IMPORTANCE AND ROLE OF ROBOTIC PROCESS AUTOMATION – PILOT RESEARCH RESULTS

Abstract

The research objective was to assess the importance and role of robotic process automation (RPA) declared by employees of polish enterprises. Initial analysis of specialist literature has revealed a high potential of positive impact of automation on organizational efficiency. The goals of the research covered the assessment of RPA concept and technology recognisability, verification of RPA usability and potential in different business areas, as well as the claimed impact of the automation technology on daily work of managers, employees and the organization. The article is based on pilot research, aimed to be a baseline of planned doctoral thesis. The study was conducted as a set of in-depth interviews among the representatives of different business areas, with the aim of revealing the potential impact of RPA concept. The pilot research suggest high possibilities to broaden the range of automation technologies’ use in some of the business processes. It was also concluded that there is a strong need of extending the automation-related knowledge within the organizations, especially in regards the available technologies, best practice and success factors. Moreover, the impact of automation on the job security and self-development decision making was exposed. Based on the above findings the study successfully demonstrated the need to intensify further research in this area and to spread the related recommendations, with the aim of raising the awareness on optimal robotic process automation implementations, among both the managers and employees.
Key words: automation, Business Process Automation, innovative technology, innovative organization
JEL: M1