Abstract
The current digital transformation (additionally accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic) is causing profound changes across a number of industries. Part of this revolution is the spread of Robotic Process Automation (RPA), which enables the automation of business processes by replacing human work with advanced software robots. One of the goals of the conducted research was to develop a classification of approaches to RPA positioning in enterprises. The author also identified differences in RPA positioning between individual industries. Based on conducted literature research, the author has proposed a proprietary classification for approaches to RPA positioning: conservative, efficiency improving, and strategic. This was subject to verification based on the results of empirical research using multidimensional correspondence analysis. The survey was conducted by the author in 2020 using the CAWI method: Credible (reliable) results were obtained from 238 Polish enterprises. The multidimensional correspondence analysis, conducted on the basis of the results of the empirical research confirmed that the approaches to RPA positioning in enterprises proposed by the author did occur in business practice. The outcome of the RPA classification became the basis for qualitative research (in the form of semi-structured interviews with expert practitioners) aimed at answering the question as to whether enterprises that strategically position RPA and treat it as a tool for digital transformation increase their organizational resilience. Up until now, however, no study has been found that focuses on how RPA increases organizational resilience or what its consequences are both at the research and application levels. This article fills the research gap in this area.
Highlights
This is in agreement with the literature, which indicates that large businesses the greatest Robotic Process Automation (RPA) potential
The results showed that enterprises that positioned RPA using the conservative approach achieved significantly lower non-financial benefits, as opposed to organizations that implemented large-scale robotic process automation and had started working in this area early who achieved above-average benefits with respect to both financial and non-financial benefits
Subquestion 1: Is RPA strategically positioned in the respondent’s organization?. What does this mean in concrete terms for the given organization? In the interviews, all respondents confirmed that RPA was definitely positioned strategically in their organizations
Summary
Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. A substantial number of organizations have started to rely more and more on digital technologies in recent years. The widespread use of such technologies often results in a profound transformation in the functioning of both individual entities as well as entire industries [1,2] and even the emergence of new types of entities within industry [3] Such changes are known as “digital transformation” [4]. Another common definition of digital transformation is as follows: a process that aims to improve an entity by triggering significant changes to its properties through a combination of information, computing, communication, and connectivity technologies [5,6]
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