Introduction: Algorithmic Organizing 

with Vern L. Glaser, Christine Moser, and P. Devereaux Jennings

​

Volume 95 of Research in the Sociology of Organizations explores the phenomenon of “algorithmic organizing,” the embedding of data‐driven computational processes into organizational structures, processes, and everyday work. Through diverse empirical studies across four thematic sections, the contributors reveal how: (a) data scientists craft algorithmic solutions, (b) organizations transform for algorithmic readiness, (c) users navigate algorithmic encounters, and (d) researchers develop new methodological approaches. Together, the papers highlight that algorithmic organizing involves more than implementing predictive models – it requires a deep grasp of how algorithms are embedded within organizational structures, processes, and social practices. This collection advances our scientific understanding of algorithms “in the wild” while offering practical insights for managing the increasing entanglement of computational processes with organizational life.
 

Keywords: Algorithms, artificial intelligence, sociomateriality, algorithmic management, data science, human–machine interaction

​

Algorithmic Organizing Epilogue: Designing and Performing the Editorial Assemblage

with Christine Moser, P. Devereaux Jennings, and Vern L. Glaser

​

In this paper, we report on our experiences as editors using AI in the review process. During the editorial process for Volume 95 of Research in the Sociology of Organizations on Algorithmic Organizing, we explored the benefits and challenges that arise when AI is incorporated into the editorial assemblage. In collaboration with our authors and Emerald Publishing, we used generative AI tools to augment the review process. To tease out the differences between a “regular” review process and ours, where AI was part of the editorial assemblage, we formulate tentative expectations for the future of reviewing. Specifically, we claim that integrating AI successfully in the editorial process hinges upon design and execution decisions at multiple levels and at multiple moments. Ultimately, and in light of rapid technological developments that are already changing the nature of editorial work, the creative, dynamic, and thoughtful design of editorial algorithmic assemblages can engender practices that enrich both the quality and enjoyment of academic research.

Keywords: Editorial assemblage, algorithmic organizing, generative AI, editorial ethics, reviewing

​

Inflated Accounts: A History of Financial Reporting in an Age of Rapidly Changing Prices

with Dale Flesher

​

Inflation is a longstanding and difficult challenge for accounting theorists, practitioners, and standard setters. Historically, inflation accounting has been divisive, not only complex in terms of theory, but also time-sensitive and difficult to execute. High levels of inflation are predominantly epochal and temporary, but unlike past episodes of inflation, the 2021 resurgence of inflation in the United States has not resulted in a reprisal of interest in inflation accounting. In light of the current silence among constituents and accounting standard setters, this article revisits past efforts to address inflation within financial reporting to understand and contextualize the process, pitfalls, and outcomes of introducing an inflation standard. Particular attention is paid to the experimental SFAS 33. Despite earnest efforts and experimentation, agreement on a solution to resolve the challenge of accounting for inflation and changing prices remains evasive.

​

Keywords: inflation, financial accounting standards, financial regulation

​

Introduction: On Practice and Institution 

with Michael Lounsbury and Paul Spee 

​

Volumes 70 and 71 of Research in the Sociology of Organizations combine to comprise cutting-edge theory and empirical scholarship at the interface of practice and institution in organization studies. As we highlight, this interface has spurred particularly generative conversations with many open questions, and much to explore. We provide a review of scholarly developments in practice theory and organizational institutionalism that have given rise to this interest in building a bridge between scholarly communities. As signaled by recent efforts to construct a practice-driven institutionalism (hereafter PDI), we highlight how connecting practice theory with the institutional logics perspective provides a particularly attractive focal point for scholarship at this interface due to a variety of shared ontological and epistemological commitments, including the constitution of actors and their behavior. Collectively, the papers assembled unlock exciting opportunities to connect distinct but related scholarly communities on practice and institution, seeding scholarship that can advance our understanding of organizational and societal dynamics.

 

Keywords: Practice theory; organizational institutionalism; Theodore Schatzki; Roger Friedland; practice-driven institutionalism; institutional logics

​

​

Professional Structures and Practice Change: Institutionalization Processes in Accounting and Strategy

with Richard Whittington

​

This chapter examines the processes by which new management ideas become institutionalized as widely-used management practices in different kinds of profession. It argues that these processes vary according to a profession’s structural degree of social closure, as enforced for instance by tight regulations and strict qualification requirements. Closure also has implications for the relevance of different strands of institutional theory. In closed professions such as accounting, institutionalization processes resemble those predicted by institutional entrepreneurship theory: the emphasis is on the roles of regulators and professional bodies; collaboration amongst change agents; episodic innovation; front-loaded change activity; and isomorphic outcomes. In open professions such as strategy, management fashion theory suggests the importance of prestigious clients and competition, while institutional work theory predicts continuous innovation; intense investment in maintenance activities; and pluralistic outcomes. The chapter argues for the value of comparative studies of professions for future research on the institutionalization of management ideas.

 

Keywords: institutionalization, professions, structures, practice change, management ideas

 

​