Taking Digital Responsibility for Data: Toward a Governance Model for User-Generated Data

Anna-Sophia Christ, K. Valerie Carl, Christian Kurtz, Lara Lobschat (), Benjamin Mueller and Markus P. Zimmer
Additional contact information
Anna-Sophia Christ: University of Bremen
K. Valerie Carl: Goethe University Frankfurt
Christian Kurtz: University of Hamburg
Lara Lobschat: Maastricht University
Benjamin Mueller: University of Bremen
Markus P. Zimmer: Leuphana University Lüneburg

Schmalenbach Journal of Business Research, 2025, vol. 77, issue 3, 527-556

Abstract: Abstract As firms increasingly rely on user-generated data (UGD) to drive decision-making, questions of digital responsibility have become central to contemporary data governance. This article develops a governance model for UGD that integrates the ecosystem view with three complementary dimensions—object, authority, and subject—to clarify what is governed, who holds governing power, and who is affected. This model captures the distributed and relational nature of governance across interconnected actors and infrastructures. While the model is designed to be broadly applicable, we illustrate how governance responsibilities shift between different phases in the lifecycle of UGD, such as its initial capture and subsequent use. By linking these lifecycle moments to the roles and relationships within the ecosystem, we highlight how technical, organizational, and stakeholder considerations converge in practice. The model emphasizes transparency, contextual integrity, and distributed accountability as guiding principles for responsible data management, offering actionable guidance for managers and policymakers navigating the tension between data-driven innovation and digital responsibility.

Keywords: User Generated Data (UGD); User Generated Content (UGC); Data as World-Making; Digital Responsibility; Responsible Corporate Ecosystem; Responsible Data Management; Responsible Managerial Decision-Making (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s41471-025-00225-6 Abstract (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:sjobre:v:77:y:2025:i:3:d:10.1007_s41471-025-00225-6

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.springer.com/journal/41471

DOI: 10.1007/s41471-025-00225-6

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in Schmalenbach Journal of Business Research from Springer
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().