Augmenting or eroding human capital? The paradoxical effects of mandatory artificial intelligence agent implementation on employee experience

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Abstract
Purpose: This study investigates how mandatory artificial intelligence (AI) agent implementation, conceptualized as structural-capital deployment, paradoxically reconfigures human capital in cross-border e-commerce SMEs. Drawing on the intellectual capital (IC) literature and Job Demands–Resources (JD-R) theory as the micro-foundational lens, we examine the dual psychological pathways through which structural-capital investments translate into divergent human-capital outcomes. Design/methodology/approach: A sequential multi-method design integrates a two-wave survey of 461 employees across China and Europe – analyzed via partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM), the measurement invariance of composite models and multi-group analysis (MICOM/MGA), importance–performance map analysis (IPMA), and fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) – with 45 semi-structured interviews (30 Chinese and 15 European) coded using Gioia et al.'s three-stage procedure. Mandatory AI use was verified through HR confirmation, policy-document audit, and self-report triangulation. Findings: Mandatory AI simultaneously augments human capital via perceived task enablement and erodes it via perceived job insecurity, while exerting no direct effect on employee experience. Full measurement invariance and non-significant MGA results confirm cross-regional structural consistency; interviews revealed institutional boundary conditions affecting how the mandate is interpreted. Trustworthiness uncertainty operates predominantly configurationally rather than through simple linear moderation. Practical implications: IPMA prioritizes managerial action: insecurity mitigation > trustworthiness calibration > enablement maintenance. Three profiles – Enablement-Dominant Adopters, Trust-Tested Power Users, and Mandate-Tolerant Stable Performers – translate fsQCA configurations into intervention-ready employee types. Originality/value: The study supplies the micro-foundational mechanism missing from prior IC accounts, introduces perceived human capital development as a complementary IC-specific outcome and robustness check, and uncovers equifinal configurations through which compelled structural-capital deployment yields positive human-capital outcomes across institutional contexts.
Funding Information
  • Fujian Province Undergraduate University Education and Teaching Research Project (FBJY20240273)
  • Fujian Provincial Educational Science Planning Project (FJJKB25126)

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