MANAGEMENT & ORGANIZATIONS Te mythology of ‘Big Data’ as a


source of corporate power British Journal of Industrial Relations, 61, 3, September 2023 LINK TO PAPER


MICHAEL MAFFIE ASSISTANT PROFESSOR


Cornell Peter and Stephanie Nolan School of Hotel Administration


Cornell SC Johnson College of Business Cornell University


Author • Michael Maffie


Summary


Corporations have a long history of funding private research as a means of avoiding public scrutiny and regulation. (Half a century ago, “Big Tobacco” pioneered the strategy of deploying private research to “manufacture doubt” about the possible harms of its products.) Advociates of Big Data claim that it is a higher form of knowing and this growing belief gives those who possess it, typically corporations, novel influence over regulators and the public.


In this article, Maffie explores how companies leverage the mythology of thier


“Big Data” as a source of power. Drawing on two case studies from the gig economy, Maffie shows how companies claiming a monopoly over truth about their industries can marginalize external researchers. In doing so, companies position themselves as the only legitimate source of knowedge about labor conditions and granting them influence over their regulatory environment. In this exploration, Maffie extends our understanding of how platform companies leverage Big Data to shape workers’ rights.


Assistant Professor, Cornell Peter and Stephanie Nolan School of Hotel Administration, Cornell SC Johnson College of Business, Cornell University


TO IMPACT CONTENTS


RESEARCH WITH IMPACT: CORNELL SC JOHNSON COLLEGE OF BUSINESS • 2023 EDITION


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