A Sociotechnical Systems Analysis of Enterprise Robotics Innovation

Abstract

Mobile intelligent robotics offer the opportunity for integrated energy companies to remove personnel from hazardous operating environments and increase working efficiencies, yet many corporate innovation groups face significant headwinds resisting scaled robotics deployments. This thesis analyzes the sociotechnical systems that comprise an enterprise innovation group, using a newly established real-world robotics organization as a case study. Guided by the Architecting Innovative Enterprise Strategy (ARIES) framework, this study explores how an intentionally modified enterprise organizational architecture can enable large-scale and sustained robotics development and deployment activities across diverse operating environments and within a complex corporate context. System artifacts including stakeholder salience maps, value flow networks, design structure matrices, candidate architecture tradespaces, and epoch-based future proof tests were synthesized from a series of surveys, interviews, and virtual observations. Analysis revealed specific recommendations for the focus enterprise including: a need for an institutionalized vision; integration and incorporation of parallel and adjacent functions; an embedded agent model; standardized models supporting consistent customer experiences; and integral architectural reevaluation structures. No single proposed architectural transformation dominates for all scenarios and envisioned futures; accordingly, a broader approach of selecting architectural models tailored to a clarified vision and with embedded reconfiguration flexibility is recommended. This study demonstrates that enterprise architecture is a critical factor governing the pace and scale of mobile robotics adoption in industrial environments and offers a readily transferable systems-thinking approach for broader innovation groups operating in complex ecosystems.