ABSTRACT
Representations of organizational futures tend to emphasize post-industrial conceptualizations such as the informated organization (Zuboff, 1988), the knowledge-creating company (Nonaka and Takeuchi, 1995), the virtual organization (Davidow and Malone, 1992) or the networked organization (Dutton, 1999). In these accounts the role of technology is often central and yet the relationship between the social and technological elements of the organization is poorly understood. In organization studies, technology has tended to be marginalized, allowing the discipline to maintain its implicitly human-centred perspective. In short, textbook organization theory has failed to rise to the challenge presented by technology to organizations and to theories of organization. Instead, the discipline has retreated to a comfortable position of liberal humanism where the sovereign, individual subject is retained as the object of study.
