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2023 | OriginalPaper | Chapter

Work Autonomy and Adaptive Digital Assistance in Flexible Working Environments

Authors : Elisa Gensler, Hendrik Oestreich, Anja-Kristin Abendroth, Sebastian Wrede, Britta Wrede

Published in: The Digital Twin of Humans

Publisher: Springer International Publishing

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Abstract

Digital assistance has increasingly been implemented to cognitively support employees and enhance efficiency in different working environments. However, implementations of current assistance systems are often too rigid to provide personalised support, which can restrict employees’work autonomy. Therefore, in this chapter we discuss opportunities to enhance human work autonomy in collaboration with digital assistance systems by facilitating adaptivity within these systems.  First, we discuss the concept of autonomy from both a sociological and a technical perspective. Second, we develop a theoretical conception of the interaction between human and system autonomy. We identify three theoretical scenarios and provide examples of autonomy distributions in which increasing technical autonomy (a) restricts human autonomy, (b) does not affect human autonomy, or (c) enhances human autonomy. Based on this conceptualisation, we suggest that adaptive digital assistance promotes flexible distributions of autonomy levels between human beings and systems, which better addresses and enhances human work autonomy. Proceeding from research findings, our previous work, and theoretical assumptions, we present a guideline with concrete design recommendations for adaptive digital assistance systems that focus on increasing human work autonomy. In this context, we also discuss under what conditions the digital twin of a human can contribute to adaptivity to provide specific support for employees and better interaction opportunities with digital assistance.

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Footnotes
1
Some scholars also refer to criteria autonomy using the term ‘decision-making autonomy’ (Morgeson & Humphrey, 2006; Muecke & Iseke, 2019). We stick to the term ‘criteria autonomy’ for a clear distinction, as all the described autonomy dimensions involve making decisions about various facets of work.
 
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Metadata
Title
Work Autonomy and Adaptive Digital Assistance in Flexible Working Environments
Authors
Elisa Gensler
Hendrik Oestreich
Anja-Kristin Abendroth
Sebastian Wrede
Britta Wrede
Copyright Year
2023
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-26104-6_7

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