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This paper aims to provide a comprehensive review of the literature examining the relationship between automation and employment, with a focus on understanding the debates of automation displacement and enablement, and the mediating role of employee augmentation in driving organisational productivity.

A semi-systematic literature review was conducted across the areas of automation, work-design and employee skills over the past 3 years.

The academic literature was found to still be in its infancy, with empirical evidence in an organisational setting scarce. However, research suggests that automation does not cause job displacement or a negative impact on employment. In contrast, data suggest that automation leads to new job creation, task enlargement and skills enhancement. The findings suggest that organisations should employ augmentation alongside automation to drive productivity, in a way that promotes strong work-design, builds trust and leverages human creativity. A further recommendation is made for organisations to focus on continuous upskilling to combat the shortening shelf-life of skills and adapt to the constant change brought around by advances in automation.

Through a synthesis of diverse perspectives and academic evidence, this paper contributes to the nuanced understanding of the complexities surrounding automation and its impact on employment. This literature review underscores the need for organisational strategies that leverage augmentation to harness productivity savings, alongside a renewed focus on widespread employee skills enhancement. In addition to creating new recommendations for practitioners and organisational leaders, this paper also furthers the research agenda through a list of research gaps for scholarly attention.

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic organisations are adapting to a new environment of global talent shortages, economic uncertainty and geo-political turmoil. As an outcome, the organisational strategies of digital transformation and remote working have been accelerated in the race to boost innovation, competitivity and attract staff. This has led to the rise of two new organisational dynamics: the increase of virtual teams (VTs) and focus on widespread work automation. However, despite the rise of these two related phenomena, literature does not connect them as one research area, and there is a gap in the understanding of the new employee wellbeing needs they form and how to respond to them. This paper aims to bridge this gap through a systematic literature across these areas.

This paper conducts a systematic literature review across the areas of leadership, VTs and automation over the past three years.

In this review, a number of newly arising employee wellbeing needs are identified such as fear of job displacement, a lack of self-efficacy and social cohesion, poor relationships with leaders and more. In addition, this paper recommends three fundamental research gaps to be addressed by future studies: 1. How to build and cultivate the new leadership skills needed to support VTs and workplace automation? 2. How to design work in a way that caters for employee wellbeing needs when operating in VTs or hybrid teams and working on or with workplace automation? 3. How to design work in a way that builds and emphasises the new employee skillsets to support augmentation and solves for the new employee wellbeing needs experienced by workplace automation?

This paper provides a novel contribution to literature by centralising current schools of thought across the cross-disciplinary themes and synthesising literature to recommend new wellbeing and leadership skills for organisations to focus on, alongside producing a new research agenda for scholars to focus.

This study aims to examine the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) adoption on job insecurity and its subsequent effect on turnover intentions within the hotel industry. It investigated how AI-induced job insecurity affects the likelihood of employees considering leaving their current hotel jobs for other hotels or for opportunities outside the hotel sector, mediated by feelings of job stress and insecurity.

Quantitative data analysis used 259 responses from frontline hotel employees. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to explore the factor structure and assess model fit indices. Structural equation modeling was then applied to test the hypotheses.

Findings reveal that AI awareness has a positive impact on job stress and insecurity. Moreover, job insecurity is found to positively affect turnover intentions, with a notably stronger effect observed for turnover intentions toward non-hotel companies. Additionally, the influence of social capital as a moderator on the relationship between job insecurity and turnover intention varies depending on the specific dimensions of turnover intention.

This study contributes to enhancing both theoretical frameworks and empirical insights into turnover dynamics within the hotel sector. However, future research should take into account employees’ positions, roles, organizations and career levels by examining these factors in relation to technology awareness, job stress, job insecurity and turnover intention.

This study initially focuses on the phenomenon of dynamic turnover issues within the hospitality sector, offering empirical and practical perspectives on effectively integrating new technologies and managing human resources amidst the automation and AI era.

本研究探讨了人工智能（AI）应用对酒店业工作不安全感的影响, 以及其对员工流失意向的后续影响。研究调查了AI引发的工作不安全感如何通过工作压力和不安全感的感受影响员工考虑离开当前酒店工作、转投其他酒店或者寻求酒店行业外的机会。

本研究采用了259名一线酒店员工的定量数据分析。采用验证性因子分析（CFA）探索因子结构并评估模型拟合指标。随后, 应用结构方程模型（SEM）来检验假设。

研究结果显示, AI意识对工作压力和不安全感有积极影响。此外, 工作不安全感被发现对员工流失意向产生正向影响, 尤其是对转投非酒店公司的流失意向影响更为显著。此外, 社会资本作为调节变量对工作不安全感与流失意向之间的关系的影响取决于流失意向的具体维度。

本研究有助于加强酒店业人才流失动态的理论框架和实证见解。然而, 未来研究应考虑员工的职位、角色、组织和职业水平, 通过研究这些因素与技术意识、工作压力、工作不安全感和流失意向之间的关系。

本研究首次聚焦于酒店业中动态人才流失问题的现象, 提供了在自动化和人工智能时代有效整合新技术并管理人力资源的实证和实践观点。

This interview study examines Hungarian journalists' and copywriters' expectations of generative AI’s impact on their professions and factors influencing these views during a period of hype.

While acknowledging the specialized knowledge of journalists and copywriters relative to the general public, the study employs the sociology of expectations framework to interpret their anticipations not as objective forecasts of the future, but rather as phenomena shaped by diverse influences. The research comprises 30 semi-structured interviews conducted in spring 2023 to explore these expectations and their contributing factors.

Results reveal ChatGPT’s media coverage as pivotal, encouraging the professionals interviewed to experiment with AI, reassess their roles, and cause a shift in their job expectations. At the same time, this shift was limited. Skepticism about hyperbolic media formulations, their own experiences with ChatGPT and projecting its constraints into the future, contextual factors, and optimism bias contributed to moderating their expectations. They perceived AI as an enhancer of efficiency and quality, not as a radical disruptor. Copywriters were more open to integrating AI in their work, than journalists.

The results underscore the importance of further research to explore subjective experiences associated with technological change, particularly considering their complex social, psychological, and cultural influences.

The study uniquely contributes to the sociology of expectations by highlighting how a complex interplay of factors can shape professionals' anticipation of the impact of AI on their careers, including optimism bias and media hype.

In an era where sustainability and digital transformation are becoming indispensable pillars of successful business operations, this chapter explores the potent synergy between these two paradigms. As businesses strive to align their operations with Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) goals, digital transformation emerges as a powerful enabler. This chapter delves into how digital technologies are not only revolutionizing traditional business models but are also paving the way toward more sustainable practices. From data-driven decision-making to improved resource management, this chapter discusses the diverse ways in which digital transformation contributes to sustainability. It also offers an in-depth analysis of real-world case studies, illustrating how businesses have successfully integrated digital transformation in their pursuit of sustainability. Recognizing the potential roadblocks, this chapter also addresses the challenges businesses may face in this journey, including cybersecurity risks, data privacy issues, and the need for technological literacy. It further presents strategies to navigate these challenges and underscores the importance of preparedness in managing potential risks. Finally, this chapter ventures into the future of digital transformation, evaluating current trends and predictions, and their potential impact on sustainable business practices.

Based on a quantitative investigation, this paper endeavors to examine Industry 4.0 (I4.0) adoption process by studying the impacts of absorptive capacity (AC) and innovative ambidexterity (exploration, exploitation), while also considering the moderating influence of learning capability (LC).

Data has been gathered through administering questionnaire to 468 managers representing 175 manufacturing firms. Subsequently, PLS-SEM technique has been employed to verify the research hypotheses.

Study findings reveal that AC is significantly associated with I4.0 adoption and innovation ambidexterity. However, innovation ambidexterity demonstrates partial (only exploration) significant association with the adoption of I4.0. Similarly, the findings indicate that LC acts as a partial moderator between innovation ambidexterity (exploration) and I4.0 adoption.

The study presents significant insights into I4.0 adoption process. The findings may support managers of manufacturing firms to understand and assess the influence of integrating contextual factors facilitating successful adoption of I4.0. The study emphasizes necessity of managers’ awareness regarding the importance of firm’s AC to transform smoothly to I4.0 technologies. In addition to, encouraging the innovation ambidexterity along with LC to enhance the adoption of I4.0.

While researchers demonstrate increasing interest in applying I4.0, concrete evidence to support the I4.0 adoption process is, still, insufficient due to ongoing challenges in digital transformation. Consequently, further research is needed, particularly in exploring how a firm’s ability to realize knowledge and foster innovation contributes to implementing I4.0. This paper seeks to tackle this lack of research by examining the connection between AC, innovation ambidexterity, and LC and the adoption of I4.0 in an emerging economy.

The purpose of this study is to comprehensively examine the ethical implications surrounding generative artificial intelligence (AI).

Leveraging a novel methodological approach, the study curates a corpus of 364 documents from Scopus spanning 2022 to 2024. Using the term frequency-inverse document frequency (TF-IDF) and structural topic modeling (STM), it quantitatively dissects the thematic essence of the ethical discourse in generative AI across diverse domains, including education, healthcare, businesses and scientific research.

The results reveal a diverse range of ethical concerns across various sectors impacted by generative AI. In academia, the primary focus is on issues of authenticity and intellectual property, highlighting the challenges of AI-generated content in maintaining academic integrity. In the healthcare sector, the emphasis shifts to the ethical implications of AI in medical decision-making and patient privacy, reflecting concerns about the reliability and security of AI-generated medical advice. The study also uncovers significant ethical discussions in educational and financial settings, demonstrating the broad impact of generative AI on societal and professional practices.

This study provides a foundation for crafting targeted ethical guidelines and regulations for generative AI, informed by a systematic analysis using STM. It highlights the need for dynamic governance and continual monitoring of AI’s evolving ethical landscape, offering a model for future research and policymaking in diverse fields.

The study introduces a unique methodological combination of TF-IDF and STM to analyze a large academic corpus, offering new insights into the ethical implications of generative AI across multiple domains.

The purpose of the study is to investigate the impact of artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), and data science (DS) on unemployment rates across ten high-income economies from 2015 to 2023.

This study takes a unique approach by employing a dynamic panel data (DPD) model with a generalised method of moments (GMM) estimator to address potential biases. The methodology includes extensive validation through Sargan, Hansen, and Arellano-Bond tests, ensuring the robustness of the results and adding a novel perspective to the field of AI and unemployment dynamics.

The study’s findings are paramount, challenging prevailing concerns in AI, ML, and DS, demonstrating an insignificant impact on unemployment and contradicting common fears of job loss due to these technologies. The analysis also reveals a positive correlation (0.298) between larger government size and higher unemployment, suggesting bureaucratic inefficiencies that may hinder job growth. Conversely, a negative correlation (−0.201) between increased labour productivity and unemployment suggests that technological advancements can promote job creation by enhancing efficiency. These results refute the notion that technology inherently leads to job losses, positioning AI and related technologies as drivers of innovation and expansion within the labour market.

The study’s findings suggest a promising outlook, positioning AI as a catalyst for the expansion and metamorphosis of employment rather than solely a catalyst for automation and job displacement. This insight presents a significant opportunity for AI and related technologies to improve labour markets and strategically mitigate unemployment. To harness the benefits of technological progress effectively, authorities and enterprises must carefully evaluate the balance between government spending and its impact on unemployment. This proposed strategy can potentially reinvent governmental initiatives and stimulate investment in AI, thereby bolstering economic and labour market reliability.

The results provide significant perspectives for policymakers and direct further investigations on the influence of AI on labour markets. The analysis results contradict the common belief of technology job loss. The study’s results are shown to be reliable by the Sargan, Hansen, and Arellano-Bond tests. It adds to the discussion on the role of AI in the future of work, proposing a detailed effect of AI on employment and promoting a strategic method for integrating AI into the labour market.