Algorithmic Management and Worker Well-Being: An Institutionalist Lens

Original Institutional Economics provides complexity to our understanding of technological change. We apply this institutionalist lens to research on emerging workplace technologies, particularly algorithmic management. Algorithmic management (AM) are automated systems used to organize and manage work processes. These systems originated in the gig economy but are increasingly being implemented at formal workplace settings in manufacturing and service sector industries. We synthesize insights from a multi-year, collaborative research project examining the use of AM by hotels to manage the work of guest room attendants (housekeepers). We find that the variability of options within AM systems means that workplace-based configuration, not simply the adoption of the technology, shapes how work processes and worker well-being are impacted. Consequently, technology adoption and implementation processes are highly context-dependent and influenced by power relations.