New Technologies, Organizational Change and Governance

New Technologies, Organizational Change and Governance

Emmanuelle Avril, Christine Zumello (eds)

Palgrave Macmillan

2013

256 p.

60 £

Présentation :

The advent of globalisation and the continued development of new information technology has created an environment in which the one certainty for organisations is that they cannot cling to archaic, centralised and hierarchical models. The increased fluidity and speed of the global environment call for horizontal networked structures, where decisions are achieved through collaborative mechanisms, rather than pyramidal models. New processes have been emerging, in particular the practices of deliberative and participatory governance, with increased stakeholder and citizen inclusion and participation, greater use and reliance on networks of organisations, and efforts to resolve conflict through dialogue. New forms of organizations, networks, coalitions and partnerships, as well as the promises of open sourcing and the collaborative horizontal model point towards a new governance apparatus in which relationship-based patterns can project and protect a human dimension in this digital world. This book will prove invaluable to all those who are interested in participatory governance and organisational change.

Review :

"The Internet is tied to initiatives aimed at democratizing governance in order to empower organizations in a post-bureaucratic era. This volume brings together a complementary array of international scholars to provide a theoretically rich understanding of the potential of new paradigms and practices. This is must reading for anyone with a serious interest in the structures and dynamics of organizations." - William Dutton, Professor of Internet Studies, Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford, UK

"This is a valuable contribution on an issue that is only going to get more and more important as time goes on. It makes for a thought-provoking, wide-ranging, and insightful exploration of the ways in which traditional political organization and governance has been both dynamized and disrupted by new technologies and the great expectations which they have helped to create." - Tim Bale, Professor and Chair in Politics, School of Politics and International Studies, Queen Mary, University of London, UK

Contents

Introduction

Emmanuelle Avril and Christine Zumello, "Towards Organizational Democracy? Convergence and Divergence in Models of Economic and Political Governance"

PART I: NEW PATHS OF GOVERNANCE

1. Cécile Doustaly, "Arts Council England in the 2000s: Towards Digital Era Governance?"
2. Roseline Théron, "London Transport/Transport for London: The Unstable Mix of Politics, Management and Public Service Values"
3. Christine Zumello, "Financial Institutions and Political Parties in the USA: the Myth of Direct Access"
4. Vincent Michelot, "From Campaign Finance to Obamacare.The Supreme Court Dis-empowering Voters and Parties: the Law of Intended Consequences?"

PART II:  BREAKING ORGANIZATIONAL BOUNDARIES

5. Susan Scarrow, "New Challenges of Intra-party Democracy: Grassroots Activists, Instant Members and Cyber-militants"
6. Emmanuelle Avril, "From Grassroots to Netroots? The Evolution of Decision-Making in the British Labour Party"
7. Nathalie Duclos, "The Scottish National Party and Organizational Democratisation"
8. James Morone, "New Media, New Organizations, New Politics"
9. Géraldine Castel, "The Evolution of UK Parties in the Web 2.0 and Post-spin Era"

PART III: EMERGING PATTERNS OF ORGANIZATIONAL DESIGN

10. Régine Hollander, "The Rise of Machines, the Fall of Organizations"
11. Jean-Baptiste Velut, "Centralizing and Decentralizing Effects of Internet Technologies within the Citizen Trade Campaign Network"
12. Toby Coop, "Towards Leaderless Organizations? The Impact of New Technology on Leadership and Learning"
13. Jennifer Lees-Marshment, "Political Marketing and Governance: Moving Towards the Political Partnership Model of Organization?"
Concluding Remarks