Working with the “smart” machine: computerization and the discourse of anthropomorphism in organizationsFootnote^∗

^∗An earlier version of this paper was presented at the 11th International Meetings of SCOS (The Standing Conference on Organizational Symbolism), Calgary, July 1994. This research was made possible in part by a grant from the Alberta Energy Corporation in January 1994.

References

• Albert , A. and Bulcroft , K. 1987 . Pets and urban life . Anthrozoos , 1 : 9 – 25 .
   Google Scholar
• Alvesson , Mats . 1987 . Organization theory and technocratic consciousness: Rationality, ideology and quality of work , New York : Walter de Gruyter .
   Google Scholar
• Berns , Maria C. 1990 . Pots as people: Yungur ancestral portraits . African Arts , 23 : 50 – 60 .
   Google Scholar
• Best , Steven and Kellner , Douglas . 1991 . Postmodern theory: Critical Interrogations , New York : Guildford Press .
   Google Scholar
• Blanchard , J. 1982 . Anthropomorphism in beginning readers . The Reading Teacher , 35 : 586 – 591 .
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Bourdieu , Pierre . 1977 . Outline of a theory of practice , Cambridge, UK : Cambridge University Press .
   Google Scholar
• Brabant , Sarah and Mooney , L.A. 1989 . When ‘critters’ act like people: Anthropomorphism in greeting cards . Sociological Spectrum , 9 : 477 – 494 .
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Caporael , L.R. 1984 . Computers, prophecy and experience: A historical perspective . Journal of Social Issues , 40 : 15 – 29 .
   Google Scholar
• Carter , N.M. 1984 . Computerization as a predominate technology: Its influence on the structure of newspaper organizations . Academy of Management Journal , 27 : 247 – 270 .
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Czarniawska-Joerges , Barbara . 1988 . Ideological control in non-ideological organizations , New York : Praeger .
   Google Scholar
• Feldman , Martha S. and March , James G. 1981 . Information in organizations as signal and symbol . Administrative Science Quarterly , 26 : 171 – 186 .
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Feldman , Steven P. 1989 . The idealization of technology: Power relations in an engineering department . Human Relations , 7 : 575 – 592 .
   Google Scholar
• Ferre , Frederick . 1984 . In praise of anthropomorphism . International Journal of Philosophy of Religion , 16 : 203 – 212 .
   Google Scholar
• Foucault , Michel . 1980 . Power/Knowledge , New York : Pantheon .
   Google Scholar
• Hall , Stuart and Jefferson , Tony . 1976 . Resistance through rituals: Youth subcultures in Post-war Britain , London : Hutchinson .
   Google Scholar
• Harrison , S. 1982 . Yams and the symbolic representation of time in a Sepik River Village . Oceania , 53 : 141 – 162 .
   Google Scholar
• Hayes , Dennis . 1989 . Behind the silicon curtain: The seductions of work in a lonely era , Boston, MA : South End Press .
   Google Scholar
• Hennestad , Bj⊘rn W. 1987 . “ Organizations and the computer culture: The mismanagement of meaning ” . In Organization of innovation: East-West perspectives , Edited by: Child , John and Bate , Paul . 137 – 147 . Berlin : Walter de Gruyter .
   Google Scholar
• Jastrow , Robert . 1984 . The enchanted loom: Mind in the universe , New York : Simon & Schuster .
   Google Scholar
• Joerges , Bernward . 1989 . Romancing the machine: Reflections on the social scientific construction of computer reality . International Studies of Management and Organization , 19 : 24 – 50 .
   Google Scholar
• Legenhausen , G. 1986 . Is God a person? . Religious Studies , 22 : 307 – 323 .
   Google Scholar
• MacCormack , E.R. 1984 . Men and machines: The computational metaphor . Technology in Society , 6 : 207 – 216 .
   Google Scholar
• Minsky , Marvin . 1986 . The society of mind , New York : Simon & Schuster .
   Google Scholar
• McCorduck , Pamela . 1985 . The universal machine: Confessions of a technological optimist , New York : McGraw Hill .
   Google Scholar
• Muetzelfeld , Michael . 1990 . The symbolic consumption of information technology . Paper presented at the 7th International Meetings of SCOS . June 1990 , Saarbrucken, Germany.
   Google Scholar
• Mumford , Enid and Weir , Mary . 1979 . Computer system in work design: The ETHICS method , New York : John Wiley .
   Google Scholar
• Nord , Walter R. and Jermier , John M. 1991 . Overcoming resistance to resistance . Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management . August 1991 , Miami.
   Google Scholar
• Pava , Calvin . 1983 . Managing new office technology: An organizational strategy , New York : Free Press .
   Google Scholar
• Pfeffer , Jeffrey and Leblebicci , Hussein . 1977 . Information Technology and organization structure . Pacific Sociological Review , 20 : 241 – 259 .
   Google Scholar
• Prasad , Anshuman and Caproni , Paula . 1993 . Combatting the ideology of workplace aggression: Towards a typological understanding of resistance . Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management . August 1993 , Atlanta.
   Google Scholar
• Prasad , Pushkala . 1993 . Symbolic processes in the implementation of technological change: A symbolic interactonist study of work computerization . Academy of Management Journal , 36 : 1400 – 1429 .
   PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Prasad , Pushkala and Prasad , Anshuman . 1994 . The ideology of professionalism and work computerization: An institutionalist study of technological change . Human Relations , 46 : 1433 – 1458 .
   Google Scholar
• Rosenau , Pauline M. 1992 . Post-modernism and the social sciences: Insights, inroads and intrusions , Princeton, NJ : Princeton University Press .
   Google Scholar
• Ross , Andrew . 1989 . No respect: Intellectuals and popular culture , New York : Routledge .
   Google Scholar
• Schoen , E.L. 1990 . Anthropomorphic concepts of God . Religious Studies , 26 : 123 – 139 .
   Google Scholar
• Simons , G. 1983 . Are computers alive? Evolution and new forms of life , Cambridge, MA : Birkhauser .
   Google Scholar
• Turkle , Sherry . 1984 . The second self: Computers and the human spirit , New York : Simon & Schuster .
   Google Scholar
• Turkle , Sherry . 1988 . “ Computational reticence: Why women fear the intimate machine ” . In Techology and women's voices: Keeping in touch , Edited by: Kramarae , C. 41 – 61 . New York : Routledge and Kegan Paul .
   Google Scholar
• Warren , Mark . 1990 . Ideology and the self . Theory and Society , 19 : 599 – 634 .
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Zeffane , Rachid . 1989 . Computer use and structural control: A study of Australian enterprises . Journal of Management Studies , 26 : 621 – 648 .
   Google Scholar