Open Workshop by Assistant Professor Dmitrijs Kravcenko: Learning to remember - unboxing autopoiesis of organizational memory

Explanations for why organizations ‘remember’, or display characteristics attributable to human memory, vary from the socio-anthopological view that it is a cultural attribute of co-located groups of individuals to a managerialist view of a purposefully designed information processing system. Much of the research in this area, however, either does not take a processual view of organizational memory, or does not account for the power dynamics found within organizations that validate and perpetuate some memories and not others. There is virtually no empirical research that takes both of these variables into account, which somewhat limits our understanding of not only the exact processes that individuals rely upon to enact organizational memory, but also of the reasons for why certain processes survive time and turnover.

In order to gain insight into the questions above, this study borrows a lens of sociological autopoiesis (self-reproduction) from Niklas Luhmann and applies it to a 15-month ethnographic study of an architectural practice. Paying particular attention to the sociomateriality of the studied organization, this work highlights various overt and hidden processes by which a particular version of organizational memory is taught and reproduced both within and around the organization.   

Speaker Dr Dmitrijs Kravcenko is Assistant Professor at the Stockholm School of Economics in Riga; previously at Warwick Business School and University of Sussex. His primary research interests revolve around understanding the effects of collective knowledge and memory on organizations and on the process of organizing; looking at questions such as 'who decided what qualifies as knowledge' and 'how is information and knowledge perpetuated through time'. His secondary research interest lie in exploring the impact of digital technologies on organizational design (i.e. what happens when people begin working for algorithms etc.). Dmitrijs is a versatile qualitative researcher with experience in both public (NHS) and private (architecture and construction) sectors, using a range of different methods. His current research looks at the role of collaborative technology in (re)shaping institutionalised regimes of practices. He is also part of Horizon 2020 research project (DISCE) that looks into the sustainability of creative economies in the EU. 

Discussion moderated by Dr. Arnis Sauka. Attendance is free of charge.