4 CASE STUDY ROBOTS AND HUMANS IN THE WORKPLACE More and more modern organisations utilise robots to replace humans in the workplace. Although all industries are affected by robots, there are some industries that are most likely to be affected, such as health care, transportation and logistics, customer service and manufacturing, where the latter pertains specifically to the car manufacturing industry Robotics has also been used widely in the medical industry, where it has been tapped to conduct neurological, orthopedic, and general surgery. Robotics has various benefits such as assisting with dirty, dull and dangerous tasks. It can lead to increases in productivity and worker safety. However, there are also many risks involved and being a "good corporate citizen" requires organisations to also investigate and address the risks associated with robots in the workplace. Robot technology could increase productivity in the workplace. However, such increase could give rise to higher employer expectations on human workers and, in turn, to increasing injury risk. Another possible risk is that the decreased physical capabilities gained from using robots, will tempt employees to push themselves, potentially increasing their risk of injury. The biggest risk from using robots, is probably when robots replace workers, and employers are forced to give workers notice of layoffs, pay severance and to retrain employees. Source: Adapted from: Smit, P.J., Botha, T. & Vrba, M.J. 2018. Management principles. A contemporary edition for Africa. 7' ed. Cape Town: Juta. Evaluate the features of a flexible organisation and comment on the question: will the use of robots in the workplace lead to a more flexible organisation? (15marks) Substantiate your