Search results

Robotic process automation (RPA) has recently emerged as a technology focusing on the automation of repetitive, frequent, voluminous and rule-based tasks. Despite a few practical examples that document successful RPA deployments in organizations, evidence of its economic benefits has been mostly anecdotal. The purpose of this paper is to present a step-by-step method to RPA investment appraisal and a business case demonstrating how the steps can be applied to practice.

The methodology relies on design science research (DSR). The step-by-step method is a design artefact that builds on the mapping of processes and modelling of the associated costs. Due to the longitudinal nature of capital investments, modelling uses discounted cashflow and present value methods. Empirical grounding characteristic to DSR is achieved by field testing the artefact.

The step-by-step method is comprised of a preparatory step, three modelling steps and a concluding step. The modelling consists of compounding the interest rate, discounting the investment costs and establishing measures for comparison. These steps were applied to seven business processes to be automated by the case company, Estate Blend. The decision to deploy RPA was found to be trivial, not only based on the initial case data, but also based on multiple sensitivity analyses that showed how resistant RPA investments are to changing circumstances.

By following the provided step-by-step method, executives and managers can quantify the costs and benefits of RPA. The developed method enables any organization to directly compare investment alternatives against each other and against the probable status quo where many tasks in organizations are still carried out manually with little to no automation.

The paper addresses a growing new domain in the field of business process management by capitalizing on DSR and modelling-based approaches to RPA investment appraisal.

In the past few decades, service offshoring industry has been developing globally, and in the past few years its dynamic growth has been observed in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). Intensive process migrations have been influenced by the primary goal of minimizing operational expenses, at the same time improving service efficiency and gaining access to wide talent pools. The chapter summarizes current state and key development trends of the offshore service delivery sector in the CEE region. Moreover, it aims at contributing to the understanding of corporate culture at the CEE service delivery organizations, which has been the dominant factor influencing their effectiveness and quality of delivery. The exploratory, pilot study conducted at the sample of three organizations from three countries in the region was supposed to examine the organizational culture at CEE nearshore delivery centres, by applying analysis based on seven factors, broken into 26 cultural artefacts. With minor exceptions, the results highlight positive perception of key organizational culture's elements across employees (e.g. communication, goal setting, team work, reward orientation, innovativeness standards). The only negatively assessed element is the performance standards, including their clear definition, coaching for personal improvement of employees and emphasizing good performance of the organizations. The quantitative study is limited to only three sample companies from three countries, therefore extending the research scope is recommended, as well as exploring the link of national culture elements to the employees' perception of organizational relations and culture.