For the Record: The Embodiment of Organizational Memory, 1850-1920

One of a firm's key organizational capabilities is an active organizational memory that allows it to store and retrieve knowledge of facts, processes, or experiences. A review of the recent literature on organizational memory shows that there are widely varying views of its nature, locus, and influence [21]. The concept of an organizational--as opposed to individual--memory is viewed by some as purely metaphorical, by others as the aggregation of individual memories, and by yet others as an independent capability of the organization itseft. Scholars also have suggested various repositories of organizational memory, including the minds of individuals; organizational culture, processes, structures, and roles; and the paper or computer files of individuals and organizations. Finally, scholars ee organizational memory as both a useful capability necessary to allow an organization to learn from the past and as a drag that ties an organization to the past, thus preventing it from innovating. This paper provides a historical study of the evolution of one significant repository of organizational memory, the written record, during a key period of change in business enterprises. Organizational memory in American f'LrmS changed radically in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, driven by the growth of firms and major changes in the nature of management, culminating with the emergence of the systematic management philosophy. A major tenet of that philosophy was that rational management of Ftrms required a reasonably complete and permanent embodiment of organizational memory independent of specific individuals. Under the influence of this philosophy and its precursors, managers established systems of written communication i part as repositories for corporate memory intended to facilitate the systematic use of the past to serve the present. This paper uses both published literature and archival materials from two manufacturing firms to trace the evolution of the internal communication system as an embodiment of organizational memory. t