Abstract

Abstract The increasing prominence of intelligent software robotisation (a combination of robotic process automation and artificial intelligence) in organisations, seem to have attracted more research on its technological and organisational dimensions than the human-centered facets. Consequently, Waizenegger & Techatassanasoontorn (2020) remark that, “we still know particularly little about the implications of robotic process automation implementations on the human workforce” (p. 11). Furthermore, there have long been warnings about the unanticipated and unintended consequences of automation in general on human behaviour, requiring constant scrutiny (Parasuraman & Manzey, 2010; Darioshi & Lahav, 2021). In addition, employees’ anxieties about the introduction of software robots into their working environment, has been identified as a barrier to successful deployments that needs to be addressed (Radhakrishnan et al., 2022). Leveraging Fuzzy set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (FsQCA) and coping theory, this study investigated the effect on employee behavior, of a robot-specific variable seldomly tested for software robots namely, the level of robotisation (LOR). Survey data from employees in the banking, insurance, telecommunications and business process outsourcing industries, indicate that various configurations (combinations) of the appraisals of LOR, individual level of control and potential for self-interest fulfillment, influence the selection of threat- and opportunity-related individual adaptation strategies. With the aid of configurational analysis, this study exposes the complexity of human behaviour in relation to intelligent software robotisation and expands our knowledge on human-software robot interactions. It contributes useful preliminary information for theorisation on LOR and provides practitioners with human-centered insights to consider in intelligent software robotisation initiatives. Keywords: software robotization, level of robotisation, configurational analysis, human-robot interaction

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