When algorithmic management was new

Engineered standards and the managerial prerogative in Australia

Bibliographic Data

ID21189888
AuthorsChristopher O’neill (0000-0002-4926-1047, The University of Melbourne), Christopher O''Neill (0000-0002-5396-2217), Lauren Kelly (0000-0002-0646-1890, MIT University), Jake Goldenfein (0000-0002-0242-8559, National University), Tuong Phan (0000-0002-2013-3359, University of Canberra), Thao Phan (University of Canberra), Jathan Sadowski (0000-0002-3184-384X, The University of Melbourne)
Year2025
Volume19
Issue2
Publication date2025-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueWork Organisation Labour & Globalisation (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1745-641X • E-ISSN: 1745-6428
PublisherPluto Journals (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.13169/workorgalaboglob.19.2.0008
OpenAlexW4411856692
LanguageEN
References cited34

In this article we analyse the significance for critical logistics studies of a neglected chapter in industrial relations history, the introduction of so-called ‘Engineered Standards’ into the Australian food and groceries sector in the late 1980s and early 1990s. We argue that this episode was decisive in establishing the conditions which have allowed algorithmic management to flourish in Australia in more recent years. We argue for the significance of this episode as responding to a crisis in the corporatist organisation of Australian industrial relations during the neo-liberal ‘Accord’ era. Engineered Standards, we argue, constituted a decisive ‘break’ within Australian logistics, establishing a new technical, managerial, and discursive order

Business · Political science · Prerogative · Digital Economy and Work Transformation · Ethics and Social Impacts of AI · Law · Regulation and Compliance Studies

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