Conceptualizing Organizational Forgetting in a Crisis Context

Risk Hazards & Crisis in Public Policy, vol. 16

Abstract

ABSTRACT This conceptual article aims to promote research on organizational forgetting in the context of crises. Organizations do not only learn but they also forget: they lose previously acquired knowledge and practices over time. In contrast to a multitude of studies on organizational learning, the concept of organizational forgetting has been underdeveloped in the literature. Yet, organizational forgetting is equally important: what is the point of learning if lessons learned are quickly forgotten? In this article, we integrate organizational forgetting into theory on learning from crises. Studying the concept in a crisis context is particularly relevant, as lessons need to be retained over long periods and the consequences of memory loss can be severe. We provide a conceptualization of organizational forgetting and its critical and structural form: organizational amnesia. We explain how integrating forgetting in a crisis context results in a shift from a cumulative perspective to a cyclical perspective on learning over time, present an analytical framework for studying organizational forgetting in a crisis context, and identify six explanations for why it occurs.

Authors 1

1. Wout Broekema corresponding Aachen Institute of Security and Global Affairs Leiden University The Hague The Netherlands Institute of Security and Global Affairs

   Leiden University

   Affiliation as printed

   Institute of Security and Global Affairs Leiden University The Hague the Netherlands

   Institute of Security and Global Affairs, Leiden University, The Hague, the Netherlands