Algorithms as organizational figuration: The sociotechnical arrangements of a fintech start-up

Abstract

Building on critical approaches that understand algorithms in terms of communication, culture and organization, this paper offers the supplementary conceptualization of algorithms as organizational figuration, defined as material and meaningful sociotechnical arrangements that develop in spatiotemporal processes and are shaped by multiple enactments of affordance–agency relations. We develop this conceptualization through a case study of a Danish fintech start-up that uses machine learning to create opportunities for sustainable pensions investments. By way of ethnographic and literary methodology, we provide an in-depth analysis of the dynamic trajectory in and through which the organization gives shape to and takes shape from its key algorithmic tool, mapping the shifting sociotechnical arrangements of the start-up, from its initial search for a viable business model through the development of the algorithm to the public launch of its product. On this basis, we argue that conceptualizing algorithms as organizational figuration enables us to detail not only what algorithms do but also what they are.

Algorithms and hegemony in the workplace: Negotiating design and values in an Italian television platform

“…Although algorithms can be considered as social agents that participate in society and participated by it (see Airoldi, 2022), this paper does not focus on the relational properties of these technologies within complex socio-technical arrangements but rather considers algorithms as socio-cultural objects which are the result of specific human practices, sensemaking processes, organizational arrangements and values that can be examined. If ‘algorithms are not one thing but many and have to be understood as such’ (Dahlman et al, 2021: 3), this contribution adopts a material and cultural approach to focus on how algorithmic models, such as content recommendation systems, are framed, defined and produced within the setting of a tech/media company. By looking at how different professional figures relate and participate in their production, in fact, I aim to shed light on how algorithmic design practices unfold within the socio-cultural and working context where they take place.…”

Algorithms as figures: Towards a post-digital ethnography of algorithmic contexts

“…Algorithmic figures cannot then be completely reduced to discursive analogies or metaphors (seeing something ‘as if’ it was an algorithm) or ‘vernacular’ elements belonging to the imaginary of experts or users. Figures are organisational in the sense that they configure a ‘process of continuously changing relations between elements in sociotechnical arrangements’ which in itself ‘gives meaning to each element as well as the arrangement as a whole’ (Dahlman et al, 2021: 4).…”

Robo-Advice (RA): implications for the sociology of the professions

“…On the demand side, clients check boxes with questions about their needs, assets, interests and attitudes toward risk; on the supply side, the questions probe categories for investment options, product lines and pricing. The types are matched with algorithmic programming (Dahlman et al, 2021) and AI management (Kato, 2020). Advice to clients fits or aligns the demand and supply-side data so that clients of firms offering RAs recommend particular investments or product categories.…”

“…On the demand side, clients check boxes with questions about their needs, assets, interests and attitudes toward risk; on the supply side, the questions probe categories for investment options, product lines and pricing. The types are matched with algorithmic programming (Dahlman et al. , 2021) and AI management (Kato, 2020).…”