[AISWorld] JSIS special issue on Realizing the Strategic Potential of e-HRM

[Newell, Susan]

Call for Papers

“Realizing the Strategic Potential of e-HRM”

Special Issue

The Journal of Strategic Information Systems

Guest Editors
David Grant, The University of Sydney
Sue Newell, Bentley University

There is a growing body of work that shows the effective management of human resources can make significant contributions to organisational performance and that human resource related issues are central to the creation of sustainable competitive advantage (see for example, Becker et al., 2001). There is also evidence that many organisational strategies often fail because they do not address salient people related issues (Cartwright & Cooper, 1996). Contemporary organisational developments, such as the growth of knowledge based and networked organisations, suggest that the strategic importance of human resource related issues is likely to become more rather than less significant in the future (Lawler & Mohrman, 2003).

In this context the growing adoption and increasing sophistication of e-HRM presents organisations and HR professionals with both challenges and opportunities. The current generation of e-HRM systems includes, for example, Virtual HRM, Human Resource Information Systems, and Web-based HRM (Strohmeier, 2007; 2009). These enable organizations to gather, store and analyse workforce data and to increase the availability and flow of this information. They also enable the automation and devolution of many routine administrative and compliance functions traditionally performed by corporate HR departments (Bondarouk et al., 2009; Tansley et al., 2001). For example, using some software applications employees can access many HR services on a self-service basis and HR decision making can be devolved to line management. Moreover, software such as Human Resource Information Systems can also facilitate the outsourcing of HR (Tyson 2007). Critically, e-HRM systems potentially provide HR professionals with opportunities to enhance their contribution to the strategic direction of the firm (Kavanagh & Thite, 2009; Hussain et al., 2007). By automating and devolving many routine HR tasks to line management, e-HRM can provide HR professionals with the time needed to direct their attention towards HR projects that will affect profitability, and thus, are strategic level tasks (Lawler & Mohrman, 2003) such as staff development, talent management and targeted training programs. Some e-HRM systems can also provide an opportunity for HR to play a more strategic role in the organization where they are used to generate real time reports and metrics on HR issues, including performance, workforce planning and skills profiles, which in turn can be used to support strategic decision making (Jamrog & Miles, 2004; Lawler et al., 2004).

Despite the ability of the technology to support new capabilities, evidence to date suggests that relatively few organizations are moving beyond using e-HRM to automate existing practices (Ngai & Wat, 2006). Thus, the potential of e-HRM systems to assist organizations in meeting strategic objectives or to generate data crucial to making informed strategic decisions is rarely achieved. Further, e-HRM generally seems to have, at best, a benign impact on the strategic role of the HR specialist; there is little evidence of the technology increasing HR’s influence over business strategy.

The extent to which organizations use e-HRM systems to their full potential could be attributed to, for example, effectiveness of change management practices, whether e-HRM projects receive adequate resourcing and whether the implementation and use of these systems is in itself regarded a strategic priority etc. (Stone & Davis, 2009). At the same time, analysis based on for example agency theory, SCOT or technology in practice might reveal the often ‘unintended consequences’ of e-HRM systems on work and organization that are associated with their implementation and subsequent usage. These consequences might include the various ways in which different organizational stakeholders and groups engage with, enact, subvert or avoid the technology or its planned objectives and thus can undermine its anticipated value to the HR function and organization more generally. For example, users might find ways to work around system constraints in unexpected ways. They might also maintain clandestine, alternative or legacy systems, selectively use and switch off parts of the system according to their own needs or avoid using the technology altogether (Boudreau & Robey, 2005; Dery et al., 2006). Equally, users may also enact an e-HRM system in unintended ways that actually enhance the anticipated benefits.

For this special issue of JSIS, papers are invited that examine attempts by organizations to realize the strategic potential of e-HRM systems. They should seek to explain the various outcomes associated with e-HRM systems (both intended and unintended) and examine the implications of their findings for theory and / or practice. Papers may be either theoretical or empirical in focus and may be based on either quantitative or qualitative approaches. In line with the transdisciplinary focus of JSIS, we welcome papers that adopt approaches from one or more of a range of pertinent disciplines including, but not confined to, information systems, HRM, management and organization studies, and organizational communication.

We encourage submission of papers that consider the following sorts of issues:


·         What evidence is there that an e-HRM system can be used in ways that contribute to business strategy?

·         What influences whether organizations are able to use e-HRM strategically? In what ways can e-HRM systems provide HR professionals with opportunities to enhance their contribution to the strategic direction of the firm? What enables or prevents them from making this contribution?

·         Why do some change initiatives associated with the implementation of e-HR systems encounter particular difficulties such as low prioritization, poor resourcing and user resistance, such that the system is unable to fulfill its strategic potential?

·         What are some of the unanticipated consequences of the introduction of e-HRM in the workplace and how do organizations respond to them?

·         What role do industry and firm characteristics play in influencing the relationship between e-HRM and business strategy?

·         In what ways might particular theories and approaches such as the focus on practices (of users, managers, HR and IT professionals, or other stakeholders) SCOT, institutional theory, technology-in-practice be used to explain what influences the realization of e-HR’s strategic potential?

·         In what ways are HR specialists harnessing new forms of ICT, such as social media, and to what extent are such initiatives related to the business strategy? To what extent might these be considered forms of e-HR and what implications do they have for the strategic role of the HR function?


To be considered for publication, papers must be submitted electronically by August 31st 2011.  In line with JSIS convention, selected manuscripts will be sent out for blind review. Authors are instructed to follow the Guide for Authors and submission guidelines for the journal at the journal’s website, http://www.elsevier.com/locate/jsis ‐ choosing "Special Issue: Strategy & e-HRM" as the paper type in the online submission system.

Further enquiries about the special issue can be directed to David Grant david.grant at sydney.edu.au<mailto:david.grant at sydney.edu.au>) or Sue Newell (snewell at bentley.edu<mailto:snewell at bentley.edu).'>)


References

Becker, B., E.; Huselid, Mark, A. and Ulrich, Dave (2001). The HR Scorecard: Linking People, Strategy and Performance. Boston: Harvard Business School Press.

Bondarouk, T. Ruël, H. & van der Heijden, B. (2009) e-HRM Effectiveness in a Public Sector Organization: A Multi-Stakeholder Perspective. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 20(3): 578 - 590

Boudreau, M. & Robey, D. (2005). Enacting Integrated Information Technology: A Human Agency Approach. Organization Science, 16(1): 3-18.

Cartwright, S. and C. L. Cooper (1996). Managing Mergers, Acquisitions and Strategic Alliances: Integrating People and Cultures, Oxford, Butterworth-Heinemann.

Dery, K. Hall, R. & Wailes, N. (2006) ERPs as ‘Technologies-in-Practice’: Social Construction, Materiality and the role of Organisational Factors. New Technology, Work and Employment, 21(3): 229-241.


Hussain, Z, Wallace, J. & Cornelius, N. (2007). The Use and Impact of Human Resource Information Systems on Human Resource Management Professionals. Information and Management, 44: 74-89.

Jamrog J. & Miles, H. (2004). Building a Strategic HR function: Continuing the Evolution. Human Resource Planning, 27(1): 51 – 63.

Kavanagh, M. J. & Thite, M. (2009). The Future of HRIS: Emerging Trends in HRM and IT. In M. J. Kavanagh, & M. Thite (Eds.), Human Resource Information Systems: Basics, Applications, and Future Directions: 409-418. California: SAGE Publications Inc.

Lawler, E. E. Levenson, A. & Boudreau, J. (2004). HR Metrics and Analytics: Use and Impact. Human Resource Planning 27(4): 27-35.

Lawler, E.E. & Mohrman, S.A. (2003). HR as a Strategic Partner: What Does it Take to Make it Happen? Human Resource Planning, 26(3):15-24.



Ngai E. & Wat, F. (2006). Human Resource Information Systems: A Review and Empirical Analysis. Personnel Review 35(3): 297-314.

Strohmeier, S. (2009) Concepts of e-HRM Consequences: A Categorisation, Review and Suggestion. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 20(3): 528 - 543

Strohmeier, S. (2007) Research in e-HRM: Review and Implications. Human  Resource Management Review 17(1): 19–37

Stone, R. A. & Davis, J.M. (2009). Change Management: Implementation, Integration, and Maintenance of the HRIS. In M.J. Kavanagh & M. Thite (Eds.) Human Resource Information Systems: Basics, applications, and future directions: 173-205. Thousand Oaks, Ca: Sage.

Tansley, C. Newell, S. &Williams, H. (2001). Effecting HRM-style PracticesThrough an Integrated Human Resource Information System: An e-greenfield site? Personnel Review, 30(3): 351- 370.

Tyson, S (2007) “Why HR will never be the same again” Personnel Today Jan 9th: 13-5.






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