We Are All Theorists of Technology Now: A Relational Perspective on Emerging Technology and Organizing
Abstract
Technologies are changing at a rapid pace and in unpredictable ways. The scale of their impact is also far-reaching. Technologies such as artificial intelligence, data analytics, robotics, digital platforms, social media, blockchain, and 3-D printing affect many parts of the organization simultaneously, enabling new interdependencies within and between units and with actors that many organizations have typically considered to be outside their boundaries. Consequently, today’s emerging technologies have the potential to fundamentally shape all aspects of organizing. This article introduces the special issue “Emerging Technologies and Organizing.” We treat these new technologies as “emerging” because their uses and effects are still varied and have yet to stabilize around a recognizable set of patterns and because the technologies themselves are, by design, always changing and adapting. To theorize the relationship between emerging technologies and organizing, we draw on relational thinking in philosophy and sociology to develop a relational perspective on emerging technologies. Our goal in doing so is to create a new way for organizational scholars to incorporate the ever-increasing role of technology in their theorizing of key organizational processes and phenomena. By developing a relational perspective that treats emerging technologies not as stable entities, but as a set of evolving relations, we provide a novel way for organizational scholars to account for the role of te…
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The encounter between professionals and AI unfolds within distinct social and material contexts, not abstractly as a matter of the displacement or replacement of human capabilities.
“This relational view presents the encounter between professionals and AI as unfolding within distinct social and material contexts (Bailey et al., 2022;Barrett et al., 2012), and not abstractly as a matter of the displacement or replacement of human capabilities.”
From The AI of the Beholder: Intra‐Professional Sensemaking of an Epistemic Technology (2025) · cites this paper as Bailey et al., 2022
The relational view emphasizes the need to situate the generation, recognition and application of expertise within the wider network of interdependent relations, artefacts and actors which help to constitute professional work.
“The relational view emphasizes the need to situate the generation, recognition and application of expertise (Pakarinen and Huising, 2023) within the wider network of interdependent relations, artefacts and actors which help to constitute professional work (Bailey et al., 2022).”
From The AI of the Beholder: Intra‐Professional Sensemaking of an Epistemic Technology (2025) · cites this paper as Bailey et al., 2022
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References 64 · Cited by 305
- Authors
- Bailey, D. E., Faraj, S., Hinds, P. J., Leonardi, P. M., & von Krogh, G.
- Affiliations
- Cornell University (US)
- McGill University (CA)
- Stanford University (US)
- University of California, Santa Barbara (US)
- Department of Management, Technology, and Economics, ETH Zürich, 8092 Zürich, Switzerland
- Venue
- Organization Science
- Published
- 2022-01
- Volume
- 33
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 1-18
- ISSN
- 1047-7039 (ISSN-L)
- 1526-5455
- OpenAlex
- W4211079051
- Cited by
- 305
- References
- 64
- Citations by year
- 2026: 108 · 2025: 90 · 2024: 59 · 2023: 33 · 2022: 15
- FWCI
- 70.87
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Organization Science (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Information Systems Theories and Implementation
- Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management › Management and Organizational Studies
- Social Sciences › Business, Management and Accounting › Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management › Corporate Management and Leadership
- Keywords
- emerging technologies, organizing, relational approach, organizational theory, artificial intelligence, digital platforms, blockchain, robotics, 3D printing, social media, data analytics
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