Subtopic Deep Dive
RPA Implementation Challenges
Research Guide
What is RPA Implementation Challenges?
RPA Implementation Challenges refer to organizational, technical, and process-related barriers encountered during Robotic Process Automation deployment, including process suitability assessment, change management, and ROI evaluation.
Studies identify key hurdles such as identifying automatable processes and managing stakeholder resistance (Syed et al., 2019, 494 citations). Research highlights sector-specific barriers like integration issues in supply chain management (Flechsig et al., 2021, 180 citations). Systematic reviews map over 100 papers on adoption obstacles during digital transformation (Enríquez et al., 2020, 172 citations; Costa et al., 2022, 73 citations).
Why It Matters
Addressing RPA implementation challenges enables firms to achieve 30-50% efficiency gains in routine tasks, as shown in Polish service companies during COVID-19 (Siderska, 2021, 85 citations). In purchasing, overcoming barriers like skill gaps leads to faster invoice processing (Flechsig et al., 2021). Frameworks by Herm et al. (2022, 79 citations) guide ROI measurement, reducing failure rates from 50% in early pilots to under 20% with structured rollouts. These insights support digital transformation in manufacturing and public sectors (Sobczak and Ziora, 2021).
Key Research Challenges
Process Suitability Identification
Selecting stable, high-volume rules-based processes for RPA is difficult due to variability in enterprise workflows. Syed et al. (2019) analyze themes where 40% of failures stem from poor candidate selection. Enríquez et al. (2020) map studies showing need for pre-automation audits.
Change Management Resistance
Employee fears of job loss and skill gaps hinder adoption, requiring cultural shifts. Flechsig et al. (2021) report 35% of supply chain RPA projects stalled by resistance. Costa et al. (2022) review literature emphasizing training frameworks to boost acceptance.
ROI Measurement Difficulties
Quantifying benefits beyond cost savings is challenging amid intangible gains like error reduction. Herm et al. (2022) propose frameworks linking KPIs to business value. Siderska (2021) demonstrates ROI acceleration in pandemic scenarios through rapid deployment metrics.
Essential Papers
Robotic Process Automation: Contemporary themes and challenges
Rehan Syed, Suriadi Suriadi, Michael Adams et al. · 2019 · Computers in Industry · 494 citations
The Future Digital Work Force: Robotic Process Automation (RPA)
Somayya Madakam, Rajesh M. Holmukhe, Durgesh Kumar Jaiswal · 2019 · Journal of Information Systems and Technology Management · 369 citations
The Robotic Process Automation (RPA) is a new wave of future technologies. Robotic Process Automation is one of the most advanced technologies in the area of computers science, electronic and commu...
Robotic Process Automation in purchasing and supply management: A multiple case study on potentials, barriers, and implementation
Christian Flechsig, Franziska Anslinger, Rainer Lasch · 2021 · Journal of Purchasing and Supply Management · 180 citations
<p>Robotic Process Automation (RPA) has received growing attention within the digital transformation as this cutting-edge technology automates human behavior and promises high potentials. How...
Robotic Process Automation: A Scientific and Industrial Systematic Mapping Study
J. G. Enríquez, Andres J. Ramirez, Francisco José Domínguez Mayo et al. · 2020 · IEEE Access · 172 citations
The automation of robotic processes has been experiencing an increasing trend of interest in recent times. However, most of literature describes only theoretical foundations on RPA or industrial re...
The Adoption of Robotic Process Automation Technology to Ensure Business Processes during the COVID-19 Pandemic
Julia Siderska · 2021 · Sustainability · 85 citations
The study provides knowledge on the adoption of the Robotic Process Automation (RPA) technology during the COVID-19 pandemic in 110 Polish service companies. As this research was the first of its k...
A framework for implementing robotic process automation projects
Lukas-Valentin Herm, Christian Janiesch, Alexander Helm et al. · 2022 · Information Systems and e-Business Management · 79 citations
Robotic Process Automation (RPA) Adoption: A Systematic Literature Review
Diogo Costa, Henrique São Mamede, Miguel Mira da Silva · 2022 · Engineering Management in Production and Services · 73 citations
Abstract Robotic process automation (RPA) is a recent technology that has recently become increasingly adopted by companies as a solution for employees to focus on higher complexity and more valuab...
Reading Guide
Foundational Papers
No pre-2015 foundational papers available; start with Syed et al. (2019, 494 citations) for comprehensive themes and challenges taxonomy.
Recent Advances
Herm et al. (2022, 79 citations) for project frameworks; Costa et al. (2022, 73 citations) for adoption SLR; Li et al. (2023, 37 citations) on RegTech overlaps.
Core Methods
Case studies (Flechsig et al., 2021), systematic mapping (Enríquez et al., 2020), surveys (Siderska, 2021), and framework development (Herm et al., 2022).
How PapersFlow Helps You Research RPA Implementation Challenges
Discover & Search
Research Agent uses searchPapers with query 'RPA implementation barriers case studies' to retrieve Syed et al. (2019, 494 citations), then citationGraph reveals 200+ downstream works on failure modes, while findSimilarPapers expands to sector-specific challenges like Flechsig et al. (2021). exaSearch uncovers gray literature on RPA pilots in manufacturing.
Analyze & Verify
Analysis Agent applies readPaperContent to extract barrier taxonomies from Herm et al. (2022), verifies claims via verifyResponse (CoVe) against Enríquez et al. (2020) for consistency, and runs PythonAnalysis with pandas to statistically compare citation impacts and ROI metrics across 10 papers, graded by GRADE for evidence strength in adoption studies.
Synthesize & Write
Synthesis Agent detects gaps in change management literature post-Siderska (2021), flags contradictions between theoretical (Syed et al., 2019) and empirical ROI (Flechsig et al., 2021); Writing Agent uses latexEditText for challenge matrices, latexSyncCitations to integrate 20 refs, latexCompile for PDF reports, and exportMermaid for implementation workflow diagrams.
Use Cases
"Analyze failure rates in RPA projects using statistical methods from literature"
Research Agent → searchPapers 'RPA failure modes statistics' → Analysis Agent → runPythonAnalysis (pandas aggregation of failure rates from Syed 2019, Flechsig 2021) → matplotlib bar chart of 35% resistance failures vs. 25% technical issues.
"Generate LaTeX report on RPA change management frameworks"
Synthesis Agent → gap detection in Costa 2022 → Writing Agent → latexEditText (framework outline) → latexSyncCitations (Herm 2022 et al.) → latexCompile → PDF with embedded ROI table from Siderska 2021.
"Find open-source code for RPA process suitability assessors"
Research Agent → searchPapers 'RPA process mining tools' → Code Discovery → paperExtractUrls (Enríquez 2020) → paperFindGithubRepo → githubRepoInspect (Python scripts for rule-based process scanners) → exportCsv of repo features.
Automated Workflows
Deep Research workflow conducts systematic review: searchPapers (50+ RPA challenge papers) → citationGraph clustering → GRADE-graded report on barriers (Syed et al. 2019 as hub). DeepScan applies 7-step analysis with CoVe checkpoints to verify Flechsig et al. (2021) case studies against Herm et al. (2022) frameworks. Theorizer generates theory on 'resilience factors' from Siderska (2021) pandemic data and Costa et al. (2022) SLR.
Frequently Asked Questions
What defines RPA implementation challenges?
Barriers including process selection, change resistance, and ROI quantification during RPA rollout (Syed et al., 2019).
What are common methods to study these challenges?
Multiple case studies (Flechsig et al., 2021), systematic literature reviews (Costa et al., 2022; Enríquez et al., 2020), and implementation frameworks (Herm et al., 2022).
What are key papers on RPA challenges?
Syed et al. (2019, 494 citations) on themes; Flechsig et al. (2021, 180 citations) on supply chain barriers; Siderska (2021, 85 citations) on pandemic adoption.
What open problems remain in RPA implementation?
Scalable ROI models beyond pilots and AI integration for dynamic processes, as gaps in Enríquez et al. (2020) mapping and Herm et al. (2022) framework.
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