Navigating the RPA governance landscape: evidence from the field
Journal
International Journal of Accounting Information Systems
Type
journal article
Date Issued
2026-12
Author(s)
Abstract
Organizations have been increasingly deploying Robotic Process Automation (RPA) to automate deterministic tasks, especially in accounting and finance. However, prior research highlights a range of RPA-related risks, governance challenges, and a lack of structured approaches to automation. To examine how organizations govern their automation initiatives, we conducted 19 interviews with 24 experienced professionals from 16 large organizations in the United States and Europe. Our study documents RPA governance components, RPA performance measures, the use of unattended and attended bots, and how organizations describe RPA performance in relation to governance. Our findings highlight (1) the important role that the design and implementation of RPA governance play in participants' accounts of successful RPA programs; (2) that performance is portrayed as developing in stages, with improvements in internal process capabilities associated with longer-term organizational performance; (3) most organizations favor the use of unattended bots describing their performance benefits in terms of the availability of suitable processes, cost savings, and stronger control; (4) in contrast, attended automation has been linked to more limited performance benefits that make it less attractive to implement. Our study also provides a structured account of governance practices across the RPA bot lifecycle and of the performance measures used in organizations.
Language
English
HSG Classification
contribution to practical use / society
Refereed
Yes
Publisher
E
Volume
57
Subject(s)
Division(s)