Title: Foucault's corollary: agency theory and the economics of self-monitoring

Authors: Nilmini Wickramasinghe, Roberta Lamb

Addresses: Center for the Management of Medical Technology, Stuart School of Business, Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago, IL 60661, USA. ' Donald Bren School of Information and Computer Science, University of California, Irvine, CA 92697, USA

Abstract: In a knowledge economy, the management of an organisation|s human capital is critical and prudent management often translates into the attainment of a sustainable competitive advantage. The interaction of knowledge workers with Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) has presented a particularly interesting dynamic to researchers who study changes in related behavioural phenomena. One such phenomenon is self-monitoring. This paper examines the economics of self-monitoring and the integral role of ICTs in enabling knowledge workers to self-monitor. By merging Foucault|s power/knowledge ideas with classical agency theory, we gain a richer understanding of human capital dynamics in a knowledge economy.

Keywords: agency theory; self-monitoring; knowledge workers; power; Foucault; human capital; ICT; knowledge economy.

DOI: 10.1504/IJNVO.2009.023805

International Journal of Networking and Virtual Organisations, 2009 Vol.6 No.3, pp.225 - 258

Published online: 12 Mar 2009 *

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