Understanding identification with virtual agents and its implications for knowledge workers in digital workplace transformation

The rapid advancements of digital technology in organizations’ working practices cannot be overstated. Thus, organizations must adapt to the market through digital transformation to achieve economic success and long-term sustainability. However, as organizational structures do not necessarily change with the implementation of digital technology, but the workplace may do, it can also lead to digital workplace transformation, which means a change in the overall workplace experience of knowledge workers. For example, organizations integrate collaborative digital technology, such as Virtual Agents (VA), into their workflows, inducing unexplored perceptions and experiences of knowledge workers in digital work. Therefore, novel socio-technological relationships emerge that need to be understood in the context of digital workplace transformation. From a technological-application perspective, this cumulative dissertation examined how the application of VA in organizations changes knowledge workers' digital workplace. The findings unveil six possible digital workplaces that could arise from the application of digital tech- nology, clarifying that VA can be considered a personal tool and a social collaborator. Building on these findings, this work explored from a socio-identity perspective how the identification of knowledge workers with digital technology and resulting identity types impact digital workplace transformation. The results introduce the four identity types: Innovative Late Bloomer, Innovative Pioneer, Open-minded Traditionalist, and Sceptical Inhibitor, allocating in the domain of the identification process by distinguishing between proactive and reactive digital workplace transformation. This dissertation unveils the theoretical interdependence between digital technology and the knowledge worker's identity, emphasizing their inseparable link in digital workplace transformation to Information Systems research.