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.
N. E. Phillips (Thu,) studied this question.