Beyond control? Governing AI in organizations for responsible use
Journal
European Management Journal
Type
journal article
Date Issued
2026-06
Author(s)
Abstract
Ensuring the responsible use of artificial intelligence (AI) has become a central concern for researchers, business leaders, and policymakers. There is a broad consensus that governing AI at the organizational level is crucial. While the existing literature acknowledges that responsible AI use depends on institutional structures and human agency, it is divided over which factor is decisive. We take an integrative perspective and examine how structure and agency interact when organizations govern AI for responsible use. To this end, we enrich Giddens' structuration theory with ethics (i.e., deontology, consequentialism, virtue ethics) and conceptualize AI governance as reflexive organizational praxis. We illustrate our analytical framework with the case of OTTO, Germany's largest e-commerce company. We conclude that while AI governance cannot define the responsible use of AI, organizations can scaffold how their members reason about whether and how AI should be used in a specific social context.
Language
English
Keywords
Artificial Intelligence
AI Governance
Responsible Use of AI
Structuration Theory
Ethics
Case Study
HSG Classification
contribution to scientific community
Refereed
Yes
Publisher
Elsevier BV
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Name
1-s2.0-S0263237326000745-main.pdf
Type
Main Article
Size
2.39 MB
Format
Adobe PDF
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