WP 6 NACHOS | Area: Implementation
Key research question of the sub-project:
How are workers’ work orientations and attitudes related to the successful implementation of innovations?
TP 6: The impact of technical innovations within the context of structural change
in the world of work on workers
(Principal Investigator: Prof. Dr Heike Ohlbrecht | Co-Principal Investigators: Jun.-Prof. Dr Kai Heinrich, Prof. Dr Kersten Roth)
Description: The successful implementation of technical innovations in the world of work depends not least on the dispositions, expectations, preconceptions and socio-moral orientations of potential users. Social discourses – for example, on good and fair, sustainable or healthy work, etc. – as well as individual attitudes and orientations towards work cannot be viewed in isolation, but are interwoven with one another in their own specific ways. Work orientations must therefore be regarded, in a sociological sense, as phenomena that are both structured and structuring. Technical innovations, such as care robotics, or new working contexts, such as remote working, should therefore be the focus of the project and examined in terms of the associated challenges, the impacts on job satisfaction, team interactions and subjective health.
The integration of digitised working hours and/or (partially) autonomous robots is leading to an increasing number of hybrid teams in work contexts, the dynamics of which are not yet fully understood. The well-established and familiar practices, expectations and values of teamwork, for example, are being taken to a whole new level by the specific characteristics of human-robot interaction (HRI). Particularly in work contexts such as the healthcare sector, where affective and emotional aspects play a major role, these innovations cannot be implemented ‘without conditions’. Care robots are gaining in importance as robot technology matures, particularly in light of demographic change, the rising number of people requiring care (soon, 30 per cent of the population in Germany will require care) and the growing staff shortages in the care sector. Service robots, socio-interactive robots (particularly for the care of people with dementia) and lifting robots are currently in use in the care sector. Care robotics is currently being heavily promoted and discussed as a prominent solution to the care crisis and demographic change. On the one hand, there is an overestimation of the (current) technical capabilities, as well as increased media discourse on the topic of ‘care robotics’; however, the interests of care recipients or carers (both professionals and family members) are scarcely taken into account. A shift in perspective from a ‘technology-push’ approach to a ‘demand-pull’ orientation has yet to take place, but would be necessary to successfully implement health technologies such as care robots, wearables or remote working in other settings, etc. Otherwise, this could increasingly lead to defence mechanisms, work-related stress, detachment and so on. The project focuses on the question of how the use of various robots (and/or mobile working) alters interactions within (hybrid) teams, and what changes this brings about in terms of subjective job satisfaction, motivation and orientation, as well as subjective health. This will be investigated empirically using qualitative workplace ethnography. In this context, self-management techniques (Foucault) employed by workers in the digitalised world of work will also be examined. Through feedback loops, these findings can be fed back to the developers of technical innovations.