Abstract
Several forms of repository have been proposed for organizational memory, including people, culture, routines, technology and software, organizational structure and workplace ecology [5; 16], but what if we change the focus from repositories to processes? By observing couples and small groups, psychologists have found that the storage and retrieval of knowledge is transactional, i.e., that people develop systems for sharing responsibility for storage and retrieval of knowledge in such a way that no single individual needs to know everything that the group needs to know — it is sufficient to know who knows what and to be able to retrieve the information from that person. Transactive memory systems (TMS) essentially consist of sets of directories containing metadata which point to knowledge locations and the processes that maintain and utilize those directories. In this chapter, we introduce the notion of the organization as a TMS and consider how this perspective can assist with design of human and technology- supported systems to improve knowledge sharing in distributed and virtual organizations.
Portions of this chapter are published in Jackson PD, Klobas JE (2007) Transactive memory systems in organizations. Decision Support Systems doi: 10.1016/j.dss.2007.05.001. Copyright Elsevier. Published with permission.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Alavi M, Tiwana A (2002) Knowledge integration in virtual teams: the potential role of KMS. Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology 53:1029–1037
Allen TJ (1977) Managing the flow of technology: technology transfer and the dissemination of technological information within the R&D organization. MIT Press, Cambridge, MA
Anand V, Manz CC, Glick WH (1998) An organizational memory approach to information management. Academy of Management Review 23:796–809
Argote L (1993) Group and organizational learning curves: individual, system and environmental components. British Journal of Social Psychology 32:31–51
Argote L (1999) Organizational learning: creating, retaining and transferring knowledge. Kluwer, London
Griffith TL, Sawyer JE, Neale M (2003) Virtualness and knowledge in teams: managing the love triangle of organizations, individuals and information technology. MIS Quarterly 27:265–87
Hair JF, Black WC, Babin BJ, Anderson RE, Tatham RL (2006) Multivariate data analysis. Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ
Hollingshead AB, Brandon D (2003) Potential benefits of communication in transactive memory systems. Human Communication Research 29:607–615
Klobas JE, McGill TJ (1995) Identification of technological gatekeepers in the information technology profession. Journal of the American Society for Information Science 46:581–589
Lewis K (2003) Measuring transactive memory systems in the field: scale development and validation. Journal of Applied Psychology 88:581–589
Moreland RL (1999) Transactive memory: learning who knows what in work groups and organizations. In: Thompson JM, Meseick, DM (eds) Shared cognition in organizations. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Hillsdale, NJ, pp 3–31
Moreland RL, Argote L, Krishnan R (1998) Training people to work in groups. In: Tindale RS, Heath L, Edwards J, Posavac E, Bryant FB, Suarez-Balcazar Y, Henderson-King E, Myers J (eds) Theory and research in small groups. Plenum, New York, pp 36–60
Moreland RL, Levine JM (1992) Problem identification by groups. In: Worchel S, Wood W, Simpson JA (eds) Group process and productivity. Sage, Newbury Park, CA, pp 17–47
Nevo D, Wand Y (2005) Organizational memory information systems: a transactive memory approach. Decision Support Systems 39:549–562
Stasser G, Stewart D, Wittenbaum GM (1995) Expert roles and information exchange during discussion: the importance of knowing who knows what. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology 31:244–265
Walsh JP, Ungson GR (1991) Organizational memory. Academy of Management Review 16:57–91
Wegner DM (1987) Transactive memory: a contemporary analysis of group mind. In: Mullen B, Goethals GR (eds) Theories of group behavior. Springer Verlag, New York, pp 185–208
Wegner DM (1995) A computer network model of human transactive memory. Social Cognition 13:319–339
Wegner DM, Erber R, Raymond P (1991) Transactive memory in close relationships. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 61:923–929
Wegner DM, Guiliano T, Hertel P (1985) Cognitive interdependence in close relationships. In: Ickes WJ (ed) Compatible and incompatible relationships. Springer Verlag, New York, pp 253–276
Wittenbaum GM, Vaughan SL, Stasser G (1998) Coordination in taskperforming groups. In: Tindale RS, Heath L, Edwards J, Posavac E, Bryant FB, Suarez-Balcazar Y, Henderson-King E, Myers J (eds) Theory and research in small groups. Plenum, New York, pp 177–204
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2008 Physica-Verlag Heidelberg
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Jackson, P., Klobas, J. (2008). The Organization as a Transactive Memory System. In: Klobas, J.E. (eds) Becoming Virtual. Contributions to Management Science. Physica-Verlag HD. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-7908-1958-8_8
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-7908-1958-8_8
Publisher Name: Physica-Verlag HD
Print ISBN: 978-3-7908-1957-1
Online ISBN: 978-3-7908-1958-8
eBook Packages: Business and EconomicsBusiness and Management (R0)