Robotic Process Automation (RPA) is a task-level process automation technology that enables hybridisation where employees and bots collaboratively execute tasks. RPA improves process efficiency and employee productivity, allowing them to concentrate on value-added tasks. Although RPA offers many organisational benefits, its increased adoption presents new challenges, such as technostress—a psychological strain employees experience when interacting with information systems (IS). Building on seminal technostress research, this study explores the technostress induced by RPA through a single case study. A conceptual model depicting attributes of technostress creators, dependencies, and outcomes is developed via qualitative data analysis. The findings indicated that RPA reduces techno-invasion compared to other IS while it contributes to techno-complexity, techno-uncertainty, techno-overload, and techno-insecurity. Enhancing the explanation of hybridisation, the findings revealed that techno-overload presents in hybridised processes by design and in fully automated processes that become hybridised due to exceptions handled by employees. This study contributes to the technostress literature by discovering dependencies between techno-complexity and techno-overload, as well as techno-uncertainty and techno-overload in the RPA context. The conceptual model will help managers to take countermeasures to prevent psychological and behavioural outcomes associated with RPA-induced technostress by identifying their sources.

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Automation to Agitation: Unveiling RPA-Induced Technostress

  • Ishadi Mirispelakotuwa,
  • Rehan Syed,
  • Moe T. Wynn

摘要

Robotic Process Automation (RPA) is a task-level process automation technology that enables hybridisation where employees and bots collaboratively execute tasks. RPA improves process efficiency and employee productivity, allowing them to concentrate on value-added tasks. Although RPA offers many organisational benefits, its increased adoption presents new challenges, such as technostress—a psychological strain employees experience when interacting with information systems (IS). Building on seminal technostress research, this study explores the technostress induced by RPA through a single case study. A conceptual model depicting attributes of technostress creators, dependencies, and outcomes is developed via qualitative data analysis. The findings indicated that RPA reduces techno-invasion compared to other IS while it contributes to techno-complexity, techno-uncertainty, techno-overload, and techno-insecurity. Enhancing the explanation of hybridisation, the findings revealed that techno-overload presents in hybridised processes by design and in fully automated processes that become hybridised due to exceptions handled by employees. This study contributes to the technostress literature by discovering dependencies between techno-complexity and techno-overload, as well as techno-uncertainty and techno-overload in the RPA context. The conceptual model will help managers to take countermeasures to prevent psychological and behavioural outcomes associated with RPA-induced technostress by identifying their sources.