Artificial intelligence, robotics, advanced technologies and human resource management: a systematic review

“To delineate research patterns and discern avenues for future studies related to intelligent automation in HRM, we conducted a systematic literature review following the suggestions made by Tranfield et al. (2003) as well as Crossan and Apaydin (2010).”

“Notably, despite the expectations that these advancements will have a dramatic impact on employment (Frey & Osborne, 2017), our findings suggest that we are still years away from wide-ranging consequences on HRM and levels of employment.”

“AI concerns, inter alia, information processing, logical reasoning and mathematical skills (Huang & Rust, 2018).”

“To delineate research patterns and discern avenues for future studies related to intelligent automation in HRM, we conducted a systematic literature review following the suggestions made by Tranfield et al. (2003) as well as Crossan and Apaydin (2010).”

“Algorithmic technologies can also help employers direct, evaluate and discipline workers (Kellogg et al., 2020).”

“First, building on the theory of decision-making (Edwards, 1954) as well as on recent research that has analyzed how data allow HR managers to better informed about employees (Garcia-Arroyo & Osca, 2019), we found that AI algorithms and expert systems facilitate HR processes and allow better…”

“Van Doorn et al. (2017) argue that situations defined by strong needs for empathy, in which developing original and creative solutions is required or that necessitate high levels of social intelligence are not at high risk for automation and replacement.”

“In fact, our study responds to several calls to synthesise the current state of knowledge beyond the boundaries of individual academic disciplines in reference to intelligent automation (e.g. AI, machine learning, digitization) and work (Loebbecke & Picot, 2015; Markus, 2015).”

“…developments, however, are increasingly providing alternatives to human resources in functions traditionally requiring human interaction and communication (Malik et al., 2019; Luo et al., 2019), thereby changing both the organizational structures and the nature of work (Colbert et al., 2016).”

“Zammuto et al. (2007) describe five affordances – visualizing entire work processes, real-time/flexible product and service innovation, virtual collaboration, mass collaboration, and simulation/synthetic reality – that can result from this interplay.”

“Humanoid service robots and artificial intelligence bots, for example, are increasingly attracting industry attention (Araujo, 2018; Go & Sundar, 2019; Larivi (cid:1) ere et al., 2017; Thomaz et al., 2020).”

“We sought to find common features between articles in order to categorize them into research themes based on the unit of analysis, which would enable us to address our research questions (Bailey et al., 2017).”

“Humanoid service robots and artificial intelligence bots, for example, are increasingly attracting industry attention (Araujo, 2018; Go & Sundar, 2019; Larivi (cid:1) ere et al., 2017; Thomaz et al., 2020).”

“Having selected our publication outlets and following other state-of-the-art systematic reviews, we limited our research to full-length, academic peer-reviewed publications written in the English language (Marler & Boudreau, 2017; Sheehan et al., 2010).”

“Developing an understanding of the contexts under which technology-enabled HR practices converge or diverge would be of great importance to firms that operate in various countries (Kivimaa et al., 2019).”

“These intelligent “ beings ” have revolutionized traditional human resource functions, providing growing strengths and potentialities for HRM but also formidable challenges including job-specific obsolescence (Malik et al., 2019; Larivi (cid:1) ere et al., 2017).”

“…developments, however, are increasingly providing alternatives to human resources in functions traditionally requiring human interaction and communication (Malik et al., 2019; Luo et al., 2019), thereby changing both the organizational structures and the nature of work (Colbert et al., 2016).”

“For this part of our study, we have used the same lists adopted by Pisani (2009), Pisani et al. (2017), Hewett et al. (2018) and Gaur and Kumar (2018).”

“Stone et al. (2015) highlight that, although there are a number of advantages, there is a danger lurk-ing behind technology-focused HRM and suggest that technology should be viewed as a decision support tool that enhances and does not replace the HR professionals in organizations.”

“…also referred to as eHRM, has gained increasing attention as scholars have sought to understand the external influences rather than internal influences on organizational operations and HRM practices in particular (e.g. Alcaraz et al., 2012; Parry & Tyson, 2011; Strohmeier, 2007; Strohmeier, 2009).”

“In the main, although related, these literatures have been developed in parallel and their analytical connections remain unconnected so that scholarly work remains partial and fragmented (Loebbecke & Picot, 2015; Newell & Marabelli, 2015).”

“For this part of our study, we have used the same lists adopted by Pisani (2009), Pisani et al. (2017), Hewett et al. (2018) and Gaur and Kumar (2018).”

“…scholars emphasize how information technologies are changing HRM-related practices by introducing e-recruitment, e-training or e-competence management, contributing positively to HRM service quality in both local and international organizations (Bondarouk & Brewster, 2016; Bondarouk et al., 2017).”

“…scholars emphasize how information technologies are changing HRM-related practices by introducing e-recruitment, e-training or e-competence management, contributing positively to HRM service quality in both local and international organizations (Bondarouk & Brewster, 2016; Bondarouk et al., 2017).”

“We also decided to review both review, empirical and conceptual papers (Leonidou et al., 2020).”

“AI-enabled recruitment platforms can also extrapolate possible behaviors in terms of job fit and performance while being less biased and more objective than humans (Van Esch et al., 2019).”

“The HRM-related keywords were drawn from previous systematic reviews within the area of HRM (e.g. Cooke et al., 2017; De Kock et al., 2020; Voegtlin & Greenwood, 2016).”

“Within this context, several authors support the view that AI can be of great value in facilitating service or sales and creating more favorable, customized and valued service interactions (Marinova et al., 2017; Singh et al., 2017).”

“HRM embodied by technological advancements is increasingly the focus of internationally oriented HRM studies (e.g. Bondarouk et al., 2017; Cooke et al., 2019; Dulebohn & Hoch, 2017; Schaubroeck & Yu, 2017).”

“Most notably, an increasing body of knowledge pertains to HRM as an enabler of technological change and innovation at a global level through work reorganization, such as working conditions and employee training (Seeck & Diehl, 2017; Zanko et al., 2008).”

“…Artificial Intelligence (AI) and other breakthrough technologies, the interplay between firms, employees and customers is fundamentally changing and the automation of the administrative components of HRM activities and tasks is intensifying (Larivi (cid:1) ere et al., 2017; Marler & Parry, 2016).”

“…reviews of the latest HRM developments due to diverse technological advancements are available (Bondarouk & Brewster, 2016; Bondarouk et al., 2017; Fleming, 2019; Garcia-Arroyo & Osca, 2019; Stone et al., 2015), but have partially analyzed technology-enabled HRM and focused on some aspects of…”

“In doing so, they enhance the accuracy of HRM decisions made by non-experts and eliminate the time needed by them to make HRM decisions (Lindebaum et al., 2020; Lawler & Elliot, 1996).”

“…forms are already widely used (e.g. call and internet usage monitoring, electronic medication administration records) and it is increasingly argued that technologies such as microchip wrist implants and body heat sensor desk hardware may be the future of work monitoring (e.g. Ravid et al., 2020).”

“…also referred to as eHRM, has gained increasing attention as scholars have sought to understand the external influences rather than internal influences on organizational operations and HRM practices in particular (e.g. Alcaraz et al., 2012; Parry & Tyson, 2011; Strohmeier, 2007; Strohmeier, 2009).”

“However, these positive effects have been questioned in a number of ways in reference to ethicality of acquiring and progressing of data as well as in terms of favorability among applicants (Suen et al., 2019; Bhave et al., 2020).”

“Today, innovative technologies are dynamically reinventing the human resource management (HRM) landscape on a global scale (Ancarani et al., 2019).”

“Similar privacy issues arise when employing image and video recognition in digital inter-views through AI deep learning in order to capture verbal and other interpersonal behaviors and amend them to create a psychological profile and predict possible fit (Bhave et al., 2020).”

“Simulations, defined as AI environments, can provide high degree of interactivity with other users and enhance learning opportunities (Bell et al., 2008).”

“For this part of our study, we have used the same lists adopted by Pisani (2009), Pisani et al. (2017), Hewett et al. (2018) and Gaur and Kumar (2018).”

“In addition, people can use AI, often in the form of personal digital assistants, to facilitate work activities regardless of temporal and spatial location (Golden & Geisler, 2007).”

“In line with other state-of-the-art systematic reviews (Christofi et al., 2017; Christofi et al., 2019; Leonidou et al., 2020; Vrontis & Christofi, 2019), we focus on key findings, rather than providing an exhaustive analysis of each article.”

“Humanoid service robots and artificial intelligence bots, for example, are increasingly attracting industry attention (Araujo, 2018; Go & Sundar, 2019; Larivi (cid:1) ere et al., 2017; Thomaz et al., 2020).”

“…scholars emphasize how information technologies are changing HRM-related practices by introducing e-recruitment, e-training or e-competence management, contributing positively to HRM service quality in both local and international organizations (Bondarouk & Brewster, 2016; Bondarouk et al., 2017).”

“Within this context, several authors support the view that AI can be of great value in facilitating service or sales and creating more favorable, customized and valued service interactions (Marinova et al., 2017; Singh et al., 2017).”

“Research thus far reveals that companies establish an e-recruit-ing system to reduce costs, to access more people, get quicker response and increase applicants ’ positive perceptions about the company (e.g. Parry & Tyson, 2008).”

“Feldman and Klaas (2002) and Stone et al. (2015) discuss these issues in depth.”

“In order to gain a deep and comprehensive picture of the topic, we chose not to set any timeframe restriction to the data collection (Andresen & Bergdolt, 2017) and thus included work published before the writing of this paper (January 2020).”

“Consistent with this view, Sajjadiani et al. (2019) suggest that machine learning can greatly assist HR practitioners and firms by transforming the selection process into a more systematic process by eliminating the occurrence of recruiters ’ biases or even applicants ’ influence methods to deviate…”

“…also referred to as eHRM, has gained increasing attention as scholars have sought to understand the external influences rather than internal influences on organizational operations and HRM practices in particular (e.g. Alcaraz et al., 2012; Parry & Tyson, 2011; Strohmeier, 2007; Strohmeier, 2009).”

“…highlight the ability to process large amounts of data at high speeds (Lindebaum et al., 2020), the possibility to help salespeople to acquire new customers more efficiently (Watson et al., 2018) and the potentiality to effectively evaluate and manage employee turnover risk (Wang et al., 2017).”

“€ Otting and Maier (2018) emphasize the importance of procedural justice in decision situations because it enhances beneficial employee attitudes and behavior regardless of whether these decisions are taken by human leaders or AI systems.”

“Yet, these technologies offer the opportunity for the design of problem-solving strategies that will be of great value (Wall et al., 1992).”

“In line with other state-of-the-art systematic reviews (Christofi et al., 2017; Christofi et al., 2019; Leonidou et al., 2020; Vrontis & Christofi, 2019), we focus on key findings, rather than providing an exhaustive analysis of each article.”

“Ferraris, Erhardt, and Bresciani (2019) suggest that the technological knowledge required could be acquired through numerous flexible alliances with various government and public actors, research centers and universities.”

“Specifically, the introduction of AI applications in HRM allows HR employees to conduct background checks of job applications and develop compensation packages for certain positions (Cooke et al., 2019).”

“AI algorithms in the realm of jour-nalism beyond the initial programming can also assist journalists in basic works, allowing them to focus on more investigative reporting, generating at the same time news faster, at a larger scale and with less errors (Jung et al., 2017).”

“In order to gain a deep and comprehensive picture of the topic, we chose not to set any timeframe restriction to the data collection (Andresen & Bergdolt, 2017) and thus included work published before the writing of this paper (January 2020).”

“…and other novel technologies offer several opportunities to improve upon and reduce the cost of HRM functions including, among others, the evaluation of job applicants (Bondarouk et al., 2017; Cooke et al., 2019) and employee performance appraisals (Abraham et al., 2019; Parry & Tyson, 2011).”

“Employee self-service (ESS) technology allows employees to manage their own data rather than rely on HR professionals and register for training with the objective of effi-ciency-related gains (Marler et al., 2009).”

“…latest HRM developments due to diverse technological advancements are available (Bondarouk & Brewster, 2016; Bondarouk et al., 2017; Fleming, 2019; Garcia-Arroyo & Osca, 2019; Stone et al., 2015), but have partially analyzed technology-enabled HRM and focused on some aspects of technology and HRM.”

“For example, Wenzel and Van Quaquebeke (2018) review potential opportunities and risks in organizational research based on the central characteristics of Big Data and Giacumo and Breman (2016) analyze the utilization of Big Data in workplace learning.”

“Although they have emerged from the computer games industry, they are increasingly being used to enhance interpersonal and organizational interaction and facilitate organizational learning (Dodgson et al., 2013).”

“In this regard, more skilled and educated employees are needed in the era of human and robots symbiosis and collaboration to be benefited from possible opportunities and reverse potential threats (Aleksander, 2017).”

“Consistent with this view, several studies highlight the ways in which computer-aided design, manufacturing and process planning are automating many tasks and enhancing effectiveness and speed (Buckley et al., 2004; Park, 2018).”

“Robotics can support human employees by offering them opportunities for more technical positions that are either created or enhanced by robotic technologies (Chao & Kozlowski, 1986).”

“This entails assisting diverse actors to use different technologies to coherently perform shared work arrangements (Jonsson et al., 2018).”

“Specifically, the introduction of AI applications in HRM allows HR employees to conduct background checks of job applications and develop compensation packages for certain positions (Cooke et al., 2019).”

“For this part of our study, we have used the same lists adopted by Pisani (2009), Pisani et al. (2017), Hewett et al. (2018) and Gaur and Kumar (2018).”

“The HRM-related keywords were drawn from previous systematic reviews within the area of HRM (e.g. Cooke et al., 2017; De Kock et al., 2020; Voegtlin & Greenwood, 2016).”

“Dealing with queries and customer support internationally, they may enable organizations to operate 24 h a day, without engaging human employees as representatives at physical locations (Glavas et al., 2019).”

“In fact, our study responds to several calls to synthesise the current state of knowledge beyond the boundaries of individual academic disciplines in reference to intelligent automation (e.g. AI, machine learning, digitization) and work (Loebbecke & Picot, 2015; Markus, 2015).”

“Artificially smart technologies complement human employees ’ interactions, enhance problem-solving for effectiveness, provide training, give feedback and support human employees (Behrend & Thompson, 2011; Singh et al., 2017).”

“Consistent with this view, several studies highlight the ways in which computer-aided design, manufacturing and process planning are automating many tasks and enhancing effectiveness and speed (Buckley et al., 2004; Park, 2018).”

“HRM embodied by technological advancements is increasingly the focus of internationally oriented HRM studies (e.g. Bondarouk et al., 2017; Cooke et al., 2019; Dulebohn & Hoch, 2017; Schaubroeck & Yu, 2017).”

“…learning opportunities to HRM. Work on robotics emphasizes the ways in which robotic technologies can eliminate repetitive and routine activities handled by human employees, offering to them the possibility to engage in opportunities to use their skills more effectively (Lindsay et al., 2014).”

“Within the same context, AI computer agents have been examined as important tools in enhancing employees ’ skills when interacting in strategic and negotiation settings, saving considerable effort and offering better performance (Lin et al., 2014).”

“The HRM-related keywords were drawn from previous systematic reviews within the area of HRM (e.g. Cooke et al., 2017; De Kock et al., 2020; Voegtlin & Greenwood, 2016).”

“Most notably, an increasing body of knowledge pertains to HRM as an enabler of technological change and innovation at a global level through work reorganization, such as working conditions and employee training (Seeck & Diehl, 2017; Zanko et al., 2008).”

“Second, the take up and use of technological innovations seem to be heavily dependent on context (Van Geffen et al., 2013).”

“Research argues that, as far as organizational processes are concerned, the transfer of HR activities and strategies across borders can be challenging and problematic (e.g. Chang & Smale, 2013; Ferraris et al., 2019).”

“Having selected our publication outlets and following other state-of-the-art systematic reviews, we limited our research to full-length, academic peer-reviewed publications written in the English language (Marler & Boudreau, 2017; Sheehan et al., 2010).”

“…also referred to as eHRM, has gained increasing attention as scholars have sought to understand the external influences rather than internal influences on organizational operations and HRM practices in particular (e.g. Alcaraz et al., 2012; Parry & Tyson, 2011; Strohmeier, 2007; Strohmeier, 2009).”

“…highlight the ability to process large amounts of data at high speeds (Lindebaum et al., 2020), the possibility to help salespeople to acquire new customers more efficiently (Watson et al., 2018) and the potentiality to effectively evaluate and manage employee turnover risk (Wang et al., 2017).”

“The final paper by Vrontis et al. (2021) presents a systematic review of 45 articles on the literature examining the emergent themes around intelligent automation in HRM and how it impacts firm performance and employment conditions and areas for future research.”