Now or never: Organizational forgetting as a determinant of knowledge sharing and cross-boundary innovation

Abstract

This study constructs a theoretical model to test and prove that organizational forgetting influences cross-boundary innovation and testifies to the moderating role of Institutionalized organizational mission in the said relationship. Data was collected through a convenient sampling technique from 353 middle and senior managers of entrepreneurial enterprises in China through online and offline modes. Additionally, we used confirmatory factor analysis, multiple regression, and bootstrap analysis to verify hypotheses using Analysis of a moment structures and Statistical Package for the Social Sciences latest versions. The results show that organizational forgetting has a significantly positive impact on cross-boundary innovation and binary knowledge sharing plays a mediating role in the relationship between organizational forgetting and cross-boundary innovation. Moreover, the mediating effect of exploitative knowledge sharing on the relationship between organizational forgetting and cross-boundary innovation is more substantial than exploratory knowledge sharing. This study separates the impact mechanism of exploitative and exploratory knowledge sharing as a mediator unanimously and proves that Institutionalized organizational mission has a significant moderating role in the relationship between organizational forgetting and cross-boundary innovation. This research offers significant implications for Chinese enterprises to bolster cross-boundary innovation to achieve growth.

Recent findings on organizational unlearning and intentional forgetting research (2019–2022)

“…To study the relationship between U/IF and breakthrough and to cross the boundary from the original limits, Qu et al (2022) collected data from 353 middle and senior managers from entrepreneurial enterprises in China. U/IF was found to have a significantly positive effect on cross-boundary innovation .…”