What Difference Does a Robot Make? Managing Ambiguity in Distributed Knowledge Work

What difference does robotic telepresence make to the management of ambiguity in distributed knowledge work? We examined this question in a post-surgical intensive care where remote medical workers struggled to coordinate their work in the face of ambiguities related to their extremely sick patients. Our in-depth field study allowed us to explore how differently ambiguity was managed when night rounds were performed through robotic telepresence, allowing distributed medical workers to be virtually co-present at the site of work. In contrast to the literature, which suggests that co-located, face-to-face interaction should reduce ambiguity and facilitate coordination, we found that ambiguities were both reduced and intensified with robotic telepresence, resulting in contradictory implications for coordination. We found that these differences in the management of ambiguity and coordination were crucially related to how the distributed work and commitment to that work were materially enacted in practice. After discussing our findings, we explore their significance and contributions to research on the management of ambiguity in distributed knowledge work. Thesis Supervisor: Wanda J. Orlikowski Title: Professor of Information Technologies and Organization Studies