Connectivity as a Two-Edged Sword: Mirroring the Multifaceted Field of Constant Connectivity

Constant connectivity is a phenomenon brought about by our interconnected world. However, it is not just a multidisciplinary field investigated by researchers from the IS field, organization studies, management studies and psy-chology, but also an actual challenge which knowledge workers face every day. This literature review provides a thematic but also methodological overview of this still young research field on three levels: (1) the paradigm funnel, (2) units of analysis (individual, organizational, societal) and (3) four different thematic streams in the literature. On the basis of the lacks discovered in the paradigm funnel, omitting society as unit of analysis, and thematic gaps in the existing literature, an avenue for future research is developed. Furthermore, as constant connectivity and, virtual communication, respectively became a success factor for companies, I reveal important managerial implications for practitioners derived from my thematic analysis

“You have no idea how much we love Casper” – Developing configurations of employees’ RPA implementation experiences

Robotic process automation (RPA) is gaining popularity in the industry and is leveraged to improve operational efficiency, quality of work, risk management, and compliance. Despite the increasing adoption of RPA in industry, academic research is lagging. In particular, despite the often drastic changes in employees’ work tasks and processes, there is a lack of research that explores how human employees experience the implementation of RPA. This is important to understand as their experiences affect their interaction with the technology and, ultimately, their adoption and use, which is crucial to realise the benefits of RPA. To address this research gap, we conducted a case study in a financial institution in New Zealand and interviewed 18 employees to develop configurations of employees’ RPA implementation experiences. Our findings may inform implementation and change management strategies but also line-managers to accommodate employees’ needs better and to leverage the potentials of true human-robot collaboration

Opening the Black Box: Exploring the Socio-technical Dynamics and Key Principles of RPA Implementation Projects

Robotic process automation (RPA) is one of the most popular process automation approaches, and many organisations in various industries have jumped on the RPA bandwagon. Yet, despite the vast uptake, organisations face many challenges during RPA implementation, leading to a high project failure rate. A clear framework with critical success factors is missing that can guide organisations in their RPA implementation endeavours and avoid the common pitfalls. Building on process and socio-technical theory, we addressed this gap by conducting a case study of an RPA implementation in an Australasian university. We interviewed 13 employees from the university and the RPA vendor. Our findings show how the RPA project unfolded and the intertwining effects on the different components of the socio-technical system at project, work system and organisational levels. Further, we propose eight socio-technical design principles that can guide organisations during their RPA implementations and may lead to higher success rates

Sociomateriality in Action

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to an enforced ‘big bang’ adoption of working from home, involving the rapid implementation and diffusion of digital collaboration technologies. This radical shift to enforced working from home led to substantial changes in the practice of work. Using a qualitative research approach and drawing on the interview accounts of 29 knowledge workers required to work from home during the pandemic, the study identified five sociomaterial practices that were significantly disrupted and required reconfiguration of their constitutive social and material elements to renew them. The paper further shows evidence of the ongoing evolution of those sociomaterial practices among the participants, as temporary breakdowns in their performance led to further adjustments and fine-tuning. The study extends the body of knowledge on working from home and provides a fine-grained analysis of specific complexities of sociomaterial practice and change as actors utilize conceptual and contextual sensemaking to perceive and exploit possibilities for action in their unfolding practice of work. Against the backdrop of the increasing adoption of hybrid working in the aftermath of the pandemic, the paper offers four pillars derived from the findings that support the establishment of a conducive working from home environment

Goodnight Alexa – Theorising interactions between people with visual impairments and digital voice assistants

Visually impaired individuals face various physical, digital, and social challenges. While specialised technologies such as screen readers can mitigate some of these challenges, they are associated with unresolved dilemmas including stigma. Digital voice assistants, which were not intentionally developed for people with visual impairments, have a large potential to offer desirable benefits without a negative stereotype. Yet, there is a lack of knowledge of how people with visual impairments perceive this technology, how they interact with it, for which tasks they use it and what are the respective outcomes. To address these questions, we conducted a qualitative study and interviewed 21 people with visual impairments who use digital voice assistants. Relying on a sociotechnical perspective and the concept of IS delegation, we identified six different roles of voice assistants that differ based on their agentic capabilities, their delegation mechanisms, the tasks they execute, and the associated instrumental or humanistic outcomes

Knowledge Management without Management -- Shadow IT in Knowledge-intensive Manufacturing Practices

The voluntary use of private device by employees without formal approval of the IT department, commonly termed Shadow IT, is an increasingly widespread phenomenon. In this paper, we study the role of private smartphones (and related applications like WhatsApp) in knowledge-intensive practices in the manufacturing domain. With an in-depth case study based on data gained from observations and interviews, we are able to empirically illustrate why workers use their private smartphones (contrary to company guidelines) and how they find significant gains of productivity by using the ‘forbidden’ applications. Our study contributes to knowledge management research by showing how private IT use can change existing knowledge management practices. At the same time, we are able to give rich insights into the rise of Shadow IT in a manufacturing context which takes place in a self-organised way without knowledge of the management. This enables us to take a step towards a knowledge management strategy perspective on Shadow IT

How do Pedagogical Conversational Agents affect Learning Outcomes among High School Pupils: Insights from a Field Experiment

Pedagogical conversational agents (CA) support formal and informal learning to help students achieve better learning outcomes by providing information, guidance or fostering reflections. Even though the extant literature suggests that pedagogical CAs can improve learning outcomes, there exists little empirical evidence of what design features drive this effect. This study reports on an exploratory field experiment involving 31 pupils in commercial high schools and finds that students achieved better learning outcomes when preparing for their tests with a pedagogical CA than without. However, the drivers of this effect remain unclear. Neither the use frequency of the design features nor the pupils’ expectations towards the CA could explain the improvement in marks. However, for the subjective perception of learning achievement, pupils’ expectations was a significant predictor. These findings provide support for the use of pedagogical CAs in teaching but also highlight that the drivers of better learning outcomes still remain unknown