The Illusion of Transparency: Examining Power Dynamics in AI Implementation Strategies

Authors

  • Raphael LISSILLOUR Professeur associé à l’IPAG Business School, Paris, France. Chercheur associé à BIBS School of Management, Prague, République Tchèque
  • Emmanuel MONOD Professeur associé à l’IPAG Business School, Paris, France. Chercheur associé à BIBS School of Management, Prague, République Tchèque

Keywords:

artificial intelligence, customer relationship management, transparency, Bourdieu

Abstract

Organisational transparency is often seen as synonymous with greater fairness and as a factor leading to better performance. At the same time, despite its low implementation success rate, the spread of artificial intelligence (AI) and its integration into management tools are seen as technological advances enabling greater transparency within companies. How is the notion of transparency implicated, or even instrumentalised, during the implementation of AI? To answer this research question, we draw on Bourdieu’s theory of practice to conceptualise transparency as a practice situated in fields of power characterised by an unequal distribution of different types of capital. In this study, we seek to reveal the practices associated with the implementation of AI in customer relations teams. Based on two case studies, we discuss the discrepancies between the initial rhetoric that supported the implementation of AI and its consequences on the ground. The analysis focuses on the stakes and transfers of power within the organisation and on the types of transparency promoted by AI. The results show that, while the implementation was justified by transparency based on greater visibility of processes and the revelation of new data – two dimensions that aim to support the work of users – it can ultimately be seen as a means of increasing the ability to control and monitor their work.

Author Biographies

Raphael LISSILLOUR, Professeur associé à l’IPAG Business School, Paris, France. Chercheur associé à BIBS School of Management, Prague, République Tchèque

Raphael Lissillour is an associate professor in the Strategy and Management Department at IPAG Business School and an associate researcher at the BIBS School of Sustainability Management. IPAG Business School and associate researcher at BIBS School of Sustainability Management, Prague, Czech Republic. He is responsible for developing academic partnerships international academic partnerships and is director of the Doctorate in Business and Administration (DBA) programme. (DBA) PROGRAMME. He defended his doctoral thesis in 2017 at the University of Jilin in China on the of maritime security. He obtained his Habilitation to Supervise Research in 2023 at Sorbonne Paris Nord University. His research focuses on sociological analyses of the supply chain supply chain and information systems, and is published in internationally recognised Journal of Business Research, Information Technology and People, The Learning Organization People, The Learning Organization, Business Information System Engineering, Journal of Knowledge Management, and the International Journal of Logistic Management.

 

Emmanuel MONOD, Professeur associé à l’IPAG Business School, Paris, France. Chercheur associé à BIBS School of Management, Prague, République Tchèque

Emmanuel Monod, PhD, is Chief Operating Officer of CPMC Shanghai and a professor at Paris-Dauphine University. Paris-Dauphine University, having previously been a professor at Shanghai Jiaotong University and Georgia State University, USA. He is chairman of the special interest group on philosophy and information systems at the AIS and vice-president of SIG culture and IS. His publications appear in European Journal of Information Systems, Information Systems Journal, Information and Organization, European Management Journal, Journal of Computer Information Systems, Systèmes d'Information et Management, Journal of Decision Systems, Réseaux, The Data Base for Advances in Information Systems, Communications of the AIS, Annales des Telecoms and Engineering. He has also published 40 articles in international conferences, including 10 at the Academy of Management (AOM) in the United States. Two of his papers received the Best Paper Award at the AOM 2020 Vancouver and AOM 2019 Boston.

Published

2024-04-26

How to Cite

Raphael LISSILLOUR, & Emmanuel MONOD. (2024). The Illusion of Transparency: Examining Power Dynamics in AI Implementation Strategies. Revue Internationale De Psychosociologie Et De Gestion Des Comportements Organisationnels, 30(80). Retrieved from https://journaleska.com/index.php/ripco/article/view/9519

Issue

Vol. 30 No. 80 (2024): RIPCO

Section

Articles