Assessing the Readiness of Professional Services Company 41Copyright © 2005, Idea Group Inc. Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without writtenknowledge in the minds of individual workers is also considered as part of the corporate
memory (Heijst, Spek, & Kruizinga, 1996).
Although, OM has been defined by many authors, there is no one agreed-upon
definition. Some authors view it as abstract and supported by concrete/physical memory
aids such as databases (Walsh & Unggson, 1991). Others view it as concrete and
including computerized records and files (Huber, 1991; Jennex, Olfman, & Pituma, 1998).
Stein and Zwass (1995) define it as “the means by which organizational knowledge is
transferred from the past to present.” In essence, they view an OMIS as a component of
OM. The main function of a corporate memory is to improve the competitiveness of the
organization by improving the way in which it manages its knowledge. The knowledge
assets and the learning capacity of an organization are viewed as the main source of
competitive advantage (Davenport & Prusak, 1998).
Organizational Memory Information System
This section describes the OMIS Success Model, which was developed by Jennex,
Olfman, and Pituma (1998). The purpose of this section is to specify a model for measuring
the effectiveness of “CITE’s” OMIS.
Based on the OMIS definition by Stein and Zwass (1995), the model presented here
provides an explanation as to why an OMIS increases organizational effectiveness. In
essence, it allows measurement of a system that is thought to be an OMIS. If the system
in question increases organizational effectiveness, then it would be considered an OMIS
given that it provides a means of bringing past knowledge to bear on present activities
(Jennex, Olfman, & Pituma, 1998).
OMIS Success Model by Jennex, Olfman, and Pituma
Based on the OMIS Success Model by Jennex, Olfman, and Pituma (1998), Figure
1 illustrates the adopted model in this case study, which is a block-recursive one that
includes five blocks.
System Quality
The first block of the model defines the system quality in terms of the characteristics
of the OMIS. System quality describes how good the system is in terms of its operational
characteristics. The system quality block contains three constructs: (1) the technical
capabilities of the organization, (2) the form of the OMIS, and (3) the level of the OMIS.
Technical resources define the capability of an organization to develop and maintain an
OMIS. These include aspects such as the amount of past experience already gained in
developing and maintaining an OMIS, the amount of technical expertise used to develop
and maintain the OMIS, the type of hardware used to run the OMIS, and the competence
of the users.
Technical resources will impact both the level and form of the OMIS. The level of
the OMIS refers to its ability to bring past information to bear upon current activities.
The form of OMIS refers to the extent to which it is computerized and integrated. In
addition, the form of the OMIS should impact its level. Given the effectiveness of IT to
provide timely information, it is expected that a more fully computerized and integrated
system will provide a more sophisticated capability to retrieve past information. This