Date of Award

2024

Document Type

Dissertation - Open Access

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Business Administration (DBA)

Advisor(s)

Dr. Paul Harris

Second Advisor

Dr. Henrique Correa, Ph.D.

Keywords

Cobot Trust, human-robot interaction in warehouse, collaborative robots in warehouse, human-robot training, trust with collaborative robots, technophobia

Abstract

Robots utilized in warehousing have existed for years. Robots in the workplace have evolved from the traditional view of being a tool to being a teammate. Since workers are teaming up with robot coworkers, or “cobots,” there is now a new type of social interaction that depends on trust. The present study explores a model where warehouse workers will trust cobots more when formally trained in the technology. This model also proposes that the effectiveness of training in building trust would be moderated by worker experience with cobots, gender, and age of workers, and the worker’s psychological comfort with technology (i.e., level of technophobia). In a survey of 310 warehouse workers who currently work with cobots, it was found that formal training was positively related to cobot trust, but only in terms of employees who were “given reading materials about the robots (for example, handouts, brochures, or manuals)” as part of their cobot education. Also, as predicted, technophobia was negatively related to cobot trust. Experience with cobots, age, and gender were not significant predictors of cobot trust, nor did they moderate the relationship between training and trust. Results add to a sparse literature on cobots in warehouses and suggest applications for best practices in training workers about cobots and processes that could be implemented that might reduce technophobia and build trust.

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