Research Interests
Algorithmic Management • Digital Platforms • Gig Economy • Future of Work
Front-Line Workers • Contemporary Careers • Mindfulness & Well-Being • Qualitative Methods & Field Research
Ride-Hailing Industry
The Rise of Algorithmic Management: Implications for Managerial Control and Worker Autonomy
Upwork. Caviar. Uber. In less than a decade the on-demand economy, a labor market characterized by short-term assignments where work is coordinated through algorithms, has radically reshaped the nature of work and workers’ experience. Long-standing organizational theories suggest that the rise of algorithmic management systems will tighten the iron cage, estranging workers by ever increasing comprehensive, instantaneous, real-time, and opaque levels of control. This dissertation, however, reveals the multiple ways workers find and express individual agency in such an environment. In my first paper, I examine how, in the absence of such traditional organizational scaffolds (e.g., managers, socialization practices), do individuals make meaning of their work in a way that fosters investment into the work? I find that through interactions the customer and the app individuals turn their work into games that they find meaningful, can control, and ‘win’ each with divergent implications. In the second empirical paper, I examine the relationship between algorithmic management and autonomy finding they are not necessarily antithetical. I describe how algorithms structure the work and, how at the site of each human-algorithm interaction, workers are able to express autonomy. At these micro-moments of autonomy, consent to the work is continually produced and reproduced; however consent is fragile and can be withdrawn at any time. This research has implications for theories around meaning-making, workplace games, and algorithmic management.
Publications
Nelson, A. & Cameron, L. “The Wrong Platform for Science.” Science.
Cameron, L., Hill, J., Dubal, V., Schor, J., J., Baretto, I., Vianna, F., Alcadippani, R., Amrute, S., Bhallamudi, I., Weigel, M., Ticona, J., Caza, B., Reid, E., Wohl, H., Van Doorn, N., Ravenelle, A., Aninch, E., Ghaedipour, F. & Conzon, V. (Forthcoming). “Thinking with and Beyond Labor and Technology: An Investigation of How the Ghost Variables of Race, Caste, Gender, Immigration Status, and Social Class Shape Gig Work.” Journal of Management Inquiry
Cameron, L., Mayberry, K.+ & Maffie, M. (Forthcoming). “Voice Activism: How Digital Counterpublics Cultivate Change in the Gig Economy.” Industrial Labor Relations Review
+ Student Author
♦ Best Paper Award (Labor and Employment Relations Association)
Cameron, L.* & Meuris, J.* (2026). “The Perils of Paycheck Dispersion: When Fluctuation in Compensation Jeopardizes Retention in Low- and Middle-Wage Jobs.” PLOS ONE.
*Shared First Authorship
♦ Best Convention Paper Award (AOM HR Division, top overall conference paper)
Weigel, M.* & Cameron, L.* 2026. “From Amway to Uber: A Genealogy of Sponsored Entrepreneurship.” Platforms and Society
*Shared First Authorship.
Cameron, L., Conzon, V. & Lam, L.+ 2025. “Selling the Self: Neo-normative Control and the Platform Paradox.” Research in Organizational Behavior.
+ Student Author
Cameron, L. 2024. “The Making of the “Good Bad” Job: How Algorithmic Management Repurposes Workplace Consent through Constant and Confined Choice.” Administrative Science Quarterly
♦ Winner, Responsible Research in Management Award (AOM Fellows and RRBM selection committee)
♦ Best Published Paper Award (AOM CTO Division)
♦ Honorable Mention, Distinguished Scholarly Article Award (ASA LLM Division)
♦ Winner, Responsible Business Education Research Award for Social Impact (Financial Times)
♦ Runner-Up, Louis Pondy Best Dissertation Paper (AOM OMT Division)
♦ Best Paper Award (AOM CTO Division, top 10% conference papers)
♦ Winner, Likert Dissertation Prize
♦ Winner, Psychology of Technology Dissertation Award
♦ Winner, Industry Studies Dissertation Award
♦ Finalist, Grigor McClelland Doctoral Dissertation Award
♦ Translated in Chinese
♦ ASQ Interview
Rahman, H.*, Karunakaran, A.* & Cameron, L.*. 2024. “Taming Platform Power: Taking Accountability Into Account In the Management of Platforms.” Academy of Management Annals
*Shared First Authorship
Kulkarni, M., Cameron, L.*, Gehman, J.*, Glaser, V.*, Greenwood, M.*, Islam, G.*, Lindebaum, D.*, Mantere, S.*; Pachidi, S*., Rahman, H.*, Vaara, E.* & Van den Broek, E.*. 2024. “The Future of Research in an Artificial Intelligence Driven World.” Journal of Management Inquiry.
*Shared Authorship; Essay (w/H. Rahman): “Language Large Models in Qualitative Research: All that Glitters is Not Gold.”
Cameron, L.,* Lamars, L.*, Leicht-Deobald, U.*, Lutz, C.*, Meijerink, J.* & Mohlmann, M.* 2023. “Algorithmic Management: Its Implications for Information Systems Research.” Communications of the Association of Information Systems.
*Authorship Alphabetical
Cameron, L., Chan, C. & Anteby, M. 2022. “Heroes from Above But Not (Always) From Within: Gig Workers Responses to the Public Moralization of their Work.” Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes
♦ Best Symposium Award (AOM MOC Division)
Cameron, L. 2022. ““Making Out” While Driving: The Relational and Efficiency Game in the Gig Economy.” Organization Science.
♦ Best Paper Award (AOM MOC Division, top 10% conference papers)
Cameron, L.* & Rahman, H.* 2022. “Expanding the Locus of Resistance: The Constitution of Control and Resistance in the Gig Economy.” Organization Science.
*Shared First Authorship
♦ Best Published Paper Award (AOM CTO Division)
♦ Industry Studies Association’s Giarratani Rising Star Award
♦ Best Paper Award (AOM CTO Division, top 10% conference papers)
Cameron, L., Thomason, B. & Conzon, V. 2021. “Risky Business: Gig Workers and the Navigation of Ideal Worker Expectations During the COVID-19 Pandemic.” Journal of Applied Psychology
Hafenbrack, A.*, Cameron, L.*, Spreitzer, G., Noval, L., Zhang, C. & Shaffakat, S. 2020. “Helping Others by Being in the Present Moment: Mindfulness and Prosocial Behavior at Work.” Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes
*Shared First Authorship
Cameron, L., Garrett, L. & Spreitzer, G. 2019. “Contingent, Contract, and Alternative Work Arrangements.” Oxford Bibliographies in Management.
Kamaswaren, V., Cameron, L. & Dillahunt, T. 2018. “Support for Social and Cultural Capital Development in Real-time Ridesharing Services.” Computer-Human Interactions. CHI 2018: ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. [HCI conference proceedings are respected as journal articles within computer science]
Spreitzer, G., Cameron, L. & Garrett, L. 2017. “Alternative Work Arrangements: Two Images of the New World of Work.” Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior, 4: 473-499.
Manuscripts Under Review & Working Papers
Cameron, L. & Maffie, M. (Revise and Resubmit Requested, Organization Science). “Patchwork Organizing: People as Infrastructure in Global Platform Work.”
♦ Best Paper Award (Labor and Employment Relations Association)
♦ Best Symposium Award (AOM MOC Division)
Birced, E.*+ & Cameron, L.* (Under Review). “The Paradox of Managing through Consumers: How Consumers Enable and Buffer Managerial Control in the Platform Economy.”
* Shared First Authorship
+ Post-Doctoral Scholar
Eaglin, C. & Cameron, L. (Under Review). “Debt Relief, Small Business Performance, and Service Delivery: Lessons from the MiniCab Industry in South Africa.”
Lee, K., Holm, A., & Cameron, L. (Working Paper). “A Thousand Flowers Have Bloomed and Now What?: Creating a Portager to Study Work.”
Other Peer-Reviewed Publications and Technical Reports
Wong, E.+ & Cameron, L. (Forthcoming, Oxford Handbook for Positive Organizational Scholarship). “Rooting for Well-Being: An Embedded Perspective of Nature and Contemporary Work.”
+ Post-Doctoral Scholar
Mayberry, K.+, Cameron, L., & Rahman, H. (2024). Fighting Against the Algorithm: The Rise of Activism in the Face of Platform Inequality. In Julie MacLeavy and Frederick Harry Pitts (Eds.), Handbook of the Future of Work. New York: Routledge.
+ Student Author
Aidinoff, M., Boczkowski P., Cameron L., Kapila K., Kelly A., Krupar, S., Llamas-Rodriguez, J., Nakamura, L., Nelson, A., Nieborg., D., Sandvig, C., Ticona, J., Weigel, M., Wohl, H. & Ziewitz, M. (2024). Five Theses on the Gravity of Platforms, School of Social Science, Institute for Advanced Study (IAS). Published on 1 November 2024.
Soujouner, A., Houseman, S., Mueller, C., Cameron, L.,Handel, M., Kelly, E., Kemp, J., Kosanovich, K., Kreisman, D., Mas, A., Mueller, A., Pedulla, D., Robertson, C., Rodgers, W., Schenider, D. & Smith, J. “Employment and Work Arrangements Content Panel Report.” National Opinion Research Center (NORC) at the University of Chicago. Published on 26 May 2023.
Cameron, L., Garrett, L, & Spreitzer, G. (2019). Contingent, Contract, and Alternative Work Arrangements. Oxford Bibliographies in Management. Ed. Ricky Griffin. New York: Oxford University Press
Op-Eds & Practitioner Publications
Cameron, L., Ticona, J., & Wohl, H. 2025. The Hidden Dangers of Eliminating Taxes on Tips. Newsweek.
Wohl, H. & Cameron, L. 2025. Unlikely Bedfellows: How Platform Companies Shortchange Porn Performers and Ride-Hailing Drivers Alike. The Conversation.
Cameron, L. & Mayberry, K. 2024. What Activism Looks Like in the Gig Economy. Labor and Employment Relations Perspectives on Work Magazine.
Cameron, L. 2024. How Microchoices and Games Motivate Gig Workers. Harvard Business Review.
Rahman, H., Karunakaran, A., & Cameron, L. 2024. MultiSided Platforms Require MultiSided Accountability. Platform Papers.
Boczkowski, P., Cameron, L., Kapila, K., Kelly, A. Krupar, S., Llamas-Rodriguez, J., Nakamura, L., Nelson, A., Nieborg., D., Sandvig, C., Ticona, J., Weigel, M., Wohl, H. & Ziewitz, M. (Platform Society Collective).2024.Five Theses on the Gravity of Platforms. Digital Inquiry, Speculation, Collaboration, and Optimism Network
Cameron, L. & Mayberry, K., 2024. How Gig Work Pits Customers Against Workers. Harvard Business Review.
Cameron, L., Chan, C., & Anteby, M. 2024. Why Calling Your Workers Heroes May Backfire. Harvard Business Review.
Soujouner, A., Houseman, S., Mueller, C., Cameron, L., Handel, M., Kelly, E., Kemp, J., Kosanovich, K., Kreisman, D., Mas, A., Mueller, A., Pedulla, D., Robertson, C., Rodgers, W., Schenider, D., Smith, J. 2023. “Employment and Work Arrangements Content Panel Report.” NORC.
Cameron, L. 2023. Does Mindfulness Actually Make you Happier (or Better) at Work? Ten Percent Happier with Dan Harris.
Cameron, L. & Hafenbrack, A. 2022. When Mindfulness Does — And Doesn’t — Help at Work. Harvard Business Review.
Cameron, L. & Winn, B. 2021. Worker Voice & Choice: The Democratization and Uberification of Work. (Linking Theory + Practice Series). People + Strategy Journal, Society for Human Resource Management,
Cameron, L. 2021. The Gig Economy and the Pandemic. Work and Life Podcast with Stew Friedman.
Cameron, L. & Rosenblat, A. 2020. Gig Work Used to Be a Recession-Proof Safety Net. Not Anymore. Fast Company.
Cameron, L. (as interviewed by Cross, M.). 2019. The New Uber Law’s Ripple Effect. Kiplinger’s.
Public Hearings
Pennsylvania Joint Task Force on Worker Misclassification. February 2022
Pennsylvania Senate Democratic Policy Committee Hearing: Worker Misclassification and the Future of Work. November 2022
Pennsylvania State Senate Democratic Policy Committee Hearing: Testimony on Ride-hailing Companies. June 2020
Research in Progress
Cameron, L. (Writing). Towards a Theory of Sponsored Entrepreneurship.
Cameron, L.* & Weigel, M.* (Writing). Learning to Labor in the Global Economy: Sponsored Entrepreneurship and the Promise of Portable Infrastructure
*Shared First Authorship
Cameron, L. (Data Collection). Algorithmically-Mediated Human Supply Chains.
Eren, D., Cameron, L., & Anteby, M. (Data Collection). Cybersecurity, Moral Boundary Violations, and Gray Hat Hacking
Kessinger, R., Cameron, L., & Smith, L.+ (Data Collection). Resocialization after Total Institutions
+ Student Author
Denis, H.J. & Cameron, L. (Data Collection). The Role of Indigenous Philosophy in Entrepreneurial Formation
Resource List
Resources on writing, critical thinking, research design, qualitative methods, and managing life as an academic and creative professional.
Resources on applying to PhD programs in Business
Resources on the academic job market (courtesy of Verónica Rabelo)
Features
Penn professor Lindsey Cameron, former rideshare driver, reflects on experience in FASPE Program. 5 November 2024. Daily Pennslyvanian
Meet a Hacker Turned Scholar: Q&A with Lindsey D. Cameron. Fall 2023. Institute of Advanced Studies, Princeton.
2023 Best 40-Under-40 MBA professor, Lindsey Cameron, The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. Fall 2023. Poet and Quatnts.
Make a Way: Lindsey Cameron with Sareeta Amrute. Summer 2023. Data and Society Research Institute.
On the Gig Economy: An Interview with Lindsey Cameron. Winter 2022. Accounts Newsletter, Official Newsletter of the Occupations & Work and Economic Sociology section of the American Sociological Association.
Research Spotlight: Prof. Lindsey Cameron on drivers in the gig economy. (2021, November 29), Wharton Social Impact Initiative
Research Spotlight: Lindsey D. Cameron, A Personal Interest in the Gig Economy Impact’s. (2020, October 19), Michigan Center for Positive Organization
Lindsey Cameron: USA Today All Academic Team, First Team. Spring 2001. USA Today.
Young Women of Achievement: A Resource for Girls in Math, Science, and Technology. 2001. University of Mississippi Press, by Frances Karnes and Kristen Stephens
Photo credit: Andrea Kane, Institute for Advanced Study
Affiliations
American Sociological Association
Center for Positive Organizational Scholarship
European Group on Organization Studies
May Meaning Meeting (MMM)
The Changing Nature of Work
© 2022 Lindsey D. Cameron | Developed by Scholarly Studio