How does robotic process automation create value for firms?

Abstract

Abstract RPA’s potential for efficiency improvement highly recommends the analysis of its applicability to the organizations’ processes. This paper analyses the value of RPA as its impact on the main activity groups in the value chain: Procurement, Internal Operations and Marketing and Sales. The analysis of RPA’s contribution for each of the activity groups addresses a research question through an exploratory approach: “How does RPA create value for organizations and which RPA features are critical for such value creation?”. The data was collected through interviews, analyzed using content analysis, and shows that RPA has impacts on both downstream and internal dimensions. Regarding upstream dimension further research is required to ascertain RPA’s potential.