NEWS & INSIGHT
HOW ROBOTS AND HUMANS WORKING TOGETHER COULD BE DETRIMENTAL TO WELLBEING
SCHOOL: School of Business and Economics, Maastricht University COUNTRY: Netherlands
While we might be familiar with the fear that robots will take over our jobs, the potential impact of humans and robots working in tandem is far less talked about, especially in the context of human wellbeing. A new research paper involving researchers at the School of Business and Economics at Maastricht University aims to fill this gap. The Robotic-Human Service Trilemma , published in the Journal of Service Management , sets out a framework that revolves around three challenges for managers to be wary of. When a customer and frontline employee meet, there is an expected level of interaction that simply does not take place whenever a service robot does a job instead of the human employee. Known as the ‘intrusion challenge’, the study suggests that limiting customer interaction in this way can negatively impact an employee’s job fulfilment. When a robot takes on the job of a frontline worker, this can also result in the employee feeling devalued and experiencing greater job insecurity. In addition, they stand to receive fewer tips. This is known as the ‘sideline challenge’.
Lastly, the study argues that as robots begin to do jobs traditionally assigned to humans, customers are more likely to grow detached and become indifferent to human staff members – a phenomenon the study equates to the ‘indifference challenge’. So, just because we can work with robots, does it mean we should? Despite the caveats presented, the researchers believe we should still implement robots into the service sector. However, they say managers must be mindful of the three points outlined above and ensure human welfare is at that forefront of considerations whenever companies make plans to implement robots into working environments. The study draws on a review of robotic service literature research and was conducted by researchers from Queensland University of Technology and Hanken School of Economics, as well as those at Maastricht University. EB
SHARE YOUR NEWS AND RESEARCH UPDATES by emailing AMBA & BGA’s content editor Tim Banerjee Dhoul at t.dhoul@amba-bga.com
Ambition | OCTOBER 2023 | 11
Made with FlippingBook - Share PDF online