Arvind Karunakaran, Assistant Professor of Management Science; Engineering at Stanford University
Friday, March 10, 2023
Abstract
Professional accountability is considered important to the sustenance of a profession. Prior research has examined the role that scrutiny by constituents, such as supervisors, regulators, auditors, advocacy groups, and certification bodies, plays in improving professional accountability. With the advent of social media, a diverse and dispersed public can now scrutinize the actions of professionals, especially those at the frontline. In this research, I examine how social media scrutiny from the public impacts the accountability of frontline professionals and its implications. Based on longitudinal field work in multiple settings (emergency management, healthcare), I elaborate on how and under what conditions social media scrutiny of frontline professionals (e.g., 911 call-takers, triage nurses) can obscure rather than improve accountability. I describe the processes that produce these paradoxical outcomes and conclude by discussing the consequences—both intended and unintended—of enacting scrutiny as a form of spectacle.
Biography
Arvind Karunakaran is an Assistant Professor of Management Science & Engineering at Stanford University. His research examines authority and accountability at work in the context of technological change. He received his Ph.D. from MIT Sloan School of Management, and his research is published or forthcoming in Administrative Science Quarterly, Organization Science, Academy of Management Journal, Research Policy, and Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology.