Effects of Robots Development on Employees Perception of Human-Robots Collaboration in Hospitality Industry

Robotics technology has transformed the work environment toward automation and affects employees’ assessment of robots. Therefore, this dissertation aims to examine whether the introduction of robots influences employees’ behavioral intentions to use robots and awareness of robots to promote human-robot collaboration (HRC). Besides, the role of strategic human resource management (HRM) involvement as a moderator in the perception of robots as a team member was investigated. This thesis followed a quantitative method to examine employees’ behavioral intentions to use robots and awareness of robots in promoting human-robot collaboration (HRC), and 500 data were collected from hospitality employees via the Amazon Mechanical Turk platform in the USA. After data cleaning, 329 valid responses were analyzed. Partial least squares structural equation modeling was applied using Smart PLS Ver. 3.0 to test the study’s measurement and proposed research model. The dissertation results show that robots’ perceived usefulness and ease of use positively increase employees’ behavioral intentions to use robots. In addition, the advantages and disadvantages of robots have a positive impact on robot awareness. Employees’ behavioral intentions and awareness contribute positively to human robot collaboration. On the other hand, the moderating role of strategic HR’s involvement in the relationships was insignificant. Based on the literature review, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is one of the first on this topic. It extends TAM with new antecedents related to robot use, robot awareness, and HRC in the travel, tourism, and hospitality (TTH) industry. In addition, this model attempts to determine the factors that favor HRC in the industry. The study results reveal important implications for strengthening human robot cooperation in the tourism and hospitality industry. Keywords: Service Robot, Robot Adoption, Robot Awareness, Human-Robot Collaboration, Strategic HRM, Hospitality Industry