Fading into insignificance: Why mainstream OT scholars “missed the boat” on intelligent technologies and what we can do about it

In this essay, I argue that mainstream organization theory (OT) scholars have failed to include intelligent technologies in their theorizing and that this omission is making the core of OT increasingly irrelevant in a world of organizations constituted by cloud computing, blockchain, social media, and artificial intelligence. I begin by examining three of the most active areas of research in mainstream OT—institutional theory, organizational identity, and sensemaking—and argue that theorizing in all three areas has not been updated sufficiently to reflect the central role of intelligent technologies in the phenomena they theorize. I go on to discuss some of the reasons mainstream OT scholars have missed the boat on intelligent technologies including (1) early framings of technology as exogenous to organizations; (2) a fascination with the ideal; (3) the ubiquity and invisibility of intelligent technologies in modern organizations; and (4) a lack of interest in technology among mainstream OT scholars. I close with some suggestions for steps that OT scholars might take to resolve this challenging situation.