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Communication Dans Un Congrès Année : 2023

Exploring the Adoption of Robotic Systems in the Hospitality Industry

Résumé

Behind the traditional image of culinary craftsmanship, lies an important history of rationalization and optimization of productive systems (Poulain, 1995), resulting, in particular, in the mobilization of technologies. Representative of this phenomenon, a number of economic actors have been gathering in recent years around the neologism "foodtech", carrying the promise of technological innovations (5G, big data, Blockchain, digital platforms, etc.) that could respond to the major agri-food challenges facing our societies (Renda, 2019). If Artificial Intelligence (AI) and robotic systems were already gradually entering the hospitality industry (Yang & al., 2020), Chi and al. (2023) noted that the COVID-19 pandemic acted as a catalyst for their adoption by minimizing human-human contact and by offering a solution to the shortage of hospitality workers resulting partly from the instability and insecurity engendered by successive epidemic waves and sanitary restrictions. Thus, a wide variety of activities can now be handled, more or less successfully, by robotic systems in the hospitality industry. However, innovation adoption is not a linear process and even if robots’ introduction in hospitality contexts has already demonstrated positive results, enhancing both labor productivity and service quality (Shimmura, & al., 2020), nothing guarantees the sustainability of their deployment. By focusing on the case of France, and more specifically of Occitanie, the study depicted here aims to adopt a qualitative approach to question the actual penetration of robotic systems in the hospitality industry. Three years after the first lock-up, what is the current state of the service robotics market? What kind of robots are evolving in the hospitality industry? Which companies are providing these robots? Which companies are adopting them and why? What are the limits and difficulties encountered with the integration of these robotic systems? What professional and organizational transformations in hospitality? Do these shifts involve a further degree of work rationalization, requiring notably the development of “robot-friendly” spaces and facilities (Ivanov & Webster, 2017), i.e. which are designed to ensure robot's efficient and reliable functioning? Are they perceived by workers as a means of enhancing and improving working conditions or, on the contrary, as a contributing factor to the deterioration of activity in an already fragile sector? How do employee-customer relations change with robots? What impacts on the customer experience? Do robots live up to their promise? Based on literature review, online ethnography, interviews with a variety of stakeholders (robot suppliers, employers, hospitality workers, customers, researchers, etc.) and observations in hospitality, we will attempt to answer these questions that act as a compass in our ongoing study. Through this presentation, an overview of robotic systems deployment in the hospitality industry will be provided.
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Dates et versions

hal-04313416 , version 1 (14-12-2023)

Identifiants

  • HAL Id : hal-04313416 , version 1

Citer

David Rodriguez. Exploring the Adoption of Robotic Systems in the Hospitality Industry: A Qualitative Study in the Context of France and Occitanie. 8th Asia-Euro Conference « Global Changes and Transformative Future », Toulouse Jean Jaurès University; Taylor's University, Nov 2023, Toulouse, France. ⟨hal-04313416⟩
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