New ISR publication on algorithmic management and worker algoactivism

What happens when algorithms become the boss—and workers push back? This question is at the heart of a new article by Jennifer Jiang and Martin Wiener (TU Dresden), together with Alexander Benlian (TU Darmstadt), Martin Adam (University of Göttingen), and Magnus Mähring (Stockholm School of Economics), published in Information Systems Research (ISR).

Based on an empirical investigation of Uber drivers, the study develops a process-theoretical model showing how platform workers continually reassess their working conditions, mobilize relevant resources, and engage in different forms of algoactivism to regain control. The findings reveal algoactivism as a dynamic, resource-dependent, and multifaceted process and offer new insights into worker agency as well as the design and governance of algorithmically managed work.

Information Systems Research (ISR) is one of the leading international journals in the field of Information Systems. ISR is rated A+ in the VHB Publication Media Rating 2024 and is one of the Financial Times Top 50 (FT50) journals, a select group of leading academic business and management journals.

The research was supported by the German Research Foundation (DFG) through the project Algorithmic Control: A Legitimacy Perspective on Worker-level Implications (AlgoWork) (project no. 461985572), as well as by the Marianne and Marcus Wallenberg Foundation and the Erling-Persson Foundation.

The article is published open access and is freely available here: https://doi.org/10.1287/isre.2024.0927