ISO Seminar Series. "Digital Transformation of Management and Organization Theory"
Published: 25 March 2026
21 April 2026. ISO Seminar Series with Dr Steffen Roth, Excelia Business School, La Rochelle, France
Dr Steffen Roth, Excelia Business School, La Rochelle, France.
Digital Transformation of Management and Organization Theory.
Tuesday, 21 April 2026. 12:00-13:30, Room 487, The Adam Smith Business School Building.
Abstract
Recent advances in digital technologies have profoundly reshaped research methods in management and organisation studies. Yet, while data, analytics, and computational tools have undergone rapid digitalisation, theory itself has remained largely analogue—text-based, narrative, and grounded in longstanding conceptual dichotomies. This talk argues that a genuinely digital transformation of management and organisation theory requires more than the electrification of existing ideas; it calls for a reconfiguration of the very distinctions that structure theoretical reasoning.
Drawing on George Spencer Brown’s Laws of Form and Niklas Luhmann’s systems theory, the presentation introduces a framework for distinguishing between “true” and “false” distinctions and explores how many of the field’s most influential binaries—such as market/hierarchy, shareholder/stakeholder, or economy/society—fail to meet the criteria of "true distinctions". These false distinctions, while productive in sustaining academic discourse, often generate persistent dilemmas, paradoxes, and ideological polarisations in both theory and practice.
The talk demonstrates how digital theorising translates such false distinctions into architectures of true distinctions, thereby expanding the space of observation and decision-making. By reconstructing familiar debates—ranging from capitalism versus socialism to sustainability and stakeholder theory—the presentation shows how a digital approach enables more nuanced, multi-dimensional analyses that move beyond analogue dualisms.
The seminar concludes by reflecting on the implications of this programme for the future of management and organisation studies scholarship. It suggests that without developing forms of “low-code” theorising aligned with digital architectures, the field risks producing increasingly inadequate theories for a digitally transformed world. Conversely, embracing digital transformation at the level of theory opens new avenues for understanding complexity, resolving paradoxes, and designing more robust conceptual tools for research and practice.
Keywords: Guiding Distinctions; Digital Theorising; False Distinctions; Tetralemma; Social Systems Theory.
Bio
Steffen Roth FRSA FCybS is a Full Professor of Management at Excelia Business School, La Rochelle, France, as well as a Visiting Fellow of Wolfson College, University of Cambridge, UK. He is also a Visiting Professor of Management and Organization at the University of Witten-Herdecke, Germany, and holds the title of Full Professor of Social Sciences at Kazimieras Simonavičius University, Vilnius, Lithuania, where he is the Founding Director of the Next Society Institute. Currently, Steffen serves as an Editor-in-Chief of Kybernetes as well as an Associate Editor of Systems Research and Behavioral Science and the Journal of Organizational Change Management. The journals his research has been published in include Journal of Business Ethics, Sociology of Health & Illness, Organization & Environment, Journal of Business Research, Ecological Economics, Technological Forecasting and Social Change, European Journal of the History of Economic Thought, European Management Journal, and Futures. Further details about his academic contributions can be found on his website: https://derroth.com.
For further information, please contact business-seminar-series@gla.systa-s.com.
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First published: 25 March 2026