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The night of the bug: Technology, risk and (dis)organization at the fin de siècle

Knights, David; Vurdubakis, Theo; Willmott, Hugh

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Authors

David Knights

Theo Vurdubakis

Hugh Willmott



Abstract

Euro-American forms of social organization are increasingly performed via ever more intricate computer systems and networks. Against this backdrop, the corrosive spectre of computer failure has assumed the role of the 'network society's dreaded other, the harbinger of dis-organization and dis-order. At the close of the twentieth century anxiety over the probable effects and consequences of the so-called 'Millennium Bug' provided a stark contrast to the then prevailing internet euphoria.This article suggests that the Bug, and the extensive (and costly) efforts that were dedicated to its extermination, provide us with a useful illustration of the ways in which IT applications have been used to think and enact particular, historically and culturally situated, notions of (human and technological) agency, organization, manageability and expertise. © 2008 Sage Publications.

Citation

Knights, D., Vurdubakis, T., & Willmott, H. (2008). The night of the bug: Technology, risk and (dis)organization at the fin de siècle. Management and Organizational History, 3(3-4), 289-309. https://doi.org/10.1177/1744935908095411

Journal Article Type Article
Publication Date Nov 18, 2008
Deposit Date Oct 27, 2010
Publicly Available Date Nov 7, 2016
Journal Management and Organizational History
Print ISSN 1744-9359
Electronic ISSN 1744-9367
Publisher Taylor & Francis (Routledge)
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 3
Issue 3-4
Pages 289-309
DOI https://doi.org/10.1177/1744935908095411
Keywords computer failure, manageability, memory, millennium bug, Y2K
Public URL https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/1010377
Publisher URL http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1744935908095411

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