Abstract
Using software to automate tasks is not a new idea, but interest in service automation has certainly escalated in recent years. The popular press is filled with provocative titles like “Rise of the Robots: Technology and the Threat of a Jobless Future” (Ford 2015), “A World without Work (Thompson 2015),” and “I Am Robot: Will Robotic Process Automation Revolutionize the BPO Industry?” Although the term “robot” connotes visions of physical robots wandering around offices performing human tasks, the term as it relates to service automation really means the delivery by software of service tasks previously performed by humans. Service automation comprises a continuum of tools, each designed to automate a different type of task.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
- 2.
- 3.
These articles discuss the uses and appropriateness of key participant interviews as a research method:
Elmendorf, W., and Luloff, A. (2006). “Using Key Informant Interviews to Better Understand Open Space Conversation in a Developing Watershed” Arboriculture & Urban Forestry, 32: 54–61.
Fontana, A., and Frey, J. (1994). Interviewing: The Art of Science. In: N.K. Denzin and Y.S. Lincoln (Eds.), Handbook of Qualitative Research, pp. 361–376. Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks.
Mahoney, C. (1997). Common Qualitative Techniques. In: User-Friendly Handbook for Mixed Method Evaluations, Published by the Division of Research, Evaluation and Communication for the National Science Foundation, publication number NSF97-153, 1–17.
Seidler, J. (1974). “On Using Informants: A Technique for Collecting Quantitative Data and Controlling for Measurement Error in Organizational Analysis”. American Sociological Review, 39: 816–831.
Yin, R. (2003). Case Study Research: Design and Methods, Third Edition. Sage, Thousand Oaks.
- 4.
- 5.
Estimate calculated as follows: 32 hours per day time 7 days a week (since trains run daily) equals 224 hours per week of work. Assuming an FTE works 35 hours per week, the weekly FTE effort is 6.4 FTEs. After automation, the task was done in 4 hours per day, or 28 hours per week, or 0.8; This total FTE savings are nearly 6 per week.
- 6.
By May 2015, it was taking the robot five minutes to deal with 25 LPANS, which formerly took a human two hours and five minutes to do.
- 7.
Poppy was named after the day the idea was thought of—Remembrance Day November 2014. Interview with Amanda Barnes, Xchanging May 2015.
- 8.
“IBM’s Watson is better at diagnosing cancer than human doctors”, Wired, February 11, 2013, http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2013-02/11/ibm-watson-medical-doctor.
- 9.
Source: “The Impact of Robotic Process Automation on BPO,” presentation at the Automation Innovation Conference, New York City, December 10, 2014.
- 10.
For example, Chet Chambers has spoken at the launch of the Robotic Process Automation Chapter of the IAOP in Dallas on July 9, 2015.
- 11.
Discussion from The Robotic Automation Advisory Council, Chicago Illinois, April 14, 2015.
- 12.
This study summarizes processes suitable for outsourcing: Lacity, M., and Willcocks, L.P. (2012). Advanced Outsourcing Practice: Rethinking ITO, BPO, and Cloud Services. Palgrave, London; This study looks at processes suitable for shared services: McKeen, J., and Smith, H. (2011). “Creating IT Shared Services”. Communications of the AIS, 29 (34): 645–656.
- 13.
These studies look at standardization: McIvor, R., McCracken, M., and McHugh, M. (2011). “Creating Outsourced Shared Services Arrangements: Lessons from the Public Sector”. European Management Journal, 29 (6): 448–461; Sako, M. (2010). “Technology Strategy and Management Outsourcing Versus Shared Services”. Communications of the ACM, 53 (7): 126–129.
- 14.
For example, see: Srikanth, K., and Puranam, P. (2011). “Integrating Distributed Work: Comparing Task Design, Communication, And Tacit Coordination Mechanisms”. Strategic Management Journal, 32 (8): 849–875.
- 15.
Bidwell, M. (2012). “Politics and Firm Boundaries: How Organizational Structure, Group Interests, and Resources Affect Outsourcing”. Organization Science, 23 (6): 1622–1642; Lacity, M., and Fox, J. (2008). “Creating Global Shared Services: Lessons from Reuters”. MIS Quarterly Executive, 7 (1): 17–32.
- 16.
For a comprehensive set of process complexity measures see: Day, A. (2009). “On Process Complexity”. R. Downey and P. Manyem (Eds.), In Proc. Fifteenth Computing: The Australasian Theory Symposium (CATS 2009), Wellington, New Zealand. CRPIT, 94. ACS. 29–34; Shen, W., Hsueh, N.L., and Chu, P.H. (2011). “Measurement-Based Software Process Modeling”. Journal of Software Engineering, 5: 20–37. Gruhn, V., and Laue, R. Complexity Metrics for Business Process Models. University of Leipzig Working Paper, available at: http://czm.fel.cvut.cz/research/BPM%20Research%20knihovna/Complexity%20Metrics%20for%20Business%20Process%20Models.pdf
- 17.
Panel discussion, “The Impact of Robotic Process Automation on BPO”, Automation Innovation Conference, New York City, December 10, 2014.
- 18.
Interview with Neil Wright, Director of Professional Services, Blue Prism, March 27, 2015.
- 19.
Our recommendation on IT-enabled business projects has been to go for “dolphins not whales,” that is, small projects based on iterative learning, with quick business payoffs, though the technology used must be consistent with the IT architecture and infrastructure of the organization. Large “whale” projects tend to go over budget, experience time delays, and sub-optimize on delivery.
- 20.
A much more detailed discussion of the Enterprise RPA Operating Model appears in later papers, where the model will be compared against our analyses of a series of RPA case studies and their results.
- 21.
See also Lacity, M., and Willcocks, L.P. (2014). Nine Keys to World Class Business Process Outsourcing, (Bloomsbury, London) especially chaps. 8 and 10. Also Cullen, S., Lacity, M., and Willcocks, L.P. (2014). Outsourcing—All You Need To Know, (White Plume Publishing, Melbourne). The academic findings are remarkably consistent over many years. See for example Willcocks, L.P., Feeny, D., and Islei, G. (1997). Managing IT as a Strategic Resource (McGraw Hill, Maidenhead), especially chaps. 6–10.
- 22.
Interview with Richard Hilditch, Engagement Manager, Blue Prism, April 19 2015.
- 23.
See Practice 4 on pages 20–22 in Lacity, M., and Rottman, J. (2008). Offshore Outsourcing of IT Work. Palgrave, UK.
- 24.
Interview with Richard Hilditch, Engagement Manager, Blue Prism, April 19, 2015.
References
Ford, M. (2015). Rise of the Robots: Technology and the Threat of a Jobless Future. Basic Books, New York.
Lacity, M., and Willcocks, L.P. (2018). Robotic Process and Cognitive Automation: The Next Phase. SB Publishing, Stratford.
Lacity, M., Willcocks, L.P., and Craig, A. (2016). Robotizing Global Financial Shared Services at Royal DSM. LSE Outsourcing Unit Working Paper, LSE, London.
Lacity, M., Willcocks, L.P., and Yan, A. (2015). “Are the Robots Really Coming? Service Automation Survey Findings”. Pulse Magazine, (Issue 17): 14–21.
Marshall, M. (1996). “The Key Informant Technique”. Family Practice, 13: 92–97.
Susman, G., and Evered, R. (1978). “An Assessment of the Scientific Merits of Action Research”. Administrative Science Quarterly, 23 (4): 582–603.
Thompson, D. (2015). “A World Without Work”. The Atlantic, July/August: 5061.
Tremblay, M. (1957). “The Key Informant Technique: A Non-ethnographic Application”. Family Practice, 59: 688–701.
Willcocks, L.P., Cullen, S., and Craig, A. (2011). The Outsourcing Enterprise: From Cost Management to Collaborative Innovation. Palgrave, London.
Willcocks, L.P., and Lacity, M. (2016). Service Automation Robots and The Future of Work. SB Publishing, Stratford.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2018 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Lacity, M., Willcocks, L.P. (2018). Innovating in Service: The Role and Management of Automation. In: Willcocks, L., Oshri, I., Kotlarsky, J. (eds) Dynamic Innovation in Outsourcing. Technology, Work and Globalization. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-75352-2_9
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-75352-2_9
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-75351-5
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-75352-2
eBook Packages: Business and ManagementBusiness and Management (R0)