Browsing by Person "Straub, Sarah Maria"

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Digital technologies at work: On the role of the human factor in a digital work environment using the example of truck drivers in Germany
(2024) Straub, Sarah Maria; Ruiner, Caroline
Digitalization as a megatrend and enabler for increasing efficiency has long been the focus of research concerning competitiveness and the optimization of economic processes. However, the use of digital technologies in the workplace facilitates and necessitates novel forms of interaction between humans and technology. This is associated with transformations in the nature of work regarding working conditions, work processes, and employment relationships, posing new challenges for workers and organizations. The use of digital technologies imposes new demands on the human workplace, accompanied by both positive and negative changes in working conditions, and occupational health and safety, which are often overlooked. On the one hand, the emergence of new employment models entails risks such as insecurity, exploitation, and excessive workload. On the other hand, digitalization has the potential to alleviate workers from demanding tasks, thereby improving working conditions. Within this controversial debate, the precursors and consequences of the use of digital technologies remain ambiguous, as does the role of the human worker in this context. Consequently, the question of what factors determine the role of workers in digital workplaces is an ongoing topic in the discourse surrounding digital transformation in the work context. Concurrently, the transition from Industry 4.0 to Industry 5.0 demonstrates an increasing focus on humans and their needs as the foundation for designing digital workplaces. Central to this is the consideration of human-machine collaboration, where the human factor contributes significantly to the successful and efficient use of digital technologies. In the logistics sector, the discussion around the human factor has primarily encompassed empirical studies involving warehouse workers, such as order pickers or workers in packaging. However, truck drivers, their working conditions, and their role in the context of utilizing digital technologies have received little attention. Truck drivers play a pivotal role in the supply chain, serving as key actors in delivery processes and contributing to efficient transportation links. Their working conditions are characterized by high demands, responsibility, and a multitude of stressors, including time pressure, high physical and mental strain, lack of social interaction, unpredictable factors along the route, and conflicting expectations from various stakeholders in the supply chain. The use of digital technologies in the profession of truck driving exhibits ambivalent effects, with limited research exploring the impact on their working conditions and their role in the digital transformation. Furthermore, there are new modes of control that play a decisive role in connection with reorganized employment relationships and work processes. The implementation of digital technologies on the basis of the human factors’ needs contributes to maintain efficient and safe operations. Empirical studies focusing on truck drivers’ perceptions, experiences, challenges, and needs in relation to digitalization are thus necessary to ensure a human-centric approach when designing digital workplaces in the logistics industry. Against this background, the dissertation aims to explore the working conditions of truck drivers and their implications within digital work environments. The decent work approach thereby provides reference points for realizing humane workplaces. Moreover, this research delves into the multifaceted role of truck drivers, encompassing labor relations, work processes, and structural hierarchies within and beyond organizational boundaries. The Labor Process Theory provides the conceptual underpinning for this exploration. The overarching research question “How do digital technologies shape the human factor’s work environment, considering their perspectives on work, their role in work processes, labor relations, and organizational structures??” is answered by four papers. The findings of this dissertation offer an in-depth investigation of truck drivers’ individual perspectives concerning the impact of digital technologies. An expanded framework that correlates working conditions molded by digitalization with the attainment of decent work is presented, whereby the human factors’ perspectives form a crucial element within the digital workplace. All four research papers included in this dissertation serve this purpose by providing new insights into the perception and use of digital technologies, the resulting workplace characteristics, the emergence of workload in digitalized workplaces, and clues for the design of human-centered workplaces. The findings underscore the importance of truck drivers in the work process and reveal their dependence on uncontrollable factors such as traffic and weather conditions, which impact agreed-upon schedules, and consequently, their overall work planning. This gives rise to new modes of control and the possibility of exerting pressure on drivers. These factors influence the position of truck drivers in the supply chain and affect their working conditions in relation to the use of digital technologies. Thus, the findings provide a foundation for the design of humane digital workplaces, taking into account the perspectives and experiences of truck drivers. In answering the overarching research question, this dissertation essentially contributes to firstly, a better understanding the relevant criteria that should be considered from the workers’ perspectives when designing humane workplaces, and secondly, emphasizing the relevance of the individuals in socio-technical systems and their perception of digital technologies, as the perception determines whether the consequences of using digital technologies pose a risk or a benefit. Third, this dissertation contributes to exploring the role of human workers in digital workplaces from a labor process theory perspective.