The concept of the organizational memory funtion

Abstract

In this chapter I would like to define the concept of organizational memory on the basis of Luhmann’s systems theory and his conceptualization of organizations as autopoietic systems (Luhmann, 1996, 1997, 2006, 2012). In Subsection 3.1, I explain why organizations need a memory function on the basis of the concept of organizations as autopoietic systems as well as on the notion of time. In 3.2 I focus on the operative characteristics of organizational memory and figure out the role that decisions play for a functional perspective of organizational memory. Finally, in 3.3 I bring together the operational level and the structural level of organizational memory as a function.