Automation as Management of Paradoxical Tensions: The Role of Industrial Engineering

Francesco Virili () and Cristiano Ghiringhelli ()
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Francesco Virili: University of Sassari
Cristiano Ghiringhelli: University of Milano-Bicocca

A chapter in Organizing for the Digital World, 2019, pp 7-21 from Springer

Abstract: Abstract In this paper, we explored the introduction of an automated parcel sorting system in a major company in the logistic and parcel delivery industry. Adopting a Grounded Theory approach, we carried out a study that highlighted profound and unexpected organizational implications and management challenges connected to the introduction of the new technology. Our analysis revealed the key role of the Industrial Engineering function as a change agent in devising and managing the introduction of the automated system. In particular, Industrial Engineering actually managed the organizational change by determining the right balance between several opposite dimensions (manual vs. automated; planned vs. emergent; local vs. global). Handling these tensions with a holistic approach may constitute a crucial factor for the change program effectiveness. Contrasting our findings with extant literature, we found resonance with latest works on ambidexterity, interpreted as a firm’s ability to manage tensions. The resulting outcome is a substantive grounded theory of ambidexterity in an automation enhancement program.

Keywords: Automation; Ambidexterity; Grounded theory; Industrial engineering; Change management; Tensions (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:spr:lnichp:978-3-319-90503-7_2

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DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-90503-7_2

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