Data Work as an Organizational Subject: Crafting a Future Research Agenda

Data work, broadly defined as the activities devoted to producing, managing, curating, analyzing, and deploying data, is becoming an increasingly critical part of all organizational activity. Yet, despite this empirical import, discussions of data work within our field are minimal, if not absent altogether. To rectify this lacuna, this symposium seeks to explore data work within the distinct context of organization and management studies, highlighting its particular consequentiality for developments in organizational theory. Central to our discussion will be the shifting role of data work in organizational contexts, specifically how the practices of data workers and the dynamics of emergent data-driven infrastructures may be impacting (and potentially destabilizing) our traditional understanding of such topics as organizational learning, authority, and culture. Our assembled panelists will draw on recent research to discuss several distinctive themes regarding data work across a set of empirical contexts, and, prompted by a commentary from our discussant and engagement from the audience, will conclude the session by outlining a targeted research agenda for the future study of data work.