Browsing by Author "Butollo, Florian"

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A feeling of complete speechlessness – buzzwords are supposed to orient us in the “new“ territory
(2019-04) Coy, Wolfgang; Butollo, Florian; Eyert, Florian; Irgmaier, Florian; Rehak, Rainer
In his lecture, Wolfgang Coy discusses buzzwords like digitalization, algorithms, Big Data or Artificial Intelligence. These buzzwords have two major properties: They are often used in a very fuzzy way in the everyday life of journalism and politics and they therefore overarchingly serve not to clarify matters but to obscure them. Moreover, they are taken from complex scientific and technological contexts that are not fully understood by the users – who, for this reason, cannot assess their potential and their limits realistically. Instead, opportunities and (mostly economic) potentials, but also fears and risks are brought into the discussion, are financed and are used as a foundation of consequential decisions about the future.
Algorithmic Management in the Food Delivery Sector – a Contested Terrain?
(Weizenbaum Institute, 2024-10-04) Wotschack, Philip; Hellbach, Leon; Butollo, Florian
Forms of algorithmic management (AM) play an essential role in organizing food-delivery work by deploying artificial intelligence-based systems to coordinate driver routes. Given the risks of precarity and threats posed by AM, which are typically related to (migrant) platform work, the question arises to what extent structures of co-determination can positively shape this type of work and the technologies involved. Based on an in-depth case study within a large food-delivery company, this article is guided by two questions: (1) How do companies use algorithm-based management and performance control, and how do the couriers perceive them? (2) What priorities, strategies, resources, and achievements do works councils and trade unions have with regard to co-determination practices? Our analyses indicate that algorithmic management poses problems of non-transparency and information asymmetry, which in turn call for new forms of and procedures for co-determination. Our study does not find evidence that AM practices aim to individually profile and discipline couriers. The main challenges for the works council and trade unions arise from the couriers’ generally precarious working and employment conditions; data- and AM-related issues do not represent the central area of conflict. However, our study identifies new demands regarding the co-determination of AM and underlines the importance of institutional regulation at the legal and sectoral level.
Algorithmic Management in the Food Delivery Sector – A Contested Terrain? Evidence from a Form-Level Case-Study on Algorithmic Management and Co-Determination
(Weizenbaum Institute, 2023) Wotschack, Philip; Hellbach, Leon; Butollo, Florian; Ziour, Jordi
Forms of algorithmic management (AM) play an essential role in organizing food delivery work by deploying AI-based systems for coordinating driver routes. Given the risks of precarity and threats posed by AM that are typically related to (migrant) platform work, the question arises to what extent structures of co-determination are able to positively shape this type of work and the technologies involved. Based on an intense case-study in a large food delivery company, this paper is guided by three questions: (1) How is algorithm-based management and control used by the company? (2) How is it perceived by the couriers, also in relation to other aspects of their work? (3) What are the works council’s priorities, strategies, and achievements regarding co-determination practices? Contrary to the prevalent perception in the literature on the subject of AM, our analysis shows that human agency is still pivotal when algorithm-based systems are used to manage work processes. While data- and AM-related issues do not represent a central area of conflict, we find that co-determination rights in this domain can translate into a powerful bargaining resource of the works council with regard to the companies’ digital business model. Our study also shows that algorithmic management poses problems of non-transparency and information asymmetry, which calls for new forms and procedures of co-determination.
Beyond “Industry 4.0”. B2B factory networks as an alternative path towards the digital transformation of manufacturing and work
(2021) Butollo, Florian; Schneidemesser, Lea
This article uses theoretical and empirical evidence of variations in digitalized manufacturing to revisit Piore and Sabel’s 1984 work on flexible specialization and to criticize the inherent one-sidedness of the Industry 4.0 discourse. This is juxtaposed with empirical findings on platform-mediated business-to-business factory networks, in which flexibility is facilitated by the digital interconnection of a far-flung network of small-scale manufacturers rather than by sophisticated production technology. The effects on work are equivocal; they entail the potential for a craft-like and skill-intensive paradigm of small-scale manufacturing that can upgrade work, but also for a race to the bottom in price-sensitive industries.
Big Tech kontra Gemeinwohl. Die Pathologien des Technologiewettlaufs um Künstliche Intelligenz
(Weizenbaum Institute, 2025-06) Butollo, Florian; Görnemann, Esther
Der Technologiewettlauf um Künstliche Intelligenz hat Pathologien hervorgebracht, die durch die Dominanz weniger mächtiger Akteure und starke Informations- und Machtasymmetrien geprägt sind. Plattformunternehmen agieren als Gatekeeper für digitale Infrastrukturen und Wissen. Ihr umfassender Zugang zu Daten und Rechenkapazitäten verstärkt im Wettlauf um KI-Marktführerschaft die Machtkonzentration bei Tech-Konzernen und benachteiligt kleinere Akteure. Wohlstand und technologische Macht konzentrieren sich in den Händen weniger, während viele von den Chancen der KI-gestützten Wertschöpfung ausgeschlossen bleiben. Globale und soziale Disparitäten verschärfen sich. Der breite Einsatz starker KI in beruflichen und privaten Kontexten wird zudem mit rasant steigendem Verbrauch von Energie, Wasser und nicht erneuerbaren Ressourcen verbunden sein, wenn Lösungen zur Ressourcenschonung nicht konsequent mitgedacht werden. Die primären Ziele der KI-Entwicklung sind jedoch Marktbeherrschung und Profitmaximierung – ökologische, soziale und ethische Gesichtspunkte werden zurückgestellt. Dies verhindert eine konsequent gemeinwohlorientierte Ausrichtung von KI, die bei einer so weitreichenden technologischen Umwälzung jedoch notwendig ist. Digitale Infrastrukturen, gerade im Bereich KI, sind von technologischen Abhängigkeiten geprägt. In geopolitisch volatilen Zeiten verschärfen sich die damit einhergehenden Risiken, denn politische Akteure haben die Möglichkeit, den Zugang zu GKI zu beschränken oder an Bedingungen zu knüpfen. Darüber hinaus können Sprachmodelle gezielt eingesetzt werden, um öffentliche Diskurse zu beeinflussen. Sprachmodelle prägen, was sichtbar und sagbar ist, welches Wissen verbreitet wird und wie es bewertet wird. Auf welche Weise Modelle dies konkret tun, spiegelt auch die politischen Neigungen ihrer Entwickler wider. Hieraus entsteht Manipulationspotenzial. Es wird offensichtlich, dass es an einer demokratischen Aushandlung über den Einsatz generativer KI mangelt.
Big Tech Versus the Common Good. Pathologies of the Technology Race for Artificial Intelligence
(Weizenbaum Institute, 2025-06) Butollo, Florian; Görnemann, Esther
The technology race for artificial intelligence has produced pathologies that are characterized by the dominance of a handful of powerful players and strong information and power asymmetries. Platform companies act as gatekeepers for digital infrastructures and knowledge. In the race for AI market leadership, their extensive access to data and computing capacities increases the concentration of power among tech corporations and puts smaller players at a disadvantage. Wealth and technological power are concentrated in the hands of a few, while many remain excluded from the opportunities of AI-supported value creation. Global and social disparities are widening. A widespread use of strong AI in professional and private contexts will also be associated with rapidly increasing consumption of energy, water and non-renewable resources unless solutions to conserve resources are consistently taken into account. However, the primary goals of AI development are market dominance and profit maximization: ecological, social and ethical aspects are put on the back burner. This prevents AI from being consistently oriented towards the common good, a goal which is surely necessary for such a far-reaching technological revolution. Digital infrastructures, especially in the field of AI, are characterized by technological dependencies. In geopolitically volatile times, the associated risks are exacerbated, as political actors have the ability to restrict access to essential infrastructures or to attach conditions to them. In addition, language models can be used in a targeted manner to influence public discourse. Language models shape what is visible and sayable, what knowledge is disseminated and how it is evaluated. The specific way in which models do this also reflects the political inclinations of their developers. This creates the potential for manipulation. It is clear that there is a lack of democratic negotiation on the use of generative AI.
Blockchain Technology – Autonomy for the IT-elite, new vulnerabilites for the rest?
(2019-03) Rehak, Rainer; Butollo, Florian; Eyert, Florian; Irgmaier, Florian; Rehak, Rainer
The blockchain enticingly promises to make intermediaries of social interactions superfluous. At the moment, these have to be trusted, which produces dependencies, as the banking crisis painfully proves. Notaries and banks would become unnecessary through the blockchain. But the power of actors is not dissolved in the blockchain, rather it shifts towards new and most importantly illegitimate and uncontrolled centers of power. As interesting as the blockchain is from a technological standpoint, it is not a substitute for classical political action and the regulation of power. In his lecture, Rainer Rehak discusses the ideas behind blockchain and autonomy.
Combining Experiential Knowledge and Artificial Intelligence. The Digital Transformation of a Traditional Machine-Building Company
(2022) Krzywdzinski, Martin; Butollo, Florian
The development of Industry 4.0 technologies creates leeway for the digital transformation of manufacturing companies, whose business models increasingly rely on software and data-based services. While several studies emphasise that manufacturing has no choice but to follow this transformation, there is little knowledge about how companies are actually managing it. This article uses the case study of a leading mechanical engineering company to analyse how the company organised the development of new digital technologies and how it changed its organisational structures and practices. It is based on 22 interviews and an analysis of company documents. The analysis draws on ambidexterity theory, which is extended toward a dynamic process analysis. It shows that digital transformation presupposes the development of structures and practices supporting cross-functional cooperation and the creation of new skill formation approaches. It develops a model of organisational change related to the digital transformation of manufacturing companies which includes the proof-of-concept phase, the partial exploitation phase, and the organisational transformation phase.
COVID-19 as a Jump Start for Industry 4.0? Motivations and Core Areas of Pandemic-Related Investments in Digital Technologies at German Firms
(2023) Butollo, Florian; Flemming, Jana; Gerber, Christine; Krzywdzinski, Martin; Wandjo, David; Delicat, Nina; Herzog, Lorena
Academic studies prior to the pandemic rather emphasized that the progression towards Industry 4.0 happened in an incremental manner. However, the extraordinary circumstances of the pandemic have led to considerable investments that were widely interpreted as a (generalized) digitalization push. However, little is known about the character of such investments and their effects. The goal of this contribution is to provide an empirically based overview of recent investment in digital technologies in six economic sectors of the German economy: mechanical engineering, chemicals, automotives, logistics, healthcare, and financial services. Based on 36 case studies and a survey at 540 companies, we investigate the following questions: 1. How much did the COVID-19 pandemic reduce existing obstacles for investments in digitalization measures? 2. Is there a universal digitalization push due to the COVID-19 pandemic that differs from the trajectory before the pandemic? The results show that the pandemic affected investment in an unequal manner. It was driven by the immediate need to sustain business operations through the virtualization of communication among employees and with external partners. However, there was less dynamism in shop-floor-related digitalization, as it was less related to epidemiological concerns and is more long-term in nature.
Data and Digital Platforms in Industry: Implication for enterprises strategies and governance
(Weizenbaum Institute, 2021) Butollo, Florian; Schneidemesser, Lea
This article explores the position of industrial internet platforms (IIP) in manufacturing value chains. We develop an understanding of the role of data in global value chains (GVCs), referring to literature on intangible assets and theories on platform business models. We use data from a qualitative empirical study based on 45 interviews on platforms active on the German market to answer (1) whether there are tendencies of oligopolization that lead to an accumulation of power on the side of the platforms, and (2) whether it is the platforms that capture most of the gains derived from higher productivity or lower transaction costs. The analysis shows that platforms mainly act as service providers and/or intermediaries that support manufacturing companies in reaping benefits from data. While the relationship between platforms and manufacturers currently corresponds to a symbiosis, a stronger power imbalance could evolve in the future since processes of oligopolization are likely.
Deglobalisierung, Rekonfiguration oder Business as Usual? COVID-19 und die Grenzen der Rückverlagerung globalisierter Produktion
(2022) Butollo, Florian
The economic difficulties following the COVID-19 pandemic have seemingly reinforced the need for geographic restructuring and a reshoring of production, as they have demonstrated the vulnerability of globalized production. This article provides an assessment of the impact of COVID-19 on the geographies of production. Criticizing overly simplified perspectives on globalization, the article argues that global production networks are multiscalar and politically shaped phenomena. Based on these theoretical considerations and case studies on the automotive, electronics and clothing industries, the article concludes that the COVID-19 pandemic cannot be interpreted as a trigger for a general retreat from global manufacturing, but it reinforced longer-standing shifts toward more multipolar production and consumption structures. While the issue of global production network resilience has attracted greater attention in corporate strategies and industrial policies, the localization and regionalization of production networks is only one of several strategies, and it has hardly been implemented so far. Ongoing disruptions of supply chains, increased transport costs, and, above all, geopolitically and environmentally motivated policies could well lead to greater re- or nearshoring. Political efforts in this direction are, however, limited by pre-existing global economic development paths and the balance of power associated with them. In the conclusions, the article stresses the necessity of a politically motivated restructuring of global production networks in the context of an urgently needed social-ecological transformation.
Deglobalization, Reconfiguration, or Business as Usual? COVID-19 and the limits of reshoring of globalized production
(Weizenbaum Institute, 2022) Butollo, Florian; Staritz, Cornelia
The COVID-19 pandemic has seemingly reinforced the need for geographic restructuring and a rehoring of production, as it has demonstrated the vulnerability of globalized production. This article provides an assessment of the impact of COVID-19 on the geographies of production, looking particularly at developments in the automotive, electronics, and clothing industries. Criticizing overly simplified prospects for deglobalization, we argue that the COVID-19 pandemic cannot be interpreted as a trigger for a general retreat from global manufacturing but rather as an event that is reinforcing long-standing shifts toward more multipolar production and consumption. While the issue of global production network resilience has attracted great attention in corporate strategies and industrial policies, re- or nearshoring of production networks is only one of several strategies and it has hardly been implemented so far. Ongoing disruptions and, above all, geoeconomically/-politically and environmentally motivated policies could well lead to a shift in investment and sourcing patterns. Political efforts in this direction are, however, limited by pre-existing global economic development paths and the balance of power associated with them.
Die Symbiose von generativer KI und Arbeit
(Weizenbaum Institute, 2024) Butollo, Florian; Gerber, Christine; Görnemann, Esther; Greminger, Lea; Katzinski, Ann; Kulla, Marlene; Sirman-Winkler, Mareike; Spott, Justus
Die Verbreitung von generativen KI-Anwendungen (GKI) in der Arbeitswelt führt zu weitläufigen Spekulationen über die Zukunft der Arbeit. In diesem Policy Brief formulieren wir auf Grundlage theoretischer Überlegungen und erster empirischer Eindrücke Thesen über das Verhältnis von GKI und Arbeit, die zugleich als Hypothesen des Forschungsprojekts GENKIA dienen, in denen wir die Veränderungen von Arbeit in Programmierung, Journalismus, Marketing, Personalmanagement und öffentlicher Verwaltung empirisch untersuchen. Die Thesen lauten: (1) Trotz technischer Durchbrüche stellt GKI kein Äquivalent zu menschlicher Intelligenz dar; (2) GKI wird durch menschliche Arbeit nutzbar; (3) GKI stellt eine neue Qualität der Interaktion zwischen Mensch und Maschine dar; (4) Die Einführung von GKI macht Arbeit; (5) Generative KI erfordert neue Antworten im Sinne guter Arbeit.
Digital networks as a techno-legal problem
(2019-06) Zech, Herbert; Butollo, Florian; Eyert, Florian; Irgmaier, Florian; Rehak, Rainer
The increasing influence of digital networks in all areas of life also means that they change societal values and react to changes in preferences. In his lecture, Herbert Zech discusses how social networks influence the regulatory goals underlying the law. The degree of connection is an important characteristic of particular areas of societal development. Digital networks can be interpreted as technological innovations that are then addressed by the typical technical-legal regulatory tasks. Apart from advancing innovation and enabling technology transfer, this includes limiting and allocating risk. The classic technical-legal model of risk regulation, however, has its limits. The perspective of regulation is not uncontroversial and is challenged by the complexity of potential external effects. An example is the continuously re-negotiated conception of privacy.
Digital transformation and value chains. Introduction
(2022) Butollo, Florian; Gereffi, Gary; Yang, Chun; Krzywdzinski, Martin
New digital technologies based on the internet of things and artificial intelligence play centre stage in contemporary discussions about the prospects for economic development and the future of work. This article summarizes theoretical and empirical contributions on how these technologies affect global value chains (GVCs). We argue that the leading paradigms that analyse global production – the GVC framework and the related global production networks (GPNs) approach – are in need of some ‘technological uprading’ themselves. The GVC/GPN approaches acknowledge that technology is constitutive for the emergence of geographically fragmented production, but rarely address directly how technological change affects interfirm relations. The authors provide a framework that acknowledges the key role of technology while situating digital tools and systems in their social embeddedness, that is the role of human agency and institutions in shaping their development and impact. A research agenda is outlined focusing on three topics: the varieties of digitalization approaches in different world regions, the role of data as a specific form of intangible resource and the role of platform business models for industrial ecosystems. These topics are addressed in the special issue of Global Networks on ‘Digitalization and Value Chains’ introduced by this contribution.
Digitalisierung der Arbeitswelt in und nach der COVID-19-Krise: Thesen und Handlungsempfehlungen
(Weizenbaum Institute, 2021) Butollo, Florian; Flemming, Jana; Wandjo, David; Gerber, Christine; Krzywdzinski, Martin
Es gibt Anhaltspunkte dafür, dass die durch die COVID-19-Pandemie ausgelöste Krise zu strukturellen Veränderungen der Arbeitswelt geführt hat, die in engem Zusammenhang mit Digitalisierungsprozessen stehen. Einige Veränderungen sind in industriellen Produktionsprozessen, der mobilen Arbeit und auch der Plattformarbeit zu erwarten. Damit solche Veränderungen sich positiv auf die Arbeitswelt auswirken ist politische Gestaltung gefragt. Beobachtbar ist, dass einige Unternehmen ihre Digitalstrategien überdenken, teils forcieren und vermehrt mit neuen Möglichkeiten experimentieren. Hier ist es notwendig, Betriebsrät_innen und Beschäftigte frühzeitig in die Gestaltung neuer Ansätze einzubinden. Am offensichtlichsten hat sich die Arbeitswelt in der Krise durch die digitale Kommunikation im virtuellen Raum verändert. Menschen die bereits im Homeoffice arbeiten, sind jedoch verschiedenen Schwierigkeiten ausgesetzt. Virulent sind Fragen der Geschlechtergerechtigkeit, die Vermischung von beruflichem und privaten, sowie die Ausstattung des häuslichen Arbeitsplatzes. Aufgrund der Erschütterung der regulären Arbeitsmärkte nahm auch über digitale Plattformen vermittelte Arbeit zu. Die prekären Arbeitsbedingungen der Plattformarbeiter_innen haben sich während der Pandemie noch zugespitzt, gleichzeitig ist international aber eine politische Regulierung der Plattformarbeit in Sicht, die inzwischen auch in Deutschland in Ansätzen stattfindet.
Digitalisierung und die Pandemie – aus der Krise lernen
(Weizenbaum Institute, 2024-04) Gerber, Christine; Cooiman, Franziska; Butollo, Florian; Krzywdzinski, Martin; Wandjo, David; Danyeli, Matthias; Delicat, Nina; Herzog, Lorena
Die vorliegende Studie skizziert, welche Technologien und Anwendungen im Zuge der Pandemie in Unternehmen an Bedeutung gewonnen haben und welche Ressourcen ihnen bei der Digitalisierung zugutekamen. Die Befunde basieren auf 34 qualitativen Fallstudien in sechs Sektoren (Maschinenbau, Logistik, Automobil, Chemie, Finanzen, Gesundheit) sowie einer quantitativen Befragung von 540 Betrieben. Die Pandemie hat v.a. die Virtualisierung von Kommunikation und Interaktion in Betrieben vorangetrieben. Auf Automatisierungsprozesse hatte die Pandemie wenig unmittelbaren Einfluss. Zugleich zeigen die Befunde, dass Digitalisierungsprozesse in komplexen und sozialen Kontexten verortet sind und vielfältige Ressourcen (technisch, organisatorisch, finanziell) und Bedingungen (Unternehmenskultur, regulatorische Rahmenbedingungen) benötigen. Vielmehr als einen allgemeinen Digitalisierungsschub verstärkte sich die Kluft zwischen Digitalisierungsvorreiter\*innen und -nachzügler\*innen. Abschließend formuliert die Studie Handlungsempfehlungen an Politik und Sozialpartner\*innen.
Digitalization and organizational change during the Covid-19 crisis (Data and Codebook)
(Weizenbaum Institute, 2024) Krzywdzinski, Martin; Butollo, Florian; Bovenschulte, Marc; Nerger, Michael
The data set is based on a survey of companies conducted to investigate the extent to which the pandemic led to a strategic reorientation of digitalization measures in companies. The aim was to investigate whether digitalization measures were newly established and intensified, in which areas digitalization took place, and how the digitalization measures differed depending on the company’s level of digitalization, sector, and size. #### Methods The survey was realized as CATI by the market research company Hopp Marktforschung with the support of VDI/VDE Innovation+Technik GmbH (Marc Bovenschulte and Michael Nerger). The survey was conducted in Germany in two waves: in July and August 2021 and September and October 2022. The survey included 540 companies in the first wave and 605 companies in the second wave. 120 companies participated in both waves. The respondents belonged to the top and middle management of the companies (e.g. head of division). The survey was conducted in two waves in order to examine differences between companies' approaches at the beginning and later in the course of the pandemic and to check whether companies’ strategies solidified over time or whether they were just short-term reactions.
Digitalization and the geographies of production. Towards reshoring or global fragmentation?
(2021) Butollo, Florian
The relationship between digitalization and the governance and geographies of global value chains has not been explored systematically. This contribution discusses how digitalization affects the variables that determine the localization of manufacturing, i.e. the substitution of work through automation, the deepening of the customer–producer relationship, the rationalization of distribution through digitalized logistics networks, and the increased modularization of supply chains through standardization and ‘platformisation’. The results of the theoretical exploration defy expectations of a straightforward ‘reshoring’ of production through the combined effects of automation and benefits through a co-localization of companies within their target markets. Tendencies that would support a stronger integration of production in advanced economies are instead being undercut by ongoing countertrends towards fragmentation. The contradictory tendencies of a geographical integration of manufacturing and target markets on the one hand and geographical fragmentation through sophisticated supply-chain organization on the other will affect the technologically facilitated processes of value chain restructuring in a sector-specific manner.
Generative AI and Changes to Knowledge Work
(Weizenbaum Institute, 2025) Butollo, Florian; Haase, Jennifer; Katzinski, Ann; Krüger, Anne K.
The application of generative AI (GenAI) tools has led to widespread speculation about the implications of technological change for the future of knowledge work. This article provides insights on how the use of GenAI affects work practices in the fields of IT programming, science and coaching based on expert interviews and a quantitative survey among users of GenAI. Specifically, we ask about perceptions on skills, creativity, and authenticity, which we regard as key qualities of knowledge work. Our results belie the expectation that human expertise and skills lose importance. Our study rather shows the contrary: debates and experiences with genAI help to sharpen and value the core of the professional identity. Our study thus also highlights that professions consist of more than the sum of single work tasks. They contain experiential and tacit knowledge about how to frame, prepare, and interpret work steps that are difficult to replicate by machines. However, there are also concerns that professions could be hollowed out and especially that the quality of products and services could deteriorate as automated ‘good-enough-versions’ of the former offers become commonplace.