Service Automation: Robots and the Future of Work

The hype and fear, globally, that surrounds service automation, robots and the future of work need to be punctured by in-depth research. This book, by Professors Leslie Willcocks and Mary Lacity, captures a year's worth of learning about service automation based on a survey, in-depth client case studies, and interviews with service automation clients, providers, and advisors. The authors cleverly embed today's empirical lessons into the broader history and context of automation, as a vital key in understanding the fast-rising phenomenon of service automation. The authors give a balanced, informed and compelling view on gaining the many benefits, as well as managing the downsides, of present and future technologies. The book has a number of key selling points: The authors are globally recognised for outstanding, world-class research; the book describes types of automation and gives evidence for multiple business benefits; in-depth case studies are included - from clients, providers and advisors of service automation; 25 key lessons are given, on how to deploy service automation in the workplace and there is a focus on the future of work, including robotic process automation, with valuable predictions and critique.

DR. LESLIE P. WILLCOCKS has an international reputation for his work on global management, outsourcing, digital business, information management, strategic IT and organizational change. He is Professor in Technology Work and Globalization at the Department of Management at London School of Economics and Political Science. Dr Willcocks also heads the LSE's Outsourcing Unit research centre. For the last 25 years he has been Editor-in-Chief of the 'Journal of Information Technology'. He is co-author of 48 books including, most recently, 'Moving to The Cloud Corporation' (2014) and 'The Economics of Outsourcing' (2015) and has published over 230 refereed papers in journals such as 'Harvard Business Review', 'Sloan Management Review', 'California Management Review', 'MIS Quarterly' and 'MISQ Executive'. Dr Willcocks has delivered company executive programmes worldwide and is a regular keynote speaker at international practitioner and academic conferences. (www.lse.ac.uk/management/research/outsourcingunit). Email: l.p.willcocks@lse.ac.uk. | DR. MARY C. LACITY is Curators' Professor of Information Systems at the University of Missouri, St Louis. She is also a Certified Outsourcing Professional (R), Co-editor of the Palgrave Macmillan Series: 'Work, Technology, and Globalization', Senior Editor of 'MIS Quarterly Executive' and 'Journal of Information Technology Teaching Cases' and on the Editorial Boards for 'Journal of Information Technology', 'MIS Quarterly Executive', 'Journal of Strategic Information Systems', 'IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management', and 'Strategic Outsourcing: An International Journal'. Dr Lacity was inducted into the IAOP's Outsourcing Hall of Fame in 2014, and received the 2000 World Outsourcing Achievement Award sponsored by PricewaterhouseCoopers and Michael Corbett and Associates. She has co-authored 22 books, most recently 'Nine Keys to World-Class Business Process Outsourcing' (Bloomsbury, 2015) and 'The Rise of Legal Services Outsourcing' (Bloomsbury, 2014). Dr Lacity's publications have appeared in the 'Harvard Business Review', 'Sloan Management Review', 'MIS Quarterly', 'IEEE Computer', 'Communications of the ACM', and many other academic and practitioner outlets. Email: mary.lacity@umsl.edu.