The Organizational Implications of Robotics
Support for this ~esea~ch was provided by gI'ants from the Program on the
Social Impacts of Information and Robotic Technology at Carnegie-Mellon
University to both authors a,d by a grant f~om the National Science
Foundation (No. RII-840991) to the fi~st author. Parts of this chapter were wri tten while the fi~st autho~ was on leave in the Department of
Industrial Engineering and Engineering Management at Stanfo~d Unive~sity. Robots are bei~g i~troduced i~ i~creasi~g ~umbers throughout the world. While o~ly a few hundred robots were used i~ the U~ited States
1970,7,000 were in use in 1983 (Ayres & Miller, 1983; Hunt & Hunt, (983).
Forecasts of how many robots will be used in 1990 i~ the U~ited States range between 75,000 and 150,000 (Hunt & Hunt, 1983). Little is known, however, about how individual employees react to the introduction of robots or about the changes needed in organizations to support robotics. Our research focuses on ~~derstandi~g the human side of robotics--how individuals react to robots, how and when organizations should be modified to support t'obotics, and what effective strategies are for the implementation of robotics.
The Robot Institute of America defines a robot as a programmable, multifunctional manipulator designed to move objects through variable programmed motions to perform a variety of tasks (Robot Institute of
America, 1982). Two characteristics dHfet'entiate t'obots from most other forms of automation: multiple task capability and programmability. The robots used most frequently in U.S. factories today, in jobs that involve moving material, welding, drilling, or spray painting, are called level I
Ot' first-generation robots. Researchers are now in the process of developing t'obots, known as level II or second-generation robots, with more sophisticated sensing and thinking capabilities. For example, a level II robot that is capable of identifying the location of parts of different
Social Impacts of Information and Robotic Technology at Carnegie-Mellon
University to both authors a,d by a grant f~om the National Science
Foundation (No. RII-840991) to the fi~st author. Parts of this chapter were wri tten while the fi~st autho~ was on leave in the Department of
Industrial Engineering and Engineering Management at Stanfo~d Unive~sity. Robots are bei~g i~troduced i~ i~creasi~g ~umbers throughout the world. While o~ly a few hundred robots were used i~ the U~ited States
1970,7,000 were in use in 1983 (Ayres & Miller, 1983; Hunt & Hunt, (983).
Forecasts of how many robots will be used in 1990 i~ the U~ited States range between 75,000 and 150,000 (Hunt & Hunt, 1983). Little is known, however, about how individual employees react to the introduction of robots or about the changes needed in organizations to support robotics. Our research focuses on ~~derstandi~g the human side of robotics--how individuals react to robots, how and when organizations should be modified to support t'obotics, and what effective strategies are for the implementation of robotics.
The Robot Institute of America defines a robot as a programmable, multifunctional manipulator designed to move objects through variable programmed motions to perform a variety of tasks (Robot Institute of
America, 1982). Two characteristics dHfet'entiate t'obots from most other forms of automation: multiple task capability and programmability. The robots used most frequently in U.S. factories today, in jobs that involve moving material, welding, drilling, or spray painting, are called level I
Ot' first-generation robots. Researchers are now in the process of developing t'obots, known as level II or second-generation robots, with more sophisticated sensing and thinking capabilities. For example, a level II robot that is capable of identifying the location of parts of different