Responding to Healthcare Emergency Outbreak of COVID-19 Pandemic with Robotic Process Automation (RPA)

During the complex emergency of COVID-19 pandemic, healthcare sector experienced challenging pressure surge, related to rapid increase in the number of infections, patient inquiries, and demand of immediate treatment. Such situation, experienced also in Finland at the Welfare Division of Turku City, required quick decision making and fast implementation of a reliable and secure technological solution that can take some of administrative burden off the shoulders of nurses’ personnel. The case presents the implementation of Robotic Process Automation (RPA) technology that has already been recognized as an efficient tool at multiple business organizations, allowing to automate various commercial processes with quick returns and scalable results. The presented case discusses the drivers and outcomes of automating non-commercial, healthcare processes, as well as its impact on emergency response, operations, and society

From Accountant to Software Developer – Transforming Employees with Robotic Process Automation (RPA)

Constantly changing technologies affect not only the value types that companies generate but also their processes and their most important resource: employees. Such transitions referred to as digital transformation, mean that employees must tailor their skills and ways of working to stay considered a long-term asset for their company. Intelligent information systems, such as robotic process automation (RPA), are gradually taking over employees' work efforts, and thus replacing part of the human workforce. In the paper, we investigate whether non-technical employees (in this case, accountants) can be retrained to work as entry-level RPA software developers. In our case study (observations blended with interviews), we show how retraining transforms employees’ identity, addresses their anxiety and skepticism, and impacts the organization. Further, we show the relevance of domain knowledge, digital literacy, and the cornerstones of a training program transforming accountants into RPA developers

Offshored Service Cost Model as a Key Post-Transition Challenge

Business process offshoring has been dynamically growing worldwide in the last few years, facilitated by the corporate need for operational expenses reduction, overcoming skilled workers shortage and the potential for operations optimization. At every stage of organizational changes, there are various challenges the service offshoring managerial community constantly struggles with. Th e paper presents the offshored service cost model that can be adjusted and applied for service budgeting, valuation and control, for it has been identified as the most common challenge affecting Polish service off shoring corporations in the post-transition period. Th e need for strengthening this area of knowledge was identified through empirical research and the case study conducted in this work serves for presenting the authors’ insights on cost modelling for offshored business services

Offshored Service Cost Model as a Key Post-Transition Challenge

Business process offshoring has been dynamically growing worldwide in the last few years, facilitated by the corporate need for operational expenses reduction, overcoming skilled workers shortage and the potential for operations optimization. At every stage of organizational changes, there are various challenges the service offshoring managerial community constantly struggles with. Th e paper presents the offshored service cost model that can be adjusted and applied for service budgeting, valuation and control, for it has been identified as the most common challenge affecting Polish service off shoring corporations in the post-transition period. Th e need for strengthening this area of knowledge was identified through empirical research and the case study conducted in this work serves for presenting the authors’ insights on cost modelling for offshored business services

Governance models for robotic process automation: The case of Nordea Bank

The teaching case addresses the governance of robotic process automation at Nordea, a large banking group operating primarily in the Nordic region. Nordea has deployed numerous software robots, for a wide range of business processes, from transaction-processing work and both internal and external reporting all the way to interaction with end users in handling of General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)-related queries. The scene is set with a meeting where three people discuss the current state of robotic process automation implementation at Nordea: Group Head of Robotics Agnieszka Belowska Gosławska, Head of Robotic Process Automation Operations Piotr Stolarczyk and Acting Head of Robotics Execution Jaroslaw Motylewski. The presentation outlines several governance-related issues and decision points that must be addressed in connection with any deployment of robotic process automation at somewhat large scale within a company. The key issues are related to the software’s development and maintenance, robotic process automation governance and IT infrastructure. Students who have worked through the case should be able to (1) describe archetypal and hybrid governance modes for robotic process automation and (2) evaluate their advantages and disadvantages for solid infrastructure and effective software development and maintenance.peerReviewe

Outsourcing of Information Technology and Business Processes in Poland: Motivations and Environmental Factors

The aimof the paper is to summarise the literature focusedonInformation Technology and Business ProcessOutsourcing in Poland and to contribute to understanding ofmotivations and environmental factors driving service relocations to Central and Eastern Europe. This exploratory study is based on academic literature and two data sources: government and industry reports, as well as small-scale exploratory survey. The findings confirm the cost reduction to be the main driver, followed by the willingness to improve processes and business performance. The substantial advantage of Poland is human resources – the availability of highly skilled, well-educated workforce at relatively low cost. Even though the salaries are often higher than in Asia, it is compensated by the number of graduates and knowledge of foreign languages.Membership of the EuropeanUnion and political stability also plays an important role. This exploratory study, aside of relocation trends overview, enabled the views among service providers to be captured and compared with the commercial and governmental reports.peerReviewe

RPA Experiments in SMEs Through a Collaborative Network

Robotic Process Automation (RPA) technology has been widely applied in many types of organizations. It is embraced in the hope of increased productivity, quality, and employee satisfaction. Intelligent Automation, being its further enhancement will strongly impact Society 5.0, as it drives productivity through digital technologies, contributing to a more human-friendly working environment. Our research describes the implementation of RPA in financial processes at several SMEs in Finland, as well as the construction of a collaborative network for building and sharing expertise on RPA. With our multiple case study, we explored the main drivers of RPA implementation at SMEs. The research was conducted among 12 SMEs and numerous other organizations participating in a collaborative network for RPA. We conclude that the desire to automate routine work to increase satisfaction at work is the main driver behind RPA implementation in SMEs