Managing change in the era of Artificial Intelligence

: the impact of communicating human-robot collaboration on informational justice and turnover intentions

Abstract

The rise of Industry 4.0 is leading to the increasing integration of artificial intelligence (AI) and robots in the workplace, a change often associated with undesired emotional and behavioral responses, such as employee turnover. This study aims to understand how communication from different leadership positions, namely the CEO and the direct supervisor, can influence
employee turnover intentions and perceptions of informational justice after being informed about the introduction of AI robot teammates. In addition, this study examines whether the timing of communication has a moderation effect. A quantitative research method was conducted to assess the effects and interactions between the independent and dependent variables using a survey with an experimental research design. The results indicate that
informational justice significantly impacts employee turnover intentions. In contrast, no significant relationship was found between the source of communication on turnover intentions and informational justice and no moderation effect of the timing of the communication. However, the timing of communication was found to have a significant impact on informational
justice. This study contributes to the growing literature on human-robot collaboration and provides valuable insights on relevant communication factors in organizational change to mitigate employee concerns and turnover intentions in the face of technological advancements.

Date of Award	20 Oct 2023
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Filipa de Almeida (Supervisor)