Strategic organization in the digital age: Rethinking the concept of technology

Abstract

Digital technologies, enabled by data, algorithms, and artificial intelligence, are creating new competitive opportunities. But how does one strategize when the technologies core to organizational action is constantly changing? We suggest that for strategy scholars to answer this question, they will need to rethink the concept of technology. We begin by discussing the conceptual treatment of technology in studies of strategy and strategizing, and, in so doing, we highlight the ways in which current conceptualizations of technology are problematic for theorizing about the role of technology in the digital age. We then advance a relational perspective on technology that overcomes many of these problems. We illustrate the potential utility of this perspective for theories of strategic organization by using it to reconceptualize the boundaries of the firm, the process of innovation, and the process of organizational knowing.