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The recent data controversy with Facebook highlights that the tech industry as a whole was utterly unprepared for the backlash it faced as a result of its business model of selling user data to third parties. Despite the predominant role that technology plays in all of our lives, the controversy also revealed that many tech companies are reactive, rather than proactive, in addressing crises.
This book examines society's failure to manage technology and its resulting negative consequences. Mitroff argues that the "technological mindset" is responsible for society's unbridled obsession with technology and unless confronted, will cause one tech crisis after another. This trans-disciplinary text, edgy in its approach, will appeal to academics, students, and practitioners through its discussion of the modern technological crisis.
List of contents
1. Introduction.- 1. The Revolution of Everything.- 2. It's All About Systems.- 3. Wicked Messes: The Pioneering Work of Horst Rittel and Russ Ackoff.- 4. The Psychodynamics of Messes: The Pioneering Work of Melanie Klein and Donald Winicott. 5.- Why Bigger Is Not Always Better: Further Thoughts on Complex, Messy Systems.- 6. Big Data Big Wisdom: Mismanaging 21st Century Problems with 19th Century Thinking.- 7. The Ethics of Complex Messy Systems.- 8. How Technology Both Enhances and Diminishes Our Humanity.- 9. Contesting The Technological Mindset: A Humanistic Mindset.- 10. Crisis Management: Coping With Technology.- 11. Inquiry Systems: William James, John Dewey, Edward Singer, C West Churchman.- 12. Future Crises: William James, John Dewey, Edward Singer, C West Churchman.
About the author
Ian Mitroff is Senior Affiliate of The Center for Catastrophic Risk Management, University of California - Berkeley, USA. He is Professor Emeritus of the Annenberg School of Communication and the Marshall School of Business, University of Southern California, USA, where he was the Harold Quinton Distinguished Professor of Business Policy. Dr. Mitroff is regarded as one of the founders of the discipline of Crisis Management and founded and directed the USC Center for Crisis Management. Known for his thinking and writing on a wide range of business and societal issues, he is the author of 37 books and is a frequent blogger for the Huffington Post.
