1 March 2016

The Accounting and Finance Group at the University of Edinburgh Business School is delighted to announce that the Tom Robertson Memorial Lecture 2016 will be delivered by Professor Jerry Davis, University of Michigan.
Tom Robertson Memorial Lecture 2016: Jerry Davis

The Tom Robertson Memorial Lecture 2016 will be delivered by Professor Jerry Davis, Wilbur K. Pierpont Collegiate Professor of Management, Professor of Sociology, Co-Director, ICOS and Editor of Administrative Science Quarterly.

Lecture Abstract

Society is in the midst of a regime shift in the costs of organising due to information and communication technologies. It’s a lot easier to coordinate the actions of many actors these days than it used to be, and impromptu coordination is typically cheaper than long-lasting formal institutions. Moreover, pervasive access to information enables pervasive markets, from “renting” a factory via Alibaba to coordinating personal services via Uber and Tinder. Pervasive markets, particularly on-demand labour market, further undermine social institutions, such as organisations. The result of all this is the collapse of the traditional corporation. Institutional collapse can be liberating or immiserating (or both); management research is potentially in the best position to illuminate a more humane path forward.