{"title":"Strategic organization in the digital age: Rethinking the concept of technology","authors":"Samer Faraj, P. Leonardi","doi":"10.1177/14761270221130253","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Digital technologies, enabled by data, algorithms, and artificial intelligence, are creating new competitive opportunities. But how does one strategize when the technologies core to organizational action is constantly changing? We suggest that for strategy scholars to answer this question, they will need to rethink the concept of technology. We begin by discussing the conceptual treatment of technology in studies of strategy and strategizing, and, in so doing, we highlight the ways in which current conceptualizations of technology are problematic for theorizing about the role of technology in the digital age. We then advance a relational perspective on technology that overcomes many of these problems. We illustrate the potential utility of this perspective for theories of strategic organization by using it to reconceptualize the boundaries of the firm, the process of innovation, and the process of organizational knowing.","PeriodicalId":22087,"journal":{"name":"Strategic Organization","volume":"20 1","pages":"771 - 785"},"PeriodicalIF":5.2000,"publicationDate":"2022-09-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"5","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Strategic Organization","FirstCategoryId":"91","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1177/14761270221130253","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"管理学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"BUSINESS","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 5
Abstract
Digital technologies, enabled by data, algorithms, and artificial intelligence, are creating new competitive opportunities. But how does one strategize when the technologies core to organizational action is constantly changing? We suggest that for strategy scholars to answer this question, they will need to rethink the concept of technology. We begin by discussing the conceptual treatment of technology in studies of strategy and strategizing, and, in so doing, we highlight the ways in which current conceptualizations of technology are problematic for theorizing about the role of technology in the digital age. We then advance a relational perspective on technology that overcomes many of these problems. We illustrate the potential utility of this perspective for theories of strategic organization by using it to reconceptualize the boundaries of the firm, the process of innovation, and the process of organizational knowing.
期刊介绍:
Strategic Organization is devoted to publishing high-quality, peer-reviewed, discipline-grounded conceptual and empirical research of interest to researchers, teachers, students, and practitioners of strategic management and organization. The journal also aims to be of considerable interest to senior managers in government, industry, and particularly the growing management consulting industry. Strategic Organization provides an international, interdisciplinary forum designed to improve our understanding of the interrelated dynamics of strategic and organizational processes and outcomes.