Using Social Media as a Mechanism to Consolidate the Organizational Memory—Insights from the Attention Based View of the Firm Theory

Abstract

Increasingly, organizations are aware that the knowledge generated in the organization over time is a primary factor to remain competitive in the market. This leads organizations to seek strategies that preserve this knowledge generated over time and create mechanisms to encourage its employees to use part of this accumulated knowledge, in the generation of innovative products and strategies, on solving problems as well as in decision-making. In this potentiating process, the Organizational Memory (OM) comes in the interim as a way of conceptualizing how is this process of creation, storage and dissemination of knowledge in the organization over time and how the knowledge accumulated by members of an organization can influence the actions and decisions, both in the present and the future of the organization. For this development of OM to be effective and harmonious, it is necessary that the attention of individuals to be targeted and aligned, noticing the stimuli from the environment, and directing organizational time and cognitive effort towards the decisions to be made in the organization. In this scenario, in an attempt to improve our understanding of theoretical concepts taking into account the influence of Social Media in organizations, we raise the following question: How Social Media can be used to guide the attention of decision makers towards better creation, storage, dissemination and application of knowledge in the organization? Therefore this research is an important first step to understand the potential of Social Media in the organizational setting as a means of focusing the attention of policy makers on the development of OM. Adopting an interpretative approach to the literature review, the paper provides a discussion of 22 case studies found in the literature that were analyzed using the Attention-Based View of the Firm as a guiding lens. This analysis shows some evidence and relevant implications of the use of Social Media in the organizational context as well as a first theoretical description of how the focus of attention of decision makers influence the development of OM.

Appendix: Positive Actions Applied or Expected with Implantation and Use of the Social Media in Organizations Cited in Case Studies Selected

COD	Positive actions analyzed—applied or expected—with implantation and use of the social media in organizations		Memory
			SS	CM	CL	PL
Attention focus
T01	Provide a confidence feeling among other members of the organizations assuring a higher involvement with all members of the organizations	“[…] social media are more effective in addressing the three knowledge-sharing challenges revealed in behavioral research: (a) they help increase employees’ awareness of each other’s expertise and personal interests; (b) they can motivate contribution through frequent, timely feedback and through soliciting reciprocal exchange; and (c) they can better support the development and maintenance of social capital” [120, p. 1667]	X
		“While access to technical support and training will assist with developing members’ skills, capabilities and confidence, a critical success factor appears to be the need for someone within Parent Support to ‘champion’ social media developments, that is, to mobilize the chain of resources. In both organizations, having someone to oversee planning and provide a sense of continuity amid frequent turnover of volunteers and staff will greatly improve the chances of achieving improved communication through social media” [121, p. 685]
T02	Change the view of each organization’s member as to share of information, influencing directly on behavior, attention and involvement of the individual in the organization	“One important reason why I am motivated to share on social media is that I could increase my visibility in the organization by interacting with others on the platform. For example, some worldwide colleagues who I don’t work with can recognize me by following my blog” [120, p. 1665]	X
		“There are a growing number of domain experts, project managers and community leaders who have been using blogs and wikis to position themselves as an active voice in the organization, across regions and functions. As stated by one of the users (a team leader), we have ‘a very active blogosphere … some teams are spread all over the world and use wikis to work collaboratively’” [20, p. 117]
T03	Motivate and stimulate the initiative by own members in sharing information and making decisions in the organization individually/collectively	“Hence, this kind of low-level communication strengthens the aspect of sociability that is important for collaborative work such as co-creation and contributes to knowledge sharing without the need to be involved in long-lasting conversations” [122, p. 38]	X
		“[…] a recent on-going discussion on the intranet has focused on organizational restructuring, with messages from senior management, project leaders and employees, all of whom are interested in voicing their concerns and suggestions” [20, p. 117]
		“[…] more than half of internal social media users interviewed think the increased social capital associated with social media use increases their motivation for sharing expertise with one another” [120, p. 1664]
T04	Become herself/himself available and open to transmit details of the rationale process behind each decision in the organization in order to re-use that knowledge in the organization	“By examining screenshots (for anonymity they are omitted from this paper), it became evident that some of the senior managers have used their blogs to outline the rationale behind some of their decisions (for instance, to enter a new market in South America or the selection of a new venturing partner)” [20, p. 117]	X
		“Blogs can help to focus an individual’s own thinking about his/her work, providing an additional tool for reflective practice. In addition to the individual focus, publishing this thinking on a blog makes one’s thinking easier to share and can lend itself to creating a small ‘community of practice’ if others comment on the author’s posts […]” [123, p. 458]
Situation of the attention
T05	Provide the share of ideas, information and experiences among the members freely and with no barriers, no great interventions, no hierarchy or sectorization, so that to generate an environment suitable for discussion of the problems and concerns in the organization, for the exchange of information in order to suggest solutions and propose innovation	“All news stories can be commented upon and rated. There’s no censoring at all. People are very happy to comment and have very candid comments, which is very good.” [20, p. 117]	X	X
		“Encouraging open and free participation with little or no intervention has become an important governance principle; one that has been gradually established and accepted by organizational members, many of whom are actively engaged in rhetorical practices” [20, p. 117]
T06	Ensure the position of the professional as active voice in the organization, in all sectors and functions, providing higher valorization of this professional in the organization	“One important reason why I am motivated to share on social media is that I could increase my visibility in the organization by interacting with others on the platform. For example, some worldwide colleagues who I don’t work with can recognize me by following my blog” [120, p. 1665]				X
		“Because I blog about the issues that I’m thinking about and dealing with in the course of my everyday job, I’m able to gain a wide spectrum of input and perspective on those issues, whether via comments on my posts, posts on other blogs that ‘riff’ off of mine, or—again—twitter conversations spun off of those same blog posts […]” [123, p. 458]
T07	Provide improvements in communication and share of information both in the external and the internal environment to organization, so that to provide greater information global reach and to stimulate interactivity among the organization’s individuals	“The CIO and CMO jointly are accountable for social media strategy and implementation. Performance evaluations, compensation and incentives are based on mutual performance and deliverance of shared objectives and goals. The social media goals and objectives of marketing are aligned with other organizational social media objectives through IT” [124, p. 193]	X	X	X
T08	Guarantee the follow up permanent of views, suggestions and comments exposed from responsible professionals in the organization	“Our findings suggest that the use of social media had become part of the social fabric of BX. Blogs, wikis and commenting were no longer a novelty and are accepted as a normal feature of the intranet by employees. Open and participative communication is the default mode of BX’s communication culture, and is representative of a shift in the role of employees from ‘audience’ to active ‘rhetors’ in the organization’s on-line environment. Monitoring feedback and engaging in discussions regarding certain strategies and decisions is now a feature of the day-to-day life of senior management” [20, p. 119]		X
Structured distribution of the attention
T09	Disseminate the organization’s values simply and integrate such values to actions and decisions in the organization	“In this context, DX’s intranet is perceived as the most important medium for internal communication, not just because of its wide reach globally, but also because of its capacity to broadcast a unified voice to communicate and reinforce corporate values and strategy” [20, p. 118]			X
T10	Facilitate better adaptation, whether by training, handbooks and guidelines, in effective use of the technologies adopted by part of the organization in order to make easy the organization’s internal and external communication	“Organizations must provide training and role definition that maintains a balance between autonomy, flexibility, and the identified responsibilities and expectations” [125, p. 78]	X	X	X?
T11	Produce new organizational structures and models considered useful for the making-decision from the permanent follow-up of the views, suggestions, problems and comments exposed by the organization	“From looking at maps that others had generated from Google Maps and posted online the author created a method for displaying the information geographically instead of in a table” [74, p. 10]			X	X
		“With wikis in place, CoP leadership will have access to training materials, organizational CoP standards, templates, and best practices in order to be truly prepared and empowered by the organization to lead his or her CoP. Providing this space for CoP leaders to post information on salient issues and building on each other’s experiences and knowledge, is an important step in the continuity of training and role definition for future leaders and members of CoP” [125, p. 78]
T12	Generate changes in the processes, strategies, routines and culture of the organization so that such changes can lead in effective restructuring, alignment and adequacy of the communication and share of information in the organization	“Specifically, we see a highly vibrant landscape where social media has been incorporated extensively into NX’s organizational communication, and embedded in its day-to-day functioning.” [20, p. 118]			X	X
		“Social media adoption is less about the tools but rather the strategies and the attitudes of the people and the community driving it. Part of the objective of the BlueBI Campaign is to develop a coherent platform which can be used to nurture a community” [126, p. 508]
		“Implementing the guidelines using SM has implications for resource allocation and change in organizational culture. Organizations must allocate the appropriate resources for training and support of these communities. Perhaps most noteworthy is the change in culture required at all levels of the organization. Upper management and its employees must change perceptions of the role of the CoP and their importance to the organization. Striking a balance between alignment with organization structure and strategy as well as the emergent and informal nature of the CoP is also essential” [125, p. 79]
T13	Strengthening of organizational standards in order to allow an open, bidirectional and interactive communication	“Clear guidelines should be provided to help employees handle the “sticky” aspects of earlier tools. In the absence of such guidelines, employees may go in different directions, which may create more difficulties for knowledge sharing” [120, p. 1667]				X
		“Creating and maintaining norms that promoted engagement seems to have played a significant role in encouraging employees to establish two-way communication in this organization. Interactivity is enabled by a sense of openness of communication that is unconstrained by hierarchy […]” [20, p. 117]
T14	Ensure a positive and functional corporative image, increasing the reputation not only of the organization, but also their employees	“[…] the internal social media platform makes it so easy to share” [120, p. 1665]				X
		“Some of these blogs have received extensive comment from employees, ranging from the positive to the extremely negative. Some request clarification regarding, or even questioning, NX’s strategy moving forward. What is insightful is the amount of effort that the various bloggers spend in responding to comments and concerns” [20, p. 117]

1. Legend
2. SS Sensorial memory
3. CM Communicative memory
4. CL Cultural memory
5. PL Political memory