Automation and augmentation: a process study of how robotization shapes tasks of operational employees

Abstract

Robotization shapes organizational structures and jobs, which may bring benefits or negative consequences. Yet, to date, it remains unknown how robotization projects in firms shape automation and augmentation and how exactly employees’ tasks evolve while being automated and augmented. Our findings from a process study of five robotization projects within one organization in the chemical industry show that the automation of tasks is inevitably intertwined with their augmentation. We observe a transformation of the operational tasks, temporarily increasing workload and affecting employees’ motivation levels while influencing potential automation bias. We present these findings as a theorized model of how robotization projects drive the automation and augmentation of operational tasks, and how this evolves. We advance the literature on digital transformation and robotization in three ways. First, we show how automation and augmentation affect operational employees’ tasks. We theorize that employees’ workloads and skill requirements first expand to implement robotization and then contract once workable configurations have been found. Second, we explain a temporal and causal link between automation and augmentation, where the beneficial outcomes are dependent on their temporal entwinement. Third, we posit that active inclusion of operational employees in defining task automation and augmentation safeguards their feeling of accountability in later stages.