TY - JOUR
T1 - Breaking the Vicious Cycle of Algorithmic Management
T2 - A Virtue Ethics Approach to People Analytics
AU - Gal, Uri
AU - Jensen, Tina Blegind
AU - Stein, Mari-Klara
PY - 2020/6
Y1 - 2020/6
N2 - The increasing use of People Analytics to manage people in organizations ushers in an era of algorithmic management. People analytics are said to allow decision-makers to make evidence-based, bias-free, and objective decisions, and expand workers' opportunities for personal and professional growth. Drawing on a virtue ethics approach, we argue that the use of people analytics in organizations can create a vicious cycle of ethical challenges - algorithmic opacity, datafication, and nudging - which limit people's ability to cultivate their virtue and flourish. We propose that organizations can mitigate these challenges and help workers develop their virtue by reframing people analytics as a fallible companion technology, introducing new organizational roles and practices, and adopting alternative technology design principles. We discuss the implications of this approach for organizations and for the design of people analytics, and propose directions for future research.
AB - The increasing use of People Analytics to manage people in organizations ushers in an era of algorithmic management. People analytics are said to allow decision-makers to make evidence-based, bias-free, and objective decisions, and expand workers' opportunities for personal and professional growth. Drawing on a virtue ethics approach, we argue that the use of people analytics in organizations can create a vicious cycle of ethical challenges - algorithmic opacity, datafication, and nudging - which limit people's ability to cultivate their virtue and flourish. We propose that organizations can mitigate these challenges and help workers develop their virtue by reframing people analytics as a fallible companion technology, introducing new organizational roles and practices, and adopting alternative technology design principles. We discuss the implications of this approach for organizations and for the design of people analytics, and propose directions for future research.
KW - People analytics
KW - Virtue ethics
KW - Algorithmic management
KW - People analytics
KW - Virtue ethics
KW - Algorithmic management
U2 - 10.1016/j.infoandorg.2020.100301
DO - 10.1016/j.infoandorg.2020.100301
M3 - Journal article
SN - 1471-7727
VL - 30
JO - Information and Organization
JF - Information and Organization
IS - 2
M1 - 100301
ER -