Organizational forgetting and its causes: an empirical research

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to determine the impact of organizational forgetting on knowledge‐intensive firms and the circumstances in which the loss of distinctive knowledge takes place. Design/methodology/approach – The empirical research in this paper consists of a qualitative proposal based on two case studies in higher education involving situations of organizational forgetting. Findings – A framework for conceptualizing organizational forgetting. Moreover, the results of the case study analysis include a categorization of organizational forgetting and a set of propositions about their causes. Originality/value – Scientific research on knowledge management has focused on the processes of knowledge creation, use and transfer, but has devoted little attention to the processes of knowledge degradation and destruction.