Have a personal or library account? Click to login
Through the Magic Lens: Management, Language, and AI Cover

Through the Magic Lens: Management, Language, and AI

Open Access
|Dec 2025

References

  1. Andrews, K. R. (1989). Ethics in practice. Harvard Business Review, September— October, 1—7.
  2. Bailey, M. (2006). The meanings of magic. Magic, Ritual, and Witchcraft, 1(1), 1—23.
  3. Bechky, B. A., & Davis, G. F. (2025). Resisting the algorithmic management of science: Craft and community after generative AI. Administrative Science Quarterly, 70(1), 1—22.
  4. Bender, E. M., & Hanna, A. (2024). The AI con: How to fight big techs hype and create the future we want. London: The Bodley Head.
  5. Cederström, C., & Spicer, A. (2015). The wellness syndrome. Cambridge, UK: Polity Press.
  6. Cederström, C., & Spicer, A. (2017). Desperately seeking self ‑improvement: A year inside the optimization movement. New York: OR Books.
  7. Cockburn, C. (1985). Machinery of dominance: Women, men and technical know ‑how. London: Pluto Press.
  8. Davis, E. (2015). TechGnosis. Myth, magic & mysticism in the age of information. USA: North Atlantic Books.
  9. Einola, K., & Khoreva, V. (2023). Best friend or broken tool? Exploring the co--existence of humans and artificial intelligence in the workplace ecosystem. Human Resource Management, 62(1), 117—135.
  10. Einola, K., Khoreva, V., & Tienari, J. (2024). A colleague named Max: A critical inquiry into an anthropomorphised AI (ro)bot entering the workplace. Human Relations, 77(11), 1620—1649.
  11. Einola, K., Khoreva., V., & Myllymäki, D. (2025). Boundary work, anyone? Exploring everyday encounters between Winnie the Bot and humans around it. In T. Pääkkönen & S. (Eds.), Miettinen Boundary Spanning Design for Better Organisation. Edward Elgar Publishing.
  12. Elish, M. C., & Boyd, D. (2018). Situating methods in the magic of big data and AI. Communication Monographs, 85(1), 57—80.
  13. Fairclough, N. (1989). Language and power. Harlow: Addison Wesley Longman.
  14. Fischer, T., & Alvesson, M. (2025). A theory of leadership meta -talk and the talking -doing gap. Journal of Management Studies, in press.
  15. Fleming, P. (2019). Robots and organization studies: Why robots might not want to steal your job. Organization Studies, 40(1), 23—38.
  16. Foucault, M. (1978). The History of Sexuality. Vol. 1: An Introduction. London: Lane.
  17. Foucault, M. (1980). Truth and Power. In C. Gordon (Ed.), Power/Knowledge: Selected Interviews and Other Writings 19721977 (pp. 109—133). New York: Pantheon Books.
  18. Francisco, V. (2015). ‘The internet is magic’: Technology, intimacy and transnational families. Critical Sociology, 41(1), 173—190.
  19. Frankfurt, H. G. (2005). On bullshit. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
  20. Gell, A. (1988). Technology and magic. Anthropology Today, 4(2), 6—9.
  21. Hannigan, T., McCarthy, I. P., & Spicer, A. (2024). Beware of botshit: How to manage the epistemic risks of generative chatbots. Business Horizons, 67(5): 471—486.
  22. Haraway, D. (1985). A manifesto for cyborgs: Science, technology, and socialist feminism in the 1980s. Socialist Review, 80, 65—108.
  23. Jackall, R. (1988). Moral Mazes: The world of corporate managers. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  24. Jiang, F., & Hyland, K. (2025). Does ChatGPT write like a student? Engagement markers in argumentative essays. Written Communication, 42(3), 463—492.
  25. Johansson, J., Tienari, J., & Valtonen, A. (2017). The body, identity and gender in managerial athleticism. Human Relations, 70(9), 1141—1167.
  26. Korzynski, P., Edwards, A., Gupta, M. C., Mazurek, G., & Wirtz, J. (2025). Humanoid robotics and agentic AI: Reframing management theories and future research directions. European Management Journal, 43(4), 548—560.
  27. Krakowski, S., Luger, J., & Raisch, S. (2023). Artificial intelligence and the changing sources of competitive advantage. Strategic Management Journal, 44(6), 1425—1452.
  28. Kuhn, G., Amlani, A. A., & Rensink, R. A. (2008). Towards a science of magic. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 12(9), 349—354.
  29. Lagerkvist, A. & Reimer, B. (2023). Bothering the binaries: Unruly AI futures of hauntings and hope at the limit. In Handbook of Critical Studies of Artificial Intelligence, ed. S. Lindgren (pp. 199—208). Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar.
  30. Laine, P.‑M., Meriläinen, S., Tienari, J., & Vaara, E. (2016). Mastery, submission and subversion: On the performative construction of strategist identity. Organization, 23(4), 505—524.
  31. Lange, A.‑C., Lenglet, M., & Seyfert, R. (2019). On studying algorithms ethnographically: Making sense of objects of ignorance. Organization, 26(4), 598—617.
  32. Larson, B. Z., Moser, C., Caza, A., Muehlfeld, K., & Colombo, L. A. (2024). Critical thinking in the age of generative AI. Academy of Management Learning & Education, 23(3), 373—378.
  33. Larsson, S., & Viktorelius, M. (2024). Reducing the contingency of the world: Magic, oracles, and machine-learning technology. AI & Society, 39, 183—193.
  34. Leaver, T., & Srdarov, S. (2023). ChatGPT isn’t magic: The hype and hypocrisy of generative artificial intelligence (AI) rhetoric. M/C Journal, 26(5).
  35. Lindebaum, D., & Fleming, P. (2024). ChatGPT undermines human reflexivity, scientific responsibility and responsible management research. British Journal of Management, 35(2), 566—575.
  36. Liu, H., & Baker, C. (2015). White Knights: Leadership as the heroicisation of whiteness. Leadership, 12(4), 420—448.
  37. Maaranen, A., den Hond, F., & Vesa, M. (2022). Social media and bias 2.0. In M. Sandberg & J. Tienari (Eds.), Transformative Action for Sustainable Outcomes: Responsible Organising (pp. 93—98). London: Routledge.
  38. Manasi, A., Panchanadeswaran, S., Sours, E., & Lee, S.J. (2022). Mirroring the bias: Gender and artificial intelligence. Gender, Technology and Development, 26(3), 295—305.
  39. Meriläinen, S., Tienari, J. & Valtonen, A. (2015). Headhunters and the ‘ideal’ executive body. Organization, 22(1), 3—22.
  40. MIT (2025). The GenAI divide: State of AI in business 2025. MIT NANDA (Aditya Challapally, Chris Pease, Ramesh Raskar & Pradyumna Chari). Retrieved from https://mlq.ai/media/quarterly_decks/v0.1_State_of_AI_in_Business_2025_Report.pdf. Accessed 24 November 2025.
  41. Mumby, D. K., Thomas, R., Martí, I., & Seidl, D. (2017). Resistance redux. Organization Studies, 38(9), 1157—1183.
  42. Murray, A., Rhymer, J., & Sirmon, D. G. (2021). Humans and technology: Forms of conjoined agency in organizations. Academy of Management Review, 46(3), 552—571.
  43. Narayanan, A. & Kapoor, S. (2024). AI snake oil: What artificial intelligence can do, what it cant, and how to tell the difference. Princeton & Oxford: Princeton University Press.
  44. Obadia, L. (2022). (Online) spelling the (digital) spell: Talking about magic in the digital revolution. Sophia, 61, 23—40.
  45. Orlikowski, W. J. (2005). Material works: Exploring the situated entanglement of technological performativity and human agency. Scandinavian Journal of Information Systems, 17(1), 183—186.
  46. Raisch, S., & Krakowski, S. (2021). Artificial intelligence and management: The automation -augmentation paradox. Academy of Management Review, 46(1), 192—210.
  47. Scarbrough, H., Chen, Y., & Patriotta, G. (2024). The AI of the beholder: Intra--professional sensemaking of an epistemic technology. Journal of Management Studies, 62(5), 1885—1913.
  48. Scott, J. C. (1990). Domination and the arts of resistance: Hidden transcripts. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
  49. Sharkey, N., & Sharkey, A. (2006). Artificial intelligence and natural magic. Artificial Intelligence Review, 25, 9—19.
  50. Spicer, A. (2017). Business bullshit. New York: Routledge.
  51. Stivers, R. (2001). Technology as magic: The triumph of the irrational. New York and London: Continuum.
  52. Tienari, J. (2025). Learning about artificial intelligence? Cluelessness, courage, and magic in facing a moving target. Management Learning, in press.
  53. Truitt, E. R. (2015). Medieval robots: Mechanism, magic, nature, and art. Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press.
  54. Vesa, M., & Tienari, J. (2022). Artificial intelligence and rationalized unaccountability: Ideology of the elites? Organization, 29(6), 1133—1145.
  55. Vuori, N. (2025). Generative AI in strategy work and firm performance. Academy of Management Proceedings, 1.
  56. Vuori, N., Burkhard, B., & Pitkäranta, L. (2025). It’s amazing—but terrifying! Unveiling the combined effect of emotional and cognitive trust on organizational member’ behaviours, AI performance, and adoption. Journal of Management Studies, in press.
  57. Wacker, H. (2025). Montako minuuttia johtaja pystyy olemaan puhumatta tekoälystä? Helsingin Sanomat, June 30, 2025. [How many minutes can an executive avoid talking about AI?].
  58. Wajcman, J. (2010). Feminist theories of technology. Cambridge Journal of Economics, 34(1), 143—152.
Language: English
Page range: 45 - 71
Submitted on: Sep 5, 2025
|
Accepted on: Nov 11, 2025
|
Published on: Dec 23, 2025
Published by: SAN University
In partnership with: Paradigm Publishing Services
Publication frequency: 2 issues per year

© 2025 Janne Tienari, Violetta Khoreva, published by SAN University
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.