Challenges to utilize informating effect in RPA implementations

Abstract

This thesis researches the challenges of utilizing informating effect in Robotic Process Automation implementations. Qualitative research with the Thematic Analysis model is applied to study the obstacles four different large companies have faced during their years of using RPA to automate their business processes.

Informating is as important as ever, for instance, because of the sudden increase in Intelligent Automation technologies such as RPA during the past years. Organizations are streamlining their processes and getting rid of mundane manual work and empowering frontline workers. The new ways of working require new information systems and data for employees to do their tasks accordingly, but there are challenges to adopt and implement those tools.

This thesis builds on the theory of duality of information technology and the concepts of automating and informating as presented by Shoshana Zuboff (1985). The resulted themes of the empirical research are analyzed against a business intelligence maturity model, to build a framework of challenges mapped to timeframe and maturity. The resulted matrix is the main theoretical contribution of the thesis.

The main findings of this thesis are the themes describing the challenges of utilizing informating. The identified themes are Realizing the need, Platform design, Dilemma of knowledge, Dilemma of authority, Change resistance, Uncertainty and Fragmentation.