引文献

同舟云学术

1.学者识别学者识别

2.学术分析学术分析

3.人才评估人才评估

"同舟云学术"是以全球学者为主线,采集、加工和组织学术论文而形成的新型学术文献查询和分析系统,可以对全球学者进行文献检索和人才价值评估。用户可以通过关注某些学科领域的顶尖人物而持续追踪该领域的学科进展和研究前沿。经过近期的数据扩容,当前同舟云学术共收录了国内外主流学术期刊6万余种,收集的期刊论文及会议论文总量共计约1.5亿篇,并以每天添加12000余篇中外论文的速度递增。我们也可以为用户提供个性化、定制化的学者数据。欢迎来电咨询!咨询电话:010-8811{复制后删除}0370

www.globalauthorid.com

TOP

Copyright © 2019-2024 北京同舟云网络信息技术有限公司
京公网安备11010802033243号  京ICP备18003416号-3