Culture, technology, and process in ‘media theories’

Toward a shift in the understanding of media in organizational research

Bibliographic Data

ID20501025
AuthorsFlorian Hoof (0000-0002-2349-2189, Leuphana University Lüneburg, Germany, corresponding author), Sebastian K Boell (0000-0002-4013-7066, The University of Sydney)
Year2019
Volume26
Issue5
Pages636-654
Publication date2019-09-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueOrganization (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1350-5084 • E-ISSN: 1461-7323
PublisherSAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/1350508419855702
OpenAlexW2952883130
LanguageEN
Citations received4
References cited83

The concept of ‘media’ can provide an anchor point for developing organizational theories about information and communication technologies, materiality, communication, and organizational change. However, to date, organizational research often takes the meaning of the term media for granted. This article therefore explores various conceptions of media, outlining how such theories can be used for advancing the conception of media in organizational research. Using three ideal-typical branches of conceptions of media, we explore key concerns regarding media in existing literature outside of organizational research. First, the culture and power branch problematizes how cultural practices and power structures are inscribed through media; second, the technology and infrastructure branch emphasizes the inherent ‘eigenlogik’ of media technology; and third, the process and change branch explores how existing economic and aesthetic conventions in media persist over time. Using organizational media in general and enterprise social media in particular we discuss how each of these three ideal-typical branches offer pathways for organizational research. Specifically we argue for shifting the use of the term media beyond merely describing tools for communication as media theories offer insights for understanding the long-term consequences of materiality and ontological co-constitution within sociomaterial assemblages

Aesthetics · Epistemology · Media relations · Media system dependency theory · Organizational culture · Organizational studies · Political science · Public relations · Sociology · Computer Science · Information Systems Theories and Implementation · Management and Organizational Studies · Team Dynamics and Performance

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Open DOISci-HubOpen Access