Implementing Robotic Process Automation in small and medium-sized enterprises - implications for organisations

Abstract

Process automation is most often associated with physical solutions used in industry. However, in addition to hardware robots, a separate group are software robots that can be used to replace human labour in terms of repetitive, structured business processes. Robotic Process Automation (RPA) solutions are becoming feasible for small and medium-sized entities (SMEs) due to their price and ease of use. The aim of this study is to diagnose the relationship between a company's orientation towards employee education and retraining, the provision of support from the company's management and the implementation of RPA understood as a change in work organisation and process change. Empirical research was conducted on a sample of 248 SMEs, via a survey questionnaire. They confirmed the relationships between the analysed variables indicating the necessity of treating the implementation of RPA technology in the organisation as a change not only as an IT solution, but in a broader scope - organisational, affecting employees and processes.