PurposeAs service robots increasingly interact with customers at the service encounter, they will inevitably become an integral part of employee's work environment. This research investigates frontline employee's perceptions of collaborative service robots (CSR) and introduces a new framework, willingness to collaborate (WTC), to better understand employee–robot interactions in the workplace.Design/methodology/approachDrawing on appraisal theory, this study employed an exploratory research approach to investigate frontline employees' cognitive appraisal of service robots and their WTC with their nonhuman counterparts in service contexts. Data collection consisted of 36 qualitative problem-centered interviews. Following an iterative thematic analysis, the authors introduce a research framework of frontline employees' WTC with service robots.FindingsFirst, this study demonstrates that the interaction between frontline employees and service robots is a multistage appraisal process based on adoption-related perceptions. Second, it identifies important attributes across three categories (employee, robot and job attributes) that provide a foundation to understand the appraisal of CSRs. Third, it presents four employee personas (supporter, embracer, resister and saboteur) that provide a differentiated perspective of how service employee–robot collaboration may differ.Practical implicationsThe article identifies important factors that enable and restrict frontline service employees' (FSEs’) WTC with robots.Originality/valueThis is the first paper that investigates the appraisal of CSRs from the perspective of frontline employees. The research contributes to the limited research on human–robot collaboration and expands existing technology acceptance models that fall short to explain post-adoptive coping behavior of service employees in response to service robots in the workplace.
Since the North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) region is currently undergoing a structural change towards a CO2 neutral energy supply, the use of additive manufacturing (AM) can offer great potential to produce in a more sustainable way. AM can also offer opportunities for industry with regard to other aspects, since production complexity can also be reduced, and time-to-market shortened at the same time. Against this background of increasing importance of AM, this study has the focus to find out what competencies an employee in AM should have in order to establish him/herself in this area in the future and successfully use AM in the industry. For this purpose, problem-centered and guided expert interviews were conducted with 19 experts from different industries. The interviews were then transcribed and evaluated using Mayring’s content analysis. A key finding of this work is that knowledge of technology and materials, the ability to part identification, and a basic understanding of the process chain in AM are among the most important hard skills for a future employee in AM. Regarding soft skills, the willingness to openly exchange ideas, the ability to work in a team in conjunction with good communication skills, a conscientious approach to work and the right mindset are emphasized. In conclusion, regarding structural change in NRW, it is clear from the interviews that the experts particularly suggest opportunities in the area of sustainability, but also greater collaboration within companies and universities involved in AM.
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