Title

ALGORITHMIC MANAGEMENT OF WORK ON ONLINE LABOR PLATFORMS: WHEN MATCHING MEETS CONTROL.

Authors

Möhlmann, Mareike; Zalmanson, Lior; Henfridsson, Ola; Gregory, Robert Wayne

Abstract

Online labor platforms (OLPs) can use algorithms along two dimensions: matching and control. While previous research has paid considerable attention to how OLPs optimize matching and accommodate market needs, OLPs can also employ algorithms to monitor and tightly control platform work. In this paper, we examine the nature of platform work on OLPs, and the role of algorithmic management in organizing how such work is conducted. Using a qualitative study of Uber drivers' perceptions, supplemented by interviews with Uber executives and engineers, we present a grounded theory that captures the algorithmic management of work on OLPs. In the context of both algorithmic matching and algorithmic control, platform workers experience tensions relating to work execution, compensation, and belonging. We show that these tensions trigger market-like and organization-like response behaviors by platform workers. Our research contributes to the emerging literature on OLPs.

Subjects

LABOR market; ONLINE databases; ALGORITHMS; STATISTICAL matching; UBER Technologies Inc.; EXECUTIVES

Publication

MIS Quarterly, 2021, Vol 45, Issue 4, p1999

ISSN

0276-7783

Publication type

Academic Journal

DOI

10.25300/MISQ/2021/15333