Algorithmic Organizing

Vern L. Glaser, Christine Moser, Deborah A. Anderson, P. Devereaux Jennings

• Publisher: Emerald Publishing Limited
• Year: 2025
• Print ISBN: 9781837089291
• eBook ISBN: 9781837089307
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Organisational Behaviour
• Index: Social Sciences

This volume contains Open Access chapters.

Bringing together cutting-edge papers, this edited volume examines the growing phenomenon of algorithmic organizing—the embedding of powerful data-driven tools into organizational structures, routines, and social practices. These technologies are fundamentally transforming organizational landscapes, raising a critical question: How are algorithmic systems reshaping work, decision-making, and the broader social order?

Charting a holistic perspective on algorithmic organizing, this volume draws on multimodal inquiry and "data work", examining both the technical and sociopolitical dimensions of how organizations adopt, adapt to, and govern algorithmic tools in practice. From data scientists' improvisational craftwork and organizational readiness for algorithmic deployments, to user encounters with opaque platform logics and extreme humanitarian settings, the papers collectively illuminate how algorithms become interwoven with human expertise, professional identities, and institutional demands. Several contributions highlight the tensions that arise when algorithmic systems challenge existing norms—such as professional autonomy and regulatory compliance—underscoring the need for continuous negotiation and re-scripting of roles and responsibilities. The studies also reveal new ethical quandaries related to transparency, fairness, and accountability, pointing to complex trade-offs between efficiency gains and potential harms such as worker surveillance or bias amplification.

Deepening our understanding of how algorithmic organizing is enacted and contested across diverse settings, Algorithmic Organizing offers a roadmap for future research that bridges disciplinary boundaries and highlights the social, technical, and ethical ramifications of an increasingly data-driven world.

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Half Title Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• About the Editors
• About the Contributors
• Foreword: Research in the Sociology of Organizations
• Acknowledgements
• Introduction: Algorithmic Organizing
• SECTION A ALGORITHMIC ORGANIZING AND DATA SCIENTISTS
• Data-Based Craft: How Data Scientists Craft Their Data, Models, and Products
• Assembling Frankensteins: How Data Scientists Stitch Together Provisional Artifacts to Generate Novel Insights
• SECTION B TRANSFORMING ORGANIZATIONS FOR ALGORITHMIC READINESS
• Making Organizations Algorithm-Ready: Algorithmic Organizing Through Techno-Organizational Scripts
• Machine-Readable Legitimacy: An Ethnography of Regulatory Technology
• SECTION C OPENING UP ALGORITHMIC ENCOUNTERS
• Making Sense of Glitches? Exploring Cultural Producers’ Understandings of and Interactions with the Instagram Algorithm
• Human-AI Coordination in Extreme Contexts: Overcoming Trust and Agency Concerns
• SECTION D ADVANCING METHODOLOGIES FOR THE STUDY OF ALGORITHMIC ORGANIZING
• Interpreting the Inscrutable: Ethnographic Approaches to Studying the Development of Machine Learning Models
• Exploring Algorithmic Assemblages Through Multimodal Inquiry
• Epilogue: Designing and Performing the Editorial Assemblage