COVID‐19, economic crises and digitalisation: How algorithmic management became an alternative to automation

Abstract

The COVID‐19 crisis witnessed a major rise in investment in software for the digital organisation and rationalisation of work, while investment in robotics is continuously lagging behind expectations. This article argues that we can understand this development as the continuation of the rise of algorithmic management as a technological fix for profitability crises. Thus, in the face of falling wage rates and a structural overaccumulation of capital since the 1970s, algorithmic management has become an alternative to automation. The article reconstructs the history of algorithmic management in connection to economic crises. This allows for periodisation of the rise of algorithmic management from 'computer‐integrated manufacturing' to remote work in four waves. In times of crisis, algorithmic management functions as a substitute for investment in 'tangible capital' such as robots. Structural economic forces thus interact with labour conflicts at the company level, shaping the rise of algorithmic management.

Taylorism on steroids or enabling autonomy? A systematic review of algorithmic management

“…However, so far, one could claim that instead of replacing workers with robots, workers have often been forced to work as if they were robots, and the tasks being replaced are largely the ones of managers of these “human robots”. Indeed, in his examination of algorithmic management among the historical development between capital, labor, and investment in automation, Schaupp ( 2022 ) argues that algorithmic management has been viewed as a cheaper alternative to automation. As fully automating production processes demands heavier investment, companies have instead chosen algorithmic management practices to gain more control over the workforce, that remains more flexible than robots.…”

“…Stark and Pais ( 2020 ) point out how in the early twentieth century Taylorism legitimated the growth of a new managerial class. In addition to Taylorism’s traditional image of the assembly line, computer integrated manufacturing (CIM) and its vision of automating control functions during the 1970 and 1980 s, as well as the lean production methods and their digital performance measurement systems that became widespread by the 1990s can be seen as early versions of algorithmic management (Schaupp 2022 ). Such control-oriented algorithmic management practices appear to reinforce the mechanistic idea of man inherent in scientific management (see e.g., Grint 2011 ), in which a worker is a standardized, replaceable cog in the operating system.…”

Platform workers and digital agency: Making out on three types of labor platforms

“…Platform companies are forerunners in algorithmic management, but it is expected that its applications will increasingly spread to more traditional forms of work, having a major impact across the economy (Fourcade and Healy, 2017 ; Zuboff, 2019 ; Gilbert and Thomas, 2021 ). The COVID-19 crisis also gave an extra boost to platform companies, many of which profited from the crisis and conquered markets from more traditional players (Schaupp, 2022 ). With the help of our paper, we want to draw attention to the multifaceted nature of platform work and its control structures, as well as their importance for the future quality of working life, social inequalities in the digital labor market, the needs for and possibilities of the regulation of platform work, and new potential areas for academic studies.…”

Ridiculing the artificial boss: organisational technocultures and the humorous criticism of AI at work

“…The term refers to the sector of German manufacturing which has been heavily digitalised since 2013 in the aftermath of far-reaching state interventions (Fuchs, 2018). The core innovations of 'Industry 4.0' pertain less to physical automation; they lie rather in a particular mode of algorithmic management (Schaupp, 2022a).…”