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Purpose The purpose of this two-part paper is to provide a summary of current research opportunities in organizational forgetting literature and a future research agenda. Design/methodology/approach The summary of current research opportunities and future research agenda is drawn from the systematic literature review and synthesis reported in Part I. Findings Two broad areas for future research are proposed: A first area that highlights a need to address integrative theoretical challenges that include issues of temporality, history, power dynamics, and organizational context. A second area that highlights a need to reconcile contradicting explanations – such as whether technological sophistication and codification practices versus social networks prevent knowledge depreciation and loss – through a multilevel perspective. Research limitations/implications Limitations relate to time span coverage and journal article accessibility. Originality/value This Part II paper provides a summary of current research opportunities and offers directions for future research on organizational forgetting.

Supplemental Digital Content is available in the text., Introduction: To prevent transmission of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 to healthcare workers, we must quickly implement workflow modifications in the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU). Our objective was to rapidly train interdisciplinary PICU teams to safely perform endotracheal intubations in children with suspected or confirmed coronavirus disease 2019 using a structured simulation education program. Methods: We conducted a quality improvement study in a tertiary referral PICU. After developing stakeholder-driven guidelines for modified intubation in this population, we implemented a structured simulation program to train PICU physicians, nurses, and respiratory therapists. We directly observed PICU teams’ adherence to the modified intubation process before and after simulation sessions and compared participants’ confidence using the Simulation Effectiveness Tool-Modified (SET-M, Likert scale range 0: do not agree to 2: strongly agree regarding statements of confidence). Results: Fifty unique PICU staff members participated in 9 simulation sessions. Observed intubation performance improved, with teams executing a mean of 7.3–8.4 out of 9 recommended practices between simulation attempts (P = 0.024). Before undergoing simulation, PICU staff indicated that overall they did not feel prepared to intubate patients with suspected or confirmed SARS-CoV-2 (mean SET-M score 0.9). After the simulation program, PICU staff confidence improved (mean SET-M score increased from 0.9 to 2, P < 0.001). Conclusion: PICU teams’ performance and confidence in safely executing a modified endotracheal intubation process for children with suspected or confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection improved using a rapidly deployed structured simulation education program.

PurposeThis paper aims to evaluate how managers influence accidental and intentional organizational forgetting, i.e. knowledge depreciation, knowledge loss and unlearning.Design/methodology/approachThe literature was reviewed based on predetermined search terms to identify peer-reviewed articles published in English and available in full-text format from the EBSCOhost and Google Scholar databases. Empirical and theoretical contributions were included. Additional articles, books and book chapters were manually selected and included based on recent reviews and syntheses of organizational forgetting work.FindingsFindings revealed that managers contributed to preventing accidental knowledge depreciation and loss and preserving organizational memory. With respect to intentional forgetting, findings revealed contradictory positions: on the one hand, managers contributed to the disbandment of existing beliefs and frames of reference, but on the other hand, they preserved existing knowledge and power structures.Research limitations/implicationsThe study was limited by the accessibility of subscribed journals and databases, research scope and time span.Practical implicationsThis paper provides useful guidelines to managers who need to reduce the disruptive effects of accidental forgetting or plan intentional forgetting, i.e. managed unlearning.Originality/valueThis paper represents a first attempt to review and define the influence of managers on organizational forgetting.

Because middle-class women do not report intimate partner violence (IPV) due to social stigma, few interventions address their problems. In addition, there is a dearth of literature on the ...

We propose a model of the dynamics of organizational routines developed from a three-year qualitative grounded theory study in a startup web-based open source technology organization. At the micro level, the model describes five primary responses to newly formed routines: extension, replacement, elucidation, distortion, and avoidance (EREDA). Each mode is determined by both the degree of comprehension and the perceived value, and we propose that interrelated cycles of learning and forgetting processes – what we label as knowledge shaping – may help explain the variation of routines over time. We draw implications from these findings for theory and practice and offer suggestions for future research on the dynamics of organizational routines.

Is organizational innovation always a good thing? When is innovation negative? What are the damaging effects of innovation? In this article, it is argued that innovation has negative impacts on organizational performance when the newly introduced knowledge is not compatible with an organization’s prior knowledge. In this instance, an organization may experience knowledge loss or organizational dysfunctions, such as avoidance, resistance, struggle, alteration, and conversion processes. To avoid the negative impacts of innovation, we suggest that organizations should first recognize the incompatibility between the new knowledge and prior knowledge and then reformulate the newly introduced knowledge. Implications for theory and research are offered as well as suggestions for practice.

Organizations remember through narratives and storytelling. The articles in this Special Issue explore the interface between organization studies, memory studies, and historiography. They focus on the practices for organizational remembering. Taken together, the articles explore the similarities and differences between ethnographic and historical methods for studying memory in organizations, which represents a contribution to the historic turn in organization studies.

PurposeVery little is known about how contingent workers' identification with an organization evolves over time. This study seeks to contribute to the literature by investigating how the emergence and strength of organizational identification is affected by four variables: duration of primacy; duration of recency; frequency of interaction with other members of the organization; and frequency of information received about the organization.Design/methodology/approachUsing a cognitive model of organizational identification grounded in memory, agent‐based modeling and NetLogo language were employed to form a model in which two groups of 567 contingent workers joined 1,134 different organizations and worked for 365 days. Correlation and multiple linear regression were used to analyze the data.FindingsEvolution of organizational identification for a contingent worker depends on how much the individual interacts with other members of the organization and how much information about the organization that particular individual receives over time.Research limitations/implicationsThe generalizability of the simulation study's findings may be expanded if similar studies are carried out incorporating factors that mark differences in individuals, groups, organizations, sectors, industries, cultures, and geographies.Originality/valueThe existing literature on how contingent employees identify with an organization does not adequately provide a process‐based view of the phenomenon. This study extends and complements literature on contingent workers by emphasizing the social construction of time in and from memory throughout the process of organizational identification.

Organizational memory plays a central role in theories of organizational learning and forgetting. However, we still know little about how knowledge becomes embedded in organizational memory or the reasons and processes through which organizational memory decays. The objective of this article is to clarify the relationship between organizational memory and forgetting, and identify areas that require development if we are to improve our understanding of these constructs. Specifically, we point to the importance of theorizing about (a) the dynamic nature of organizational memory and forgetting, (b) the role of time in theories and research of organizational memory and forgetting, and (c) the processes through which individuals maintain, discard, or remember knowledge, including the dynamics of power.

The ability to think strategically is critical for leaders and managers at multiple organizational levels. Specific work experiences can contribute to the development of an individual’s strategic thinking ability. Culture, among other organizational factors, can either encourage or limit those contributions. Leaders, as culture constructors and transformers, can act to maximize the relationship between organizational culture and the process of learning to think strategically. A cadre of formal training, developmental activities, and self-directed learning initiatives can provide leaders with the skills to enhance the strategic thinking of those they lead.

The ability to think strategically is critical for managers at multiple organizational levels, yet we know little about how this ability develops in individuals. Drawing on literature in strategy, cognitive science and adult learning, we propose a model of learning to think strategically that follows the ‘learning school’ of strategy making (Mintzberg et al., 1998). The model depicts a dynamic, interactive, and iterative experiential learning process. It identifies individual factors, work experiences and organizational factors that contribute knowledge and act together to develop the ability to think strategically. Areas for research are suggested to better understand the learning process.

PurposeThis study of the impact of relationships on the development of practice competence in new graduates entering the workforce aims to contribute to the understanding of relational learning activities and enrich the knowledge about the overall process of learning practice skill.Design/methodology/approachThis research used a qualitative interview methodology with thematic data analysis.FindingsFindings revealed that the process of learning through relationships involved an iterative interplay between specific developer‐led teaching activities, learner‐led activities in interaction with others, and learner action and cognitive processing.Originality/valueA model for the process of learning through relationships specifically for new graduates who have academic backgrounds in their fields of practice is proposed.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore the individual employee's role in the process of knowledge retrieval in a US high‐technology research, engineering and consulting company, using a constructivist perspective.Design/methodology/approachA case study design was used and employed three methods of data collection: interviewing, observation, and document analysis. Using these data gathering methods provided data triangulation and supported the validity of the study. The unit of analysis is individual action. This is an embedded strategy because it involves more than one subunit of analysis. Data are collected across five practices (sections) of one division of this company.FindingsThis study found that people generally followed five steps to retrieve knowledge and that the type of work to accomplish and structure of the team were critical to what knowledge was retrieved and shared. Explicit and tacit knowledge retention structures were identified and revealed that three or fewer individuals were usually involved in the search process of tacit knowledge.Research limitations/implicationsThis study does not focus on the process of knowledge storage but only on the process of knowledge access and retrieval. This study only looks at the process of knowledge retrieval during decision‐making or problem‐solving activities. It collects data through individual interviews at the consultant level. It does not focus on other hierarchical levels, e.g. managerial level, which might have given different perspectives or results.Practical implicationsThis finding suggests the need to promote a culture to support knowledge sharing through the help of managers. Leaders should thus focus on strengthening the attitudes of employees to share tacit knowledge, making their own knowledge accessible to other coworkers not only through one‐to‐one communication but also through the use of explicit knowledge retention structures such as electronic databases. This will be essential for those organizations where employees' day‐to‐day decisions are not routine decisions and people's expertise represents a decisive source of knowledge to best accomplish a work task. Another implication is that, when an organization wants to preserve its memory, rules and templates should be implemented to teach employees how to convert their own tacit knowledge into explicit knowledge to make it available to the other members. In addition organizations must integrate this activity into work structures, i.e. billing for hours.Originality/valueThis research develops a framework for conceptualizing structures and processes of knowledge retrieval among individuals in organizational contexts. It also identifies and classifies which factors are likely to influence the knowledge retrieval process.

Learning at all levels is essential for organizational survival. Drawing on the literature in adult and organizational learning, this article proposes a sociological model of organizational learning based on Parsons’ general theory of action. The model defines individuals and organizations as learning systems, and uses diagnostic questions related to adaptation, goal attainment, integration, and pattern maintenance to identify individual and organizational learning needs. The article applies the model to a strategic planning scenario, showing how managers may be able to use the model as a guide to address the learning needs of individuals and organizations.

Because middle-class women do not report intimate partner violence (IPV) due to social stigma, few interventions address their problems. In addition, there is a dearth of literature on the role of ...

Drawing on social identity theory, we suggest a cognitive model of organizational identification grounded in memory. We argue that organizational identification takes place in working memory and that this process may be subject to influences such as frequency of interaction with other members of the organization; frequency of information received about the information; the primacy effect; and the recency effect. We encourage scholars to investigate organizational identification over time.

This research study examined the organizational identification process in an organization, a multiethnic church, whose identity claims appeared to be congruent and mutually reinforcing. The study specifically sought to understand members’ identification with each of the identity claims or a subset of the claims over time. A qualitative case study method was employed involving interviews of 16 church members to understand the individual nature of their identification process. Results showed that as organizational identification emerged, participants responded to a set of multiple identity claims in a hierarchical manner. This resulted in the participants emerging with primary identification to one of the organizational claims and secondary identification to the remaining claims. This study helps foster an understanding of the process of member choice to identify with organizational claims and the shifting hierarchy of organizational identity claims in the process. The implication of multiple identity claim...

Nonprofit organizations are increasingly adopting for-profit business practices in hopes of achieving greater organizational effectiveness. However, these practices have mixed results, given the li...

This study explored the role of national culture in the evolution of organizational identity in the context of a subsidiary of a multinational corporation (MNC). Hatch and Schultz’s (2002) model of...

We conducted a systematic review of the literature on organizational forgetting that has appeared in the past 40 years to assess unlearning, knowledge loss, and depreciation mechanisms. This review...

We propose a dynamic model of knowledge shaping developed from a three-year qualitative case study. The model describes five possible organizational knowledge shaping response modes to new knowledge: Extension, replacement, elucidation, distortion, and avoidance. Each mode is determined by (a) the degree of understanding of new knowledge and (b) the perceived value of new knowledge. Degree of understanding is influenced by incompatibility between new and initial knowledge, and discontinuity in the knowledge introduction process; perceived value is influenced by employees’ perceptions of the benefits of new knowledge and organizational attributed value to new knowledge as shaped by managers. We explored these dynamic knowledge shaping actions in the context of the literature on organizational forgetting. Implications for theory and practice are discussed and suggestions for future research are offered.

This case study of Nike explored the relationship of an organization’s history and the recollection of critical organizational events in the evolution of its identity claims. Data collection involv...

This study describes organisational identity processes during the first year of a strategic organisational alliance between three US-based organisations. Hatch and Schultz's (2002) model of organisational identity was used as an analytical framework to understand the alliance identity process, and Giddens' (1979) structuration theory was used to further interpret the data. First- and second-order levers were identified that contributed to the emergence of a distinct identity. These levers act as coordinating and integrating mechanisms, and in some cases, inhibitors of identity formation within the alliance organisation. A model of organisational identity processes that builds upon Hatch and Schultz's (2002) model of organisational identity is introduced, and implications for the success of strategic alliances are discussed.

The article focuses on a study concerning how managers think and feel after punishing workers under their jurisdiction. It states that 77 managers in different organizational settings were interviewed and asked questions related to punishment as well as asked to relate two specific punishment episodes, with one being effective and the second ineffective. It comments that the most prevalent theme was how concerned managers were with outcomes associated with the punishment. It mentions that the emotional costs associated with punishment episodes were mostly negative with managers feeling like it's a failure on their own part.