Dialogue and Transparency as organizational norms (DOGSON)

Abstract:

While organizations facilitating and structuring access to online information are considered increasingly important to economic, regulatory and technological developments, their organizational dynamics remain poorly understood. Looking back, it is clear that the development and proliferation of the Internet industry has been driven by technical innovation, entrepreneurship and collaborations. But as this industry grows and becomes increasingly central to political, social and economic life, the organizations involved not only engage in new types of conduct and governance, but also seek to manage expectations from users, policymakers and other stakeholders in novel ways. At present, there is little empirical research on how such organizations engage in and are shaped by the development of norms, policies and standards that go beyond primarily technical matters and concerns. This project will investigate how norms about dialogue and transparency travel and shape selected organizational and regulatory settings in the Internet industry.