How to build user trust in RPA? — A case study from the service provider perspective
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Journal Title
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Volume Title
School of Business |
Master's thesis
Authors
Date
2022
Department
Major/Subject
Mcode
Degree programme
Information and Service Management (ISM)
Language
en
Pages
38 + 1
Series
Abstract
The use of robotic process automation has been growing rapidly in recent years and it offers huge potential for companies to automate repetitive and time-consuming tasks. Many factors influence the outcomes of automation projects and user trust is one of them. User trust is widely studied in information systems and automation research but not in RPA. The purpose of this thesis is to find out the role of user trust in RPA and the different ways how RPA service providers can build and increase it. This thesis is an exploratory case study, which uses qualitative research methods in investigating a particularly successful reimbursement handling robot. A new framework on RPA user trust is created by utilizing previous literature to suit better the purpose of this thesis. The empirical data was collected through semi-structured interviews with four key employees working with the case project in different roles having both technical and non-technical backgrounds. The proposed framework was used in designing the interview questions and analyzing the results. The results strengthen the prevalent perception in the current literature that user trust has a significant role in RPA. In addition, this research identifies diverse ways the service providers can use to build and increase user trust ranging from data-related issues to future aspects of the robot. These include, but are not limited to, the correctness of both incoming and outgoing data, different agreements on data and permissions, the timing of the robot, proper error handling, continuous improvement, having human beings included in the process, and utilizing both the reputation and relevant certifications as a company. Furthermore, several contextual factors influencing user trust were identified, such as handling a financial process, fear of job loss among the users, and the uncertainty related to the third-party software. The results contribute to the scarce literature on user trust in RPA with both existing and novel factors and give recommendations to service providers on factors to consider in the performance, process, and purpose of the robot as well as in the context of the project.Description
Thesis advisor
Penttinen, EskoKeywords
robotic process automation, RPA, software robot, user trust, service provider