Augmenting the algorithm: Emerging human-in-the-loop work configurations

“The third stage of analysis involved a deeper production of case narratives (Langley, 1999) and vignettes from our empirical material, while still engaging in the field and collecting data.”

“While the terms ‘reconfigure' and ‘configurations’ are central to extant definitions of dyna mic capabilities (Teece et al., 1997; Eisenhardt and Martin, 2000; Winter, 2003), the terms are not unpacked in detail, neither generally nor specifically relating to human-machine interplay.”

“To do this, we build on Lucy Suchman’s seminal study at Xerox PARC (Suchman, 1987) which challenged fundamental ideas about humans’ and machines’ cognition and communication; ideas that had guided the design of the intelligent interface of the advanced copying machines used by the scientists she…”

“For example, from one of the meetings we produced and circulated a summary of our understanding of the strategic conditions and problem context, which served as a means for confirmation and contextualization (Klein and Myers, 1999).”

“, human) performance to fully automatic performance (Parasuraman et al., 2000).”

“In addition, one may see indirect effects where not only does automation substitute labour , it also “complements labor, raises output in ways that lead to higher demand for labor, and interacts with adjustments in labor supply” (Autor, 2015, p. 5).”

“We have conducted an in-depth, qualitative case study based on the interpretive research paradigm (Walsham, 1995).”

“This suggests that the processes of automation and augmentation influence one another in a reciprocal manner (Raisch and Krakowski, 2020), and that their organizing emerges as a core capability.”

“…that algorithms are more appropriate for structured problem-solving and where outcomes can be clearly described; and human processing is more apt for ill-structured problem-solving, to which solutions tend to require human interpretation and judgment (e.g., Simon, 1973; Shrestha et al., 2019).”

“Using a sparse form of open coding (Walsham, 2006) of our field notes, we sought out patterns and selected empir ically informed themes such as “secrecy” and “obscuring”, all relating to episodes of questioning the validity of external data.”

“Thirdly, across this continuum and these functions, automation may augment human performance of a particular task through increasing the capability of humans to approach a problem situation, gain comprehension, and derive solutions (Engelbart, 1962, p. 1; Licklider, 1960).”

“This aligns with, e.g., Leonardi (2011) taking as his unit of analysis the process by which human and technology are intertwined.”

“To do this, we build on Lucy Suchman’s seminal study at Xerox PARC (Suchman, 1987) which challenged fundamental ideas about humans’ and machines’ cognition and communication; ideas that had guided the design of the intelligent interface of the advanced copying machines used by the scientists she…”

“These are still relatively rarer (Brynjolfsson and Mitchell, 2017), nevertheless, popular debates tend to profess a “ replace ment” trope, where human jobs are taken over by intelligent machines (McAfee and Brynjolfsson, 2017).”

“It has long been suggested that algorithms are more appropriate for structured problem-solving and where outcomes can be clearly described; and human processing is more apt for ill-structured problem-solving, to which solutions tend to require human interpretation and judgment (e.g., Simon, 1973; Shrestha et al., 2019…”

“Thirdly, across this continuum and these functions, automation may augment human performance of a particular task through increasing the capability of humans to approach a problem situation, gain comprehension, and derive solutions (Engelbart, 1962, p. 1; Licklider, 1960).”

“For instance, by automating routine manual and cognitive tasks, human capacity is freed to take on non-routine tasks and capacity and productivity can increase, which again drives an increase in demand for non-routine problem-solving (Nedelkoska and Quintini, 2018).”

“, 2017; Markus, 2017) and intelligent technologies (Bailey and Barley, 2019; Faraj et al., 2018; von Krogh, 2018; Rai et al., 2019), including the implications for organizational strategy (Constantiou and Kallinikos, 2015; Woerner and Wixom, 2015; Bhimani, 2015) and work in settings ranging from education (Marjanovic…”

“Information Systems (IS) researchers have raised fundamental questions as to the ramifications of both datafication processes (Galliers et al., 2017, Günther et al., 2017; Markus, 2017) and intelligent technologies (Bailey and Barley, 2019; Faraj et al., 2018; von Krogh, 2018; Rai et al., 2019),…”

“The capabilities of utilizing data has in itself become a significant strategic asset and an object of strategy formulation (DalleMule and Davenport, 2017; Iansiti and Lakhani, 2020), and data-driven decision-making is increasingly implemented (Brynjolfsson and McElheran, 2016).”

“More nuanced accounts instead emphasize interrelation and augmentation (Bailey and Barley, 2019; von Krogh, 2018; Markus, 2017; Davenport and Kirby, 2016), where humans and algorithms interact to perform a task.”

“6, the loop of algorithm-auditing figures design by human training as congruent with interactive machine learning (Rahwan, 2018).”

“…(Bailey and Barley, 2019; Faraj et al., 2018; von Krogh, 2018; Rai et al., 2019), including the implications for organizational strategy (Constantiou and Kallinikos, 2015; Woerner and Wixom, 2015; Bhimani, 2015) and work in settings ranging from education (Marjanovic and…”

“Advances in ‘data-driven intelligence engines’ (Baptista et al., 2017a) based on availability of data and artificial intelligence (AI) have the potential to transform the nature of work and organizations (Newell and Marabelli, 2015).”

“For instance, mandated data sharing can undermine competitiveness as competitors get hold of strategically sensitive information (Hautz et al., 2017, p. 302), and drive, e.g., ship crews to obfuscate or manipulate data about their true destination.”

“This approach allows us to pay attention not only to the intertwining of human and machine work, augmentation and automation, but also their underlying feedback mechanisms as a possible source of competitive advantage (Davenport and Kirby, 2016; Iansiti and Lakhani, 2020).”

“For instance, Baptista et al. (2017b) showed the need for the organization to develop “reflexiveness” to adequately deal with social media data in strategizing.”

“Tarafdar et al. (2019), for example, argues that an organization needs five crucial capabilities: data science competence, business domain proficiency, enterprise architecture expertise, operational IT backbone expertise, and digital inquisitiveness.”

“, 2019), including the implications for organizational strategy (Constantiou and Kallinikos, 2015; Woerner and Wixom, 2015; Bhimani, 2015) and work in settings ranging from education (Marjanovic and Cecez-Kecmanovic, 2017), policing (Waardenburg et al.”

“While trained data scientists may be in short supply, “citizen data scientists” (Watson, 2017), subject matter experts (Scheepers et al., 2018) or human labelers (Jaton, 2017) could play crucial roles.”

“…Krogh, 2018; Rai et al., 2019), including the implications for organizational strategy (Constantiou and Kallinikos, 2015; Woerner and Wixom, 2015; Bhimani, 2015) and work in settings ranging from education (Marjanovic and Cecez-Kecmanovic, 2017), policing (Waardenburg et al., 2018), recruitment…”

“…researchers have raised fundamental questions as to the ramifications of both datafication processes (Galliers et al., 2017, Günther et al., 2017; Markus, 2017) and intelligent technologies (Bailey and Barley, 2019; Faraj et al., 2018; von Krogh, 2018; Rai et al., 2019), including the…”

“Reconfiguration, then, is the process by which new configurations of humans and machines and related objects of work practice emerge (Mazmanian et al., 2014, p. 832; Suchman, 2012).”

“Information Systems (IS) researchers have raised fundamental questions as to the ramifications of both datafication processes (Galliers et al., 2017, Günther et al., 2017; Markus, 2017) and intelligent technologies (Bailey and Barley, 2019; Faraj et al., 2018; von Krogh, 2018; Rai et al., 2019),…”

“Emergent theoretical concepts such as augmentation and assemblage provided a “ repertoire of lenses ” (Venters et al., 2014) which helped us illuminate and validate observations related to regularities such as ‘ training of the robot ’ (the CDO's terms when referring to the algorithm).”

“Here quotes, memos, and early analytical notes were documented to permit a better understanding of what was going on, what the key conditions were, who the key entities were, and what constituted an event of interest (Jarzabkowski et al., 2016).”

“Indeed, a widespread assumption is that “computers and human beings have complementary strengths and problem-solving capabilities […] and human beings generally outperform machines when dealing with ambiguity, vagueness and incomplete information” (Pavlou, 2018, p. 44-45).”

“, 2019), including the implications for organizational strategy (Constantiou and Kallinikos, 2015; Woerner and Wixom, 2015; Bhimani, 2015) and work in settings ranging from education (Marjanovic and Cecez-Kecmanovic, 2017), policing (Waardenburg et al., 2018), recruitment (Broek et al.”

“It is also argued that a feedback loop is needed for learning and innovation in organisations (Grønsund & Aanestad, 2020).”

“In short, the deployment of algorithmic management in organizational work introduces novel “human–machine configurations” that could transform relationships between managers and workers and their respective roles (Grønsund and Aanestad, 2020).”