In the Age of the Smart Machine by Shoshana Zuboff

Overview

• Author: Shoshana Zuboff
• Publication Year: 1988
• Main Theme: Study of information technology (IT) in the workplace, introducing the concept of "Informating."

Key Concepts

Informating

• Definition: The process where IT translates activities, events, and objects into information.
• Duality of IT:
  • Automates operations like mechanization.
  • Simultaneously generates information about processes, increasing transparency.
• Impact on Work:
  • Makes work processes more abstract.
  • Leads to comprehensive codification and textualization of work environments.

Electronic Text

• Description: The electronic text is a continuously accruing record central to organizational life.
• Impact: Shapes perception and decision-making in organizations.

Division of Learning

• Shift from Division of Labor:
  • Emphasis on collaborative and distributed working arrangements.
  • Authority systems focus more on learning rather than labor division.
• Concepts Introduced:
  • Colleagues and co-learners, exploration, innovation.
  • Jobs become comprehensive, power is more fluid.

Research Methodology

• Approach: Multi-year studies across various workplaces transitioning to computer-mediated environments.
• Findings:
  1. Technology is not neutral; it influences human experiences.
  2. Individuals/groups construct meaning and make choices.
  3. Social, political, and economic interests shape these dynamics.

Historical Context and Relevance

• Longevity: Despite pre-Internet publication, themes remain relevant, particularly concerning information technology's role in automation and control.
• Modern Implications:
  • Issues around data privacy and control.
  • Continued relevance of the informating concept.
• Comparison to Current Trends:
  • Internet and data control debates resonate with Zuboff's predictions.

Contributions and Legacy

• Influence on Disciplines:
  • Impactful across management, info systems, social psychology, and sociology.
• Concepts Introduced:
  • Information panopticon, command/control challenge by information, collaborative information work.
• Comparable Works:
  • Peter Drucker's "In the Age of Discontinuity"
  • Daniel Bell's "The Coming of Post-Industrial Society"
• Continued Impact: Reviewed in Andrew Burton-Jones's forthcoming article on IT-oriented organizational scholarship.