Reading the technological society to understand the mechanization of values and its ontological consequences

Dirk Lindebaum; Christine Moser; Mehreen Ashraf; Vern L. Glaser

doi:10.5465/amr.2021.0159

Reading the technological society to understand the mechanization of values and its ontological consequences

Dirk Lindebaum, Christine Moser, Mehreen Ashraf, Vern L. Glaser

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Abstract

We review Jacques Ellul’s book The Technological Society to highlight ‘technique’ – the book’s central phenomenon – and its theoretical relevance for organizational and institutional theorists. Technique is defined as “the totality of methods rationally arrived at and having absolute efficiency . . . in every field of human activity” in society (1964: xxv, italics added). More than simply ‘machine technology’, technique involves the rational pursuit of standardized means or practices for attaining predetermined results. What makes Ellul both unique and relevant for organizational and institutional theorists is his historical analysis delineating the characteristics of, and the processes through which, technique has evolved into an autonomic and agentic force. We build on and mobilize Ellul’s analysis to explore two aims in this essay. First, we aim to illuminate the process through which technique transforms values – a process we describe as the mechanization of values in organizations and institutions. Second, we identify the consequences of value mechanization for organizational scholarship. We discuss the wider ramifications of Ellul’s work for management theory, practise, and education.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	575-592
Number of pages	18
Journal	Academy of Management Review
Volume	48
Issue number	3
Early online date	31 Jul 2023
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.2021.0159
Publication status	Published - Jul 2023

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
Various incarnations of this review essay benefitted from the thoughtful and insightful feedback from participants at several research seminars, including the ones run at Grenoble Ecole de Management (France), EM Lyon (France), Aalto University (Finland), and Vrije Universi-teit Amsterdam (The Netherlands). Further thanks for reading and commenting on our essay goes to Thomas Roulet and the OTREG community at Judge Business School (U.K.), as well as Marcos Barros. Finally, we appreciate the insightful and probing comments from the reviewer team. We learned about the untimely passing away of Associate Editor Don Conlon after acceptance of this essay. All the more we wish to underline his excellent editorial steer and willingness to allow us to experiment with the ideas presented in this essay. Vern Glaser acknowledges the support of Canada’s Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, while Dirk Lindebaum gratefully recognizes the financial support from the Centre for Entrepreneurship and Family Enterprise and the University of Alberta School of Business as part of his visiting professorship. Correspondence concerning this article should be directed to Dirk Lindebaum.

Funding

Various incarnations of this review essay benefitted from the thoughtful and insightful feedback from participants at several research seminars, including the ones run at Grenoble Ecole de Management (France), EM Lyon (France), Aalto University (Finland), and Vrije Universi-teit Amsterdam (The Netherlands). Further thanks for reading and commenting on our essay goes to Thomas Roulet and the OTREG community at Judge Business School (U.K.), as well as Marcos Barros. Finally, we appreciate the insightful and probing comments from the reviewer team. We learned about the untimely passing away of Associate Editor Don Conlon after acceptance of this essay. All the more we wish to underline his excellent editorial steer and willingness to allow us to experiment with the ideas presented in this essay. Vern Glaser acknowledges the support of Canada’s Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, while Dirk Lindebaum gratefully recognizes the financial support from the Centre for Entrepreneurship and Family Enterprise and the University of Alberta School of Business as part of his visiting professorship. Correspondence concerning this article should be directed to Dirk Lindebaum.

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10.5465/amr.2021.0159

Lindebaum et al 2022_Reading the technological society to understand the mechanization of values and its ontological consequencesSubmitted manuscript, 364 KB
Lindebaum-et-al-2023_Reading-the-technological-society-to-understand-the-mechanization-of-values-and-its-ontologicalFinal published version, 788 KBLicence: Article 25fa Dutch Copyright Act

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/361921786_Reading_the_Technological_Society_to_Understand_the_Mechanization_of_Values_and_Its_Ontological_Consequences

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title = "Reading the technological society to understand the mechanization of values and its ontological consequences",

abstract = "We review Jacques Ellul{\textquoteright}s book The Technological Society to highlight {\textquoteleft}technique{\textquoteright} – the book{\textquoteright}s central phenomenon – and its theoretical relevance for organizational and institutional theorists. Technique is defined as “the totality of methods rationally arrived at and having absolute efficiency . . . in every field of human activity” in society (1964: xxv, italics added). More than simply {\textquoteleft}machine technology{\textquoteright}, technique involves the rational pursuit of standardized means or practices for attaining predetermined results. What makes Ellul both unique and relevant for organizational and institutional theorists is his historical analysis delineating the characteristics of, and the processes through which, technique has evolved into an autonomic and agentic force. We build on and mobilize Ellul{\textquoteright}s analysis to explore two aims in this essay. First, we aim to illuminate the process through which technique transforms values – a process we describe as the mechanization of values in organizations and institutions. Second, we identify the consequences of value mechanization for organizational scholarship. We discuss the wider ramifications of Ellul{\textquoteright}s work for management theory, practise, and education.",

author = "Dirk Lindebaum and Christine Moser and Mehreen Ashraf and Glaser, \{Vern L.\}",

note = "Funding Information: Various incarnations of this review essay benefitted from the thoughtful and insightful feedback from participants at several research seminars, including the ones run at Grenoble Ecole de Management (France), EM Lyon (France), Aalto University (Finland), and Vrije Universi-teit Amsterdam (The Netherlands). Further thanks for reading and commenting on our essay goes to Thomas Roulet and the OTREG community at Judge Business School (U.K.), as well as Marcos Barros. Finally, we appreciate the insightful and probing comments from the reviewer team. We learned about the untimely passing away of Associate Editor Don Conlon after acceptance of this essay. All the more we wish to underline his excellent editorial steer and willingness to allow us to experiment with the ideas presented in this essay. Vern Glaser acknowledges the support of Canada{\textquoteright}s Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, while Dirk Lindebaum gratefully recognizes the financial support from the Centre for Entrepreneurship and Family Enterprise and the University of Alberta School of Business as part of his visiting professorship. Correspondence concerning this article should be directed to Dirk Lindebaum.",

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N2 - We review Jacques Ellul’s book The Technological Society to highlight ‘technique’ – the book’s central phenomenon – and its theoretical relevance for organizational and institutional theorists. Technique is defined as “the totality of methods rationally arrived at and having absolute efficiency . . . in every field of human activity” in society (1964: xxv, italics added). More than simply ‘machine technology’, technique involves the rational pursuit of standardized means or practices for attaining predetermined results. What makes Ellul both unique and relevant for organizational and institutional theorists is his historical analysis delineating the characteristics of, and the processes through which, technique has evolved into an autonomic and agentic force. We build on and mobilize Ellul’s analysis to explore two aims in this essay. First, we aim to illuminate the process through which technique transforms values – a process we describe as the mechanization of values in organizations and institutions. Second, we identify the consequences of value mechanization for organizational scholarship. We discuss the wider ramifications of Ellul’s work for management theory, practise, and education.

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Reading the technological society to understand the mechanization of values and its ontological consequences

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Funding

UN SDGs

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