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As a new research interest, robots have surpassed human performance across several aspects. In this research, the authors wish to investigate whether robot adopters perform better than non-adopters in terms of export behavior, especially when distinguishing between different types of firms.

The authors try a new strategy to identify the extent of robot adoption by import data and compare the export trajectories of robot adopters and non-adopters by employing the propensity score matching-difference in difference (PSM-DID) method.

The authors find that robot adopters are more likely to enter export markets and improve subsequent export performance, as the gains from doing so can spread the reduction in variable production costs to a larger customer base abroad. But this rule does not always seem to work; for large-scale firms, robot adoption makes it easier to win export competition and increase market share, while small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) do not seem to enjoy any benefits from adoption. More importantly, robot adoption also leads to the fiercer market competition when improving the productivity of firms, which will threaten smaller non-adopters.

The findings provide new evidence for the scale bias of robotics and offer new insights into whether exporters or future exporters ought to adopt robots in production.

1. First, distinguishing from existing research, we explain the controversial results of previous work on robotics by providing evidence from export markets and using the concept of size bias, which helps to update the theoretical interpretation of robotics and provides new insights for current and future exporters to evaluate their robot adoption decisions.

2. Second, we extend previous research by further considering the potential robotics threats faced by non-adopters, especially we record that export gains of robot adopters are partially at the expense of smaller non-adopters, which provides new evidence for the rationale of SME protection policies and supplements robotics theory with new knowledge, such as the competitive game of firms related to robot adoption.

3. Third, to our knowledge, prior research tended to examine the economic effects of robotics through industry data provided by the IFR, this may lead to systematic bias due to the inability to distinguish the robot adoption intentions of different firms. In this respect, we try a new strategy through robot import data and further distinguish between robot adopters and non-adopters in the sample, which helps to mitigate the potential bias in the findings and provide a complement to the recently developed literature related to robotics.

4. Finally, as we pointed out earlier, robot adoption could be an interesting research work for the Chinese export market, which helps us to obtain some special findings, such as in assessing whether the benefits of robots are equally appropriate for economies that previously had an advantage in terms of labor.

First, distinguishing from existing research, we explain the controversial results of previous work on robotics by providing evidence from export markets and using the concept of size bias, which helps to update the theoretical interpretation of robotics and provides new insights for current and future exporters to evaluate their robot adoption decisions.

Second, we extend previous research by further considering the potential robotics threats faced by non-adopters, especially we record that export gains of robot adopters are partially at the expense of smaller non-adopters, which provides new evidence for the rationale of SME protection policies and supplements robotics theory with new knowledge, such as the competitive game of firms related to robot adoption.

Third, to our knowledge, prior research tended to examine the economic effects of robotics through industry data provided by the IFR, this may lead to systematic bias due to the inability to distinguish the robot adoption intentions of different firms. In this respect, we try a new strategy through robot import data and further distinguish between robot adopters and non-adopters in the sample, which helps to mitigate the potential bias in the findings and provide a complement to the recently developed literature related to robotics.

Finally, as we pointed out earlier, robot adoption could be an interesting research work for the Chinese export market, which helps us to obtain some special findings, such as in assessing whether the benefits of robots are equally appropriate for economies that previously had an advantage in terms of labor.

Given the recent growth of service robot research in hospitality and tourism management (HTM), the purpose of this study is to identify a research agenda by conducting a systematic and holistic review of service robot research published in both HTM and broader business management (BM) journals.

Adopting a service ecosystem perspective, 38 HTM articles and 13 highly cocited BM articles out of 126 BM articles were qualitatively reviewed to analyze the intellectual structures and foundations of robotics research.

The relationships between service robots and the four multilevel actors of the service ecosystem were analyzed: the consumer, employee, management and society. Twenty-eight specific research questions were proposed for the robotics-customer relationship, robotics-employee relationship, robotics-management relationship and robotics-society relationship.

This study contributes to understanding the intellectual structures and evolution of rapidly growing HTM robotics research in terms of the holistic relationships among the four service ecosystem actors of robotics. Future research needs to identify other actors and their activities to examine the service ecosystem of robotics.

This study provides a pathway for future hospitality and tourism research by helping to focus on important robotics issues and further develop the theoretical and empirical knowledge of robotics. This work informs practitioners of key issues associated with the industrial adoption of robots.

The purpose of this paper is to address the role of social robots in the education industry, specifically within special developmental schools, as a part of an innovation technology portfolio. It identifies critical success factors (CSFs) arising from the development, adoption and implementation of social robots to educate students with special needs and assist their teachers.

The study engaged in longitudinal research over 12 months, tracking the role of the Matilda robot in providing educational services to students with special needs.

The results propose a three-faceted framework for social robot application in special education: development, adoption and implementation.

The study has shown the willingness of students and teachers to embrace social robot technology, and the CSF that arise from this adoption. It has also found that social robots achieve the greatest success within the development, adoption and implementation framework when championed by executive management, and peer teacher support.

This study aims to explore the factors affecting customers’ attitudes to the adoption of robots in hotels and travel agencies.

Structural equation modelling was used to test the extended technology acceptance model based on data collected from 570 customers of hotels and travel agencies.

The findings revealed that hotel customers have more positive attitudes to service robots than their peers in travel agencies.

This research contributes to the literature on robots in tourism and responds to the call to investigate customers’ attitudes to the adoption of robots in developing countries.

探究消费者对旅游和酒店业采用机器人的态度

本研究旨在探索影响酒店旅游服务中使用机器人消费者态度的因素

基于570个酒店和旅行社消费者的数据, 运用结构方程来检测TAM延伸模型

研究结果显示酒店消费者比旅行社消费者对服务机器人有更加积极的态度

本研究对以发展中国家为研究背景, 关于消费者对服务机器人的态度的旅游文献做出了贡献

This paper focuses on understanding firm-level determinants of industrial robots' adoption and how these determinants result in heterogenous processes of robotisation across firms within the same sector. The paper presents results from in-depth case studies of final assemblers in the South African automotive sector.

The research has been conducted through multiple case studies with a focus on final assemblers. During the case studies, as well as before and after it, data coming from in-depth semi-structured interviews were triangulated with secondary data available from the international database on industrial robots' adoption and documents provided by firms and institutions.

This paper identifies three firm-level determinants of robotisation – i.e. modularity of the production process, flexibility in the use of technology and stability in product design. The results also showed that firms' robotisation depend on each of these determinants as well as their interdependence. The authors introduce a framework to study interdependence between these technology–organisational choices, which reveals heterogenous patterns of technology deployment and related managerial implications.

This research introduces a new framework on factors driving industrial robotisation – a key digital production technology – and offers empirical evidence of the heterogenous deployment of this technology. The authors identify two main manufacturing approaches to robotisation in the automotive sector: one in which the firm designs a robotised process around a certain product design – i.e. the German/American way and one in which the firm designs its product based on certain robotised processes – i.e. the Japanese way. These findings are valuable for both industry, operational research and the scientific community as they reveal heterogeneity on the “how” of robotisation and implications for manufacturing technology management.

This study aims to propose a research model integrating technology acceptance model 3 (TAM3) constructs and human aspects of humanoid service robots (HSRs), measured by the Godspeed questionnaire series and tested across two hotel properties in Japan and the USA.

Potential participants were approached randomly by email invitation. A final sample size of 395 across two hotels, one in Japan and the other in the USA, was obtained, and the data were analysed using structural equation modelling.

The results confirm that perceived usefulness, driven by subjective norms and output quality, and perceived ease of use, driven by perceived enjoyment and absence of anxiety, are the immediate direct determinants of users’ re-patronage intentions for HSRs. Results also showed that users prefer anthropomorphism, perceived intelligence and the safety of an HSR for reusing it.

The findings have practical implications for the hospitality industry, suggesting multiple attributes of an HSRs that managers need to consider before deploying them in their properties.

The current study proposes an integrated model determining factors that affect the re-patronage of HSRs in hotels.

Human–robot collaboration (HRC) is an emerging research field for the construction industry along with construction robot adoption, but its implementation remains limited in construction sites. This paper aims to identify critical risk factors and their interactions of HRC implementation during engineering project construction.

Literature research, expert interviews, a questionnaire survey and a social network analysis (SNA) method were used. First, literature research and expert interviews were employed to identify risk factors of HRC implementation and preliminarily understand factor interactions. Second, a questionnaire survey was conducted to determine the degree of interactions between risk factors. Third, based on the data collected from the questionnaire survey, SNA metrics were used to find critical risk factors and critical interactions.

The critical risk factors consist of robot technology reliability, robot-perceived level, conflict between designers and users of construction robots, organisational culture, organisational strength, project cost requirements, changeability of project construction, project quality requirements and project safety requirements. The interactions between risk factors are strong and complex. Robot technology risk factors were relatively fundamental risk factors, and project risk factors had a direct influence on the risk of HRC implementation. The implementation cost of HRC was not identified as a critical risk factor. Individual risk factors could be mitigated by improving technical and organisational factors.

This paper contributes to the body of knowledge in the field of both HRC behaviours and its risk management in construction project management. Identifying the critical risk factors and their interactions of HRC implementation in the construction industry and introducing social network theory to the research on critical risk factors are the innovations of this paper. The findings and proposed suggestions could help construction professionals to better understand the HRC risk factors and to manage the risk of HRC implementation more effectively.

This paper aims to explore the implications of integrating humanoid service robots into hospitality service encounters by evaluating two service prototypes using Softbank Robotics’ popular service robot Pepper™: to provide information (akin to a receptionist) and to facilitate order-taking (akin to a server). Drawing both studies together, the paper puts forward novel, theory-informed yet context-rooted design principles for humanoid robot adoption in hospitality service encounters.

Adopting a multiple method qualitative approach, two service prototypes are evaluated with hospitality and tourism experts (N = 30, Prototype 1) and frontline hospitality employees (N = 18, Prototype 2) using participant observation, in situ feedback, semi-structured interviews and photo-elicitation.

The adoption of humanoid service robots in hospitality is influenced by the following four layers of determinants: contextual, social, interactional and psychological factors, as well as extrinsic and intrinsic drivers of adoption. These empirical findings both confirm and extend previous conceptualizations of human-robot interaction (HRI) in hospitality service.

Despite using photo-elicitation to evoke insight regarding the use of different types of service robots in hospitality, the paper mostly focuses on anthropomorphized service robots such as Pepper™.

Adopting humanoid service robots will transform hospitality operations, whereby the most routine, unpleasant tasks such as taking repeat orders or dealing with complaints may be delegated to service robots or human-robot teams.

Working with and receiving service from Pepper™ changes the service encounter from direct practical, technical considerations to more nuanced social and psychological implications, particularly around feelings of self-esteem, social pressure and social judgment.

This paper presents one of the first empirical studies on HRI in hospitality service encounters using Softbank Robotics’ Pepper™. In doing so, the paper presents a novel framework for service robot adoption rooted in first-hand user interaction as opposed to previous, theory-driven conceptualizations of behavior or empirical studies exploring behavioral intention.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate service robots as an alternative service provider that can reduce customers’ social discomfort in hospitality service encounters. Specifically, the authors discuss when and in what scenarios service robots can alleviate such social discomfort and explain this effect from the perspective of dehumanization.

Following a social constructivist paradigm, the authors adopt a qualitative research design, gathering data through 21 semistructured interviews to explore why the presence of service employees causes customers’ social discomfort in hospitality service encounters and how service robots alleviate such discomfort.

This study’s results suggest that both the active and passive engagement of service employees are sources of customers’ social discomfort in hospitality service encounters; thus, adopting service robots can help reduce such discomfort in some scenarios. Customers’ differentiating behaviors, a downstream effect of social discomfort, are also addressed.

Service robots can reduce customers’ social discomfort in certain scenarios and influence their consumption behaviors. This finding offers actionable insights regarding the adoption of service robots in hospitality service encounters.

This research enhances the understanding of social discomfort in hospitality service encounters and expands the research on service robots. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, it is the first attempt to reveal the bright side of robots in service encounters from a dehumanization perspective.

Presents the findings of a longitudinal study of robot usage in Australia. The first stage was completed in 1990 and the second in 1993. In 1990, 74 companies were requested to give an interview, of which 32 agreed. The response rate was therefore 43 per cent. Of the 112 companies surveyed in 1993, 58 responded, giving a 52 per cent response rate. These companies had employee numbers ranging from ten through to 10,000 and included the general manufacturing, automotive, plastics moulding and electronics industries. Most of the findings were in favour of the adoption of industrial robots for Australian industry as it contributed to manufacturing competence. Some shortcomings in robot technology which were identified included; the capital outlay required, programming difficulties, availability of service and the current capacity of robot vision systems. The benefits of robots identified included productivity, flexibility, safety and quality increases.