Online Archive of University of Virginia Scholarship
Automated Workflow Optimization for Enterprise Systems through Low-Code Integration; Exploring the Social Construction of Technology (SCOT) in Workplace Automation5 views
Author
Murali, Visvajit, School of Engineering and Applied Science, University of Virginia
Advisors
Norton, Peter, EN-Engineering and Society, University of Virginia
Morrison, Briana, EN-Comp Science Dept, University of Virginia
Abstract
A government contractor requested an automated dojo workflow that documents continuous professional development to maintain Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI) certification. A low-code application built with Google AppSheet and Google Apps Script replaces a manual process with weak feedback collection. The system enforces conditional logic that blocks new registrations until structured feedback is submitted, enables email-based approvals, applies role-based access controls, and centralizes data. Tests indicate that in deployment, the system reduces approval times by three quarters and increases feedback completion rates from 30 to 90 percent. Automated workflows triple productivity while eliminating hours of monthly manual reporting. These changes show that low-code automation can streamline processes and strengthen audit evidence by embedding documentation into routine use. Documentary evidence reveals how low-code automation is socially constructed in diverse ways by vendors, managers, workers, and unions. Vendors pair empowerment rhetoric with built-in auditability; managers rebuild governance inside workflows; workers navigate conditional access and intensified monitoring; and unions describe these platforms as "bossware" and seek contractual limits. Across these perspectives, low-code automation stabilizes as compliance-first: efficiency and documentation take precedence while discretion and visibility are redistributed unevenly. Low-code platforms are not neutral accelerators of work but instruments that reconfigure power in line with organizational incentives and legal regimes.
Degree
BS (Bachelor of Science)
Keywords
low-code; automation; computer science
Notes
School of Engineering and Applied Science
Bachelor of Science in Computer Science
Technical Advisor: Briana Morrison
STS Advisor: Peter Norton
Technical Team Members: N/A
Language
English
Rights
All rights reserved by the author (no additional license for public reuse)
Murali, Visvajit. Automated Workflow Optimization for Enterprise Systems through Low-Code Integration; Exploring the Social Construction of Technology (SCOT) in Workplace Automation. University of Virginia, School of Engineering and Applied Science, BS (Bachelor of Science), 2025-12-13, https://doi.org/10.18130/sw6r-we46.