Implementation of Robotic Process Automation : A case study of issues, challenges and success factors for RPA implementation in banking and financial services

Abstract: Robotic Process Automation (RPA) is an emerging lightweight IT solution that aims to automate digital but manual business processes and has been particularly useful in the banking and financial services industry. Whilst interest for RPA has been increasing along with the increased pressure on organizations to leverage technology for efficiency to remain competitive, studies show upwards of 50 percent of RPA implementations fail. Building on problematizations of RPA implementation failures and scholarly urges for further research within the field, this study aimed to investigate; issues and challenges to overcome, as well as how RPA implementation may be facilitated. Based on a literature review including existing implementation frameworks, a case study of semi-structured interviews with managers and expert consultants was conducted, and project material was reviewed. Several differences and similarities between existing theory and the respondents' experiences were identified. Almost all issues and challenges emphasized by respondents were related to the challenge of achieving adequate; change management, communication, education around RPA, choosing the right processes to automate, and post-implementation and scale up. Several of the common issues and challenges mentioned in theory, such as technical aspects, were not experienced by the respondents and these mitigated issues and challenges may be dependent on contextual preconditions. The most important facilitating actions were identified as; building RPA knowledge, educating management and employees within the organization, communicating new processes, RPA benefits and reasons for implementation, ensuring support processes and establishing internal groups for RPA scale-up and stewardship, and carefully choosing the right process to automate. Contextual preconditions likely facilitating the RPA implementation for the case company were identified and interpreted as potential success factors for RPA implementation. A structured approach with visualized project steps was emphasized as important, and whilst the existing implementation framework compared to the case was accurate and useful, the study suggest implementation frameworks may need to include further attention to; change management, communication and education, and the relative importance of the initialization- and post-implementation phases. The research is concluded with a discussion on limitations and suggestions for research opportunities.