Robots in organizations

TLDR

Robots are increasingly integrated into workplaces, reshaping organizational structures, processes, and the products and services they produce, yet their introduction also presents significant design challenges. This paper investigates how organizational factors shape staff responses to an autonomous delivery robot and the changes it engenders. Ethnographic data collected at a hospital were used to examine these effects. The analysis revealed that medical units suffered workflow disruption and staff resistance due to interruptions and clutter, whereas post‑partum units integrated the robot smoothly, prompting the authors to propose design guidelines for organizational robots.

Abstract

Robots are becoming increasingly integrated into the workplace, impacting organizational structures and processes, and affecting products and services created by these organizations. While robots promise significant benefits to organizations, their introduction poses a variety of design challenges. In this paper, we use ethnographic data collected at a hospital using an autonomous delivery robot to examine how organizational factors affect the way its members respond to robots and the changes engendered by their use. Our analysis uncovered dramatic differences between the medical and post-partum units in how people integrated the robot into their workflow and their perceptions of and interactions with it. Different patient profiles in these units led to differences in workflow, goals, social dynamics, and the use of the physical environment. In medical units, low tolerance for interruptions, a discrepancy between the perceived cost and benefits of using the robot, and breakdowns due to high traffic and clutter in the robot's path caused the robot to have a negative impact on the workflow and staff resistance. On the contrary, post-partum units integrated the robot into their workflow and social context. Based on our findings, we provide design guidelines for the development of robots for organizations.