Lecture 9: Digital Organizational culture Flashcards

Question

Organizational culture theory

Answer 1

- Organizational culture encompasses shared beliefs, values, and norms that shape how members perceive and interact within an organization - AI adoption introduces changes not only in workflows but also in cultural norms and practices - AI fundamentally alters how work is performed, potentially disrupting established norms - Culture is not static but evolves through interactions between individuals and organizational systems - Technology both shapes and is shaped by organizational culture, creating a dynamic interplay

Answer 2

- AI technologies significantly enhance efficiency by automating routine tasks and augmenting decision-making - Streamlines workflows, reduces manual errors, increases operational efficiency - Allows reallocation of resources from repetitive tasks to strategic initiatives - Employees can focus on high-value activities requiring creativity and critical thinking

Answer 3

- AI enables organizations to harness vast amounts of data for actionable insights - Machine learning algorithms analyze complex datasets, identify patterns, provide recommendations - Empowers organizations to anticipate market trends, identify growth opportunities, mitigate risks

Answer 4

- AI enables real-time analysis of customer data and preferences - Natural language processing and recommendation algorithms tailor products, services, and marketing - Enhances customer satisfaction, loyalty, and retention

Answer 5

- AI enables exploration of previously unattainable business models - Organizations can create new value propositions and monetize data assets - Diversifies income sources and increases resilience to market disruptions

Answer 6

- Resistance stems from fear of the unknown and anxiety about negative impacts - Employees may feel threatened by technological disruption, fearing job displacement - Resistance manifests as skepticism, pushback, and reluctance to embrace AI initiatives - Can impede adoption, delay timelines, and reduce return on investment - Mitigation requires transparent communication, reassurance about human value, and upskilling opportunities

Answer 7

- AI raises ethical dilemmas about privacy, transparency, and algorithmic biases - Ethical concerns can undermine trust, integrity, and reputation - Neglecting ethical implications can lead to legal liabilities and reputational damage - Requires development of ethical frameworks, governance mechanisms, and accountability structures

Answer 8

- Leaders play pivotal role in articulating vision for AI integration - Inadequate leadership can lead to confusion, resistance, and disengagement - Leaders must demonstrate commitment, transparency, and empathy - Failure to communicate rationale for AI adoption increases resistance - Clear direction and support throughout adoption process is essential

Answer 9

- AI integration requires specialized skills in data science, machine learning, and AI engineering - Global shortage of AI talent creates recruitment and retention challenges - Skills gaps can impede implementation, limit innovation, and hinder growth - Requires investment in training, partnerships with educational institutions, and talent acquisition strategies

Answer 10

- Effective change management is crucial for AI-driven cultural transformation - Aligning AI initiatives with organizational strategy is essential for long-term success - Organizations must implement proactive strategies that align technological integration with cultural values - Fostering a culture of learning, transparency, and accountability is important - Inclusive decision-making and clear communication channels mitigate resistance - Employee engagement and ownership of AI initiatives facilitate cultural adaptation - Case studies across healthcare and manufacturing show complex interplay between AI adoption and cultural transformation

Answer 11

1. Promote cultural alignment by integrating AI adoption into broader cultural initiatives 2. Address barriers through transparent communication and robust governance frameworks 3. Invest in training and development to build necessary skills and capabilities 4. Ensure AI adoption aligns with existing cultural values 5. Invest in continuous learning and upskilling programs 6. Involve employees at all levels in the AI adoption process 7. Establish clear ethical guidelines and policies 8. Promote a culture of innovation and experimentation 9. Continuously monitor and evaluate AI's impact on organizational culture 10. Facilitate cross-functional collaboration 11. Maintain balance between AI-driven efficiency and meaningful human interactions

Answer 12

The integration of AI into organizational work practices offers substantial benefits while requiring strategic alignment with organizational culture. Key takeaways: - Cultural alignment and change management are critical for successful AI integration - Organizations must address barriers to adoption to unlock AI's full potential - Leaders must prioritize cultural alignment, organizational development, and continuous improvement - Embracing these principles positions organizations for success in the future of work

Answer 13

proactive perspective that focuses not just on how humans need to adapt to technology, but how work designs and technology can be adapted to better meet human needs, competencies, and values

Answer 14

- **Fourth Industrial Revolution**: Highlights the core role of AI and machine learning, with a shift of agency from humans to technology as systems become capable of self-directed learning [[3]] - **Ubiquitous Computing**: Computer sensors and devices are linked to objects, people, and environments, "weaving themselves into the fabric of everyday life" (Weiser, 1991) [[3]] - **Hyperconnected and Data Saturated World**: Refers to the automatic collection of vast amounts of digital data as technology becomes part of all work-related activities [[3-4]] - **STARA**: Smart Technology, Artificial Intelligence, Robotics, and Algorithms that collectively reshape where people work, information access, collaboration patterns, and work designs

Answer 15

Unlike previous technological revolutions, the combination of big data and AI enables machines to substitute humans in cognitive and higher-skill domains. Complex cognitive tasks and knowledge work are increasingly being automated [[4]]. AI-based systems can "learn on their own," reshaping the interaction between technology and humans in unprecedented ways

Answer 16

1. There is a sound body of knowledge on the relationship between work design and outcomes 2. Effects of digital technologies on work design are not deterministic but depend on various factors 3. Organizations can actively make choices to improve technology's effect on work design

Answer 17

- Allows individuals to actively manage demands (stress perspective) - Enhances meaning and motivation at work (job characteristics model) - Supports efficient decision-making (sociotechnical systems perspective) [[5]] Two types of autonomy/control are identified: 1. **Decision-making as part of work processes**: Including influence over general decisions, timing of tasks, and work methods [[8]] 2. **Choice over where and when to work**: Related to flexible working patterns

Answer 18

**Positive effects** of technology on autonomy: - Enables decentralized decision-making through wider distribution of information - Technology-enabled work practices like agile development can increase job autonomy - Internet-enabled knowledge supports enhanced self-organization [[8]] **Negative effects** of technology on autonomy: - "Out of the loop" performance problems where operators become unable to detect system errors - "Automation surprises" where actions performed by automated systems are unexpected - Algorithmic management reducing employee control - Expectations for constant connectivity reducing control over work-life boundaries

Answer 19

approaches aim to ensure technological systems are transparent and predictable, with adequate means for workers to influence technical processes

Answer 20

Refers to doing varied, meaningful tasks that make good use of people's skills, including task variety, skill variety, job complexity, job challenge, task identity, and task significance

Answer 21

**Positive effects** of technology on skill variety: - Replacement of "dull, dirty, and dangerous" work - Replacement of routine cognitive tasks - Growth of highly skilled jobs with few algorithmic components [[12]] **Negative effects** of technology on skill variety: - Increased standardization of tasks - Automation-caused decline in active use of skills with increased monitoring - Technology-enabled "micro-tasks" that lack meaning and interest

Answer 22

Promotes "knowledge of results" which enhances motivation and enables learning and effective performance

Answer 23

**Positive effects** of technology on feedback: - Wearables and devices providing customized feedback - Information technology enabling information to be devolved to employees - Algorithmic management providing "objective" feedback [[13-14]] **Negative effects** of technology on feedback: - Reduced feedback impairing situation awareness - Reduced opportunities for learning due to automation - Algorithmically mediated feedback that is punitive or biased

Answer 24

- "Automate" focuses on replacing human effort and skill - "Informate" deliberately uses information generated by automated processes to provide feedback to workers

Answer 25

Include social contact, social support, interdependence, and contact with beneficiaries

Answer 26

**Positive effects** of technology on social aspects: - Technology-mediated communication supporting social connections - Social media buffering against loneliness for remote workers - Technologies enhancing coordination across distributed work [[15]] **Negative effects** of technology on social aspects: - Virtual workers having difficulties establishing bonds and social content - Problems with coordination when interacting through technologies - Limited opportunity for interaction with supervisors or peers - Technology-mediated communication that impairs connections

Answer 27

Physical, psychological, social, or organizational aspects of work requiring sustained effort or skills

Answer 28

**Effects of technology on cognitive demands**: - Sometimes results in more stimulating work (when low-skill components are automated) - Sometimes results in less stimulating work (when workers become "stop gaps") [[16-17]] **Effects on physical demands**: - Automation reducing heavy manual work - More computer-related work increasing musculoskeletal disorders [[17]] **Effects on workload**: - "Time-saving" electronic systems often paradoxically increasing employee workload - Variation in workload due to automation (from underload to rapid overload) [[17]] **Performance monitoring demands**: - Growth of sensors, big data, and algorithmic management enabling unprecedented tracking - Electronic performance monitoring creating surveillance demands

Answer 29

1. Work design is valuable for understanding technology effects 2. There is no predetermined effect of technology on work design 3. Many factors shaping technology's impact reflect "choices" about work roles 4. Need to proactively shape both work implementation and technology design 5. Both macro-level forces (policies) and micro-level forces (individual skills) matter

Answer 30

1. **Proactive design of work roles when implementing technology** (Strategy A) - Work design issues should be actively considered during technology implementation - Consistent with sociotechnical systems principle of joint optimization [[19]] 2. **Considering human-centered principles in technology development, design & procurement** (Strategy B) - Human, legal, and ethical aspects should be considered upfront in technology development - Sociotechnical thinking should be used in a more predictive capacity [[20]] 3. **Policy-level changes to support better work design & human-centered approaches** (Strategy C) - Higher-level policies and regulations needed to ensure safe, healthy, and meaningful work - Examples include principles for robotics, data protection, and workplace innovation initiatives [[20-21]] 4. **Education & training** (Strategy D) - Upskilling employees to help them adapt to technology change - Educating stakeholders about work design - Training employees in job crafting

Answer 31

1. **Continued focus on job autonomy** given new challenges: - Examining redistribution of control and accountability - Building trust in automation as transparency decreases - Understanding effects of algorithmic decision-making [[22]] 2. **Renewed attention to other work characteristics**: - How skills will be preserved as automation extends to new domains - Variation in workload in routine versus non-routine situations - Effects of configurations or profiles of work characteristics [[22-23]] 3. **More attention to antecedents of work design**: - Design mindsets and behaviors of different stakeholders - Factors affecting stakeholders' work design mindsets - Role of individual job crafting within technology contexts [[23]] 4. **Bring back sociotechnical thinking**: - Designing technologies to accommodate human needs - Developing appropriate design criteria - Learning from sectors where sociotechnical approaches are more advanced

Answer 32

1. **More interdisciplinary research**: - Working with researchers from other disciplines - Integrating knowledge from human factors, design thinking, information systems, and labor economics [[25]] 2. **Detailed studies of work in context**: - Getting "closer to the work" through observations and analyses - Understanding complex interactions between work design, technology, and other factors [[25]] 3. **More intervention research**: - Working alongside managers and designers to redesign work - In-depth case studies with longitudinal tracking [[25-26]] 4. **Increase incentives for different types of research**: - Funding schemes requiring collaboration between technical and social sciences - Positive evaluation of publishing in multidisciplinary journals

Answer 33

1. **Strengthen design focus in work and organizational psychology education**: - Reverse trend favoring organizational psychology over work psychology - Train psychologists to help organizations make better work design choices [[26-27]] 2. **Reach out to policy-makers**: - Help shape the wider agenda around technology and work - Push for greater investment in workplace innovation

Answer 34

The authors conclude that while new technologies can both improve and worsen work designs, technocentric perspectives still dominate despite many technological failures. The relationship between humans and AI is fundamentally different from past human-technology relationships, as both now have agency. This requires a revitalized focus on the joint consideration of technology, people, and organizations to create work that is both healthy and productive

Answer 35

The introduction of this research report establishes the growing concern about robots in the workplace. While robots can enhance productivity and create new jobs, there's significant public anxiety about robots replacing human workers. The authors note that despite widespread discussion about automation's impact on employment, relatively little empirical research has directly assessed how employees react to robots in the workplace. The authors highlight three key contributions of their work: 1. Addressing the call for research on employee-robot interactions 2. Examining downstream behavioral costs (burnout and workplace incivility) of exposure to robots 3. Testing a psychological intervention (self-affirmation) to mitigate negative effects

Answer 36

The authors define exposure to robots as "being exposed, either physically or psychologically, to robots that take physical forms regardless of how autonomous the robots are" [[2]]. This definition: - Focuses on embodied robots (with physical forms) - Includes both physical and psychological exposure - Does not distinguish between AI-equipped and pre-programmed robots The authors chose this definition because: - Reactions to embodied technological agents differ from reactions to disembodied agents - This focus excludes algorithms and computerized programs - Laypeople don't commonly encounter highly autonomous robots - People's perceptions of robots are driven more by appearance than actual autonomy

Answer 37

The theoretical foundation for the hypotheses is cognitive appraisal theory of stress (Lazarus & Folkman, 1984). Key components of this theory as applied to robots include: - Job insecurity as a subjective appraisal process - Individuals appraise stimuli as either goal-congruent or goal-incongruent - Goal-incongruent appraisals trigger negative reactions like stress - Assessment of coping potential affects specific reactions

Answer 38

Hypothesis 1: Exposure to robots is positively associated with a sense of job insecurity. (robots are more efficient, awareness of robots capabilites which are advancing rapidly) Hypothesis 2: The relationship between exposure to robots and (a) burnout and (b) workplace incivility is mediated by a heightened sense of job insecurity (job insecure employees must divert energy to protect existing resources, which creates a loss spiral of resources leading to burnout, can be deviant to regain control) Hypothesis 3: Self-affirmation moderates the effect of exposure to robots on a heightened sense of job insecurity such that the relationship is weakened when people practice self-affirmation (self-affirmation buffers stress by making the self more resilient to threats, affirm self-worth and ability to confront workplace changes)

Answer 39

- Pilot studies : Showed robots are uniquely associated with job insecurity compared to other threats - Study 1: Archival analysis of robot density and job insecurity across U.S. metropolitan areas (compare variations in robot density with variations in job-related search terms) - Study 2: Preregistered experiment exposing people to the idea of robots at work - Study 3: Field study of engineers who interact with robots daily (experience sampling before, middle and after work) - Study 4: Online experiment testing self-affirmation as an intervention (2*2 with some having robot exposure vs control and self-affirmation vs control, wrote about top-ranked characteristics and values)

Answer 40

1. Job insecurity was positively associated with robot density across all years, but density but associated with actual unemployment rates so they did not cause job losses 2. those in experimental condition had higher job insecurity compared to mere exposure, more likely to select online career services 3. daily robot adoption was positively associated with daily job insecurity, which was linked to burnout and incivility, significant indirect effects of daily burnout through job insecurity and incivility through insecurity 4. those in robot exposure condition had higher job insecurity than controls, significant interaction between robot exposure and self-affirmation, effect of exposure on job insecurity was stronger for participants without self-affirmation than without

Answer 41

- The studies demonstrate that exposure to robots increases job insecurity across various contexts and cultures - This job insecurity leads to burnout and workplace incivility - While robots may offer benefits (reduced personnel costs), they also have psychological costs - The findings apply to both low-skilled and intellectually demanding jobs - Interestingly, robot prevalence was not associated with actual unemployment, suggesting job insecurity may be more subjective than objective

Answer 42

- Organizations introducing robots should be mindful of potential negative effects on employees - Self-affirmation interventions can significantly mitigate these negative effects - Managers should encourage self-affirmation when implementing robotic technologies

Answer 43

- Need for research on whether robots affect job performance (preliminary findings suggest positive effects) - Did not distinguish between robots with different levels of "humanness" - Focused only on embodied robots, not algorithms - Did not test whether self-affirmation moderates the mediation effects (job insecurity → burnout/incivility)

Answer 44

The authors conclude that uncertainty about robots' impact on future society is itself unnerving. While technology has changed work, human reactions remain consistent: "We still fear that a workplace with robots is a workplace without us" [[11]]. This research provides robust evidence across multiple studies, cultures, and methodologies that exposure to robots increases job insecurity, which in turn leads to maladaptive workplace behaviors. However, self-affirmation interventions can help mitigate these negative effects.

Lecture 9: Digital Organizational culture Flashcards

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