Exploring structures and processes of automation use

Organizational researchers have been increasingly turning to a structurational perspective to help understand the new ways of technology development and use. However, there has been little scholarly attention on applying a structurational perspective when studying the specific field of information systems automation. Understanding how organizational, human and environmental factors translate to the interaction between automation and organization complements the already extensive research on the transformational effects of automation. This research is a qualitative study analyzing the structures and processes of automation use and their relationship to the positive or negative results of automation in two case companies. Participants were interviewed with a semi-structured approach and the data analyzed using a thematic analysis method. The study identified six themes emerging from the data: 1) Decentralized requests to the centralized service center, 2) Work changes towards robot management, 3) Robots as near human team members, 4) Automation developers emerging organically, 5) Lean startup methods and, 6) Knowledge retention through a wiki. These themes were results of a mix between managerial decisions and organic development within the company. These themes allowed mitigating or circumventing many of the sources recognized as contributors to the negative effects of automation. The study suggests that alongside managerial decisions the organizational circumstances, such as the organizational structure or the selection of automation tools, can greatly influence the transformational effects of automation. Thus, understanding how different institutional practices can act as catalysts for the positive effects of automation is an important part of successfully managing and implementing automation