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Risk Hazards & Crisis in Public Policy
Article . 2025 . Peer-reviewed
License: CC BY
Data sources: Crossref
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Conceptualizing Organizational Forgetting in a Crisis Context

Authors: Wout Broekema;

Conceptualizing Organizational Forgetting in a Crisis Context

Abstract

ABSTRACTThis 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.

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selected citations
These citations are derived from selected sources.
This is an alternative to the "Influence" indicator, which also reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically).
BIP!Citations provided by BIP!
popularity
This indicator reflects the "current" impact/attention (the "hype") of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network.
BIP!Popularity provided by BIP!
influence
This indicator reflects the overall/total impact of an article in the research community at large, based on the underlying citation network (diachronically).
BIP!Influence provided by BIP!
impulse
This indicator reflects the initial momentum of an article directly after its publication, based on the underlying citation network.
BIP!Impulse provided by BIP!
1
Top 10%
Average
Average
Green
hybrid
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