The key information processing building blocks for yesterday's organizations were typewriters, carbon paper, filing cabinets, and a government mail service. The constraints of these crude information processing technologies often required workers to be located under one roof and organizations to arrange themselves as efficient, but relatively change-resistant, management hierarchies. Those legacy organization designs have persisted despite fundamental changes in information processing technology. Tomorrow's successful organizations will be designed around the building blocks of advanced computer and communications technology. The success of these organizations will come from the ability to couple to, and decouple from, the networks of knowledge nodes. These networked organizations will link, on an as-needed basis, teams of empowered employees, consultants, suppliers, and customers. These ad hoc teams will solve one-time problems, provide personalized customer service, and then, as lubricant for subsequent interactions, evaluate one another's performance. In the network organization, structure will dominate strategy, credentials will give way to performance and knowledge, and human resources will be the only sustainable advantage. Despite the promise, networked organizations present difficult information management challenges. Among these are developing a flexible and efficient information architecture, establishing new values, attitudes, and behaviors concerning information sharing, building databases that can provide integrated customer support on a worldwide basis, and protecting personal freedoms and privacy. Here, we explore the opportunities and challenges that networked organizations will present for information technology management.

The global network organization of the future: information management opportunities and challenges

This chapter is concerned with the ways in which organizational structure can act as a means of influencing and controlling the behaviour of the individuals who work within it. This is the subject matter of organizational theory, so the first part of the chapter reviews its development. It is found that no coherent overall theory of organizational design exists, rather organizational theory consists of a series of different yet related insights which have emerged over a period of several decades.

The design of organizations

This introduction has become a reflection on a two-year debate during the e-HRM and HRIS conferences and therefore echoes the latest discussions about e-HRM research and its role within organizations from both HR- and IT-centred studies. We view e-HRM as an umbrella term covering the integration of HRM and IT, aimed at creating value for targeted employees and managers. This editorial discusses key issues and new challenges in e-HRM research.

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Electronic Human Resource Management: challenges in the digital era

Presents the results of a survey of the use of human resource information systems (HRIS) in smaller organizations, conducted in 1998. The survey enquires as to the nature of information stored electronically in three core areas: personnel, training and recruitment as well as the type of information analysis being undertaken. Significant relationships were found between the total number of people employed by the organization, and certain aspects of its information storage and manipulation. Smaller organizations were also found to be less likely to use HRIS, and HRIS was also used less frequently in training and recruitment. No sectoral differences were found. Similar to the results of IES/IPD surveys, and some academic work, it was found that HRIS are still being used to administrative ends rather than analytical ones.

The use of human resource information systems: a survey

Purpose – To present a comprehensive literature review of human resource information systems (HRIS) and to report the results of a survey on the implementation of HRIS in Hong Kong.Design/methodology/approach – A structured questionnaire was designed, pre‐tested, modified, and used to capture data on a cross‐section of HRIS users in Hong Kong. The questionnaire was pilot‐tested by practicing HRIS consultants and by HR and MIS managers. Based on the feedback from the pilot‐test, the questionnaire was modified and a final questionnaire was developed and mailed to companies in Hong Kong.Findings – Most Hong Kong industries perceived that the greatest benefits to the implementation of HRIS were the quick response and access to information that it brought, and the greatest barrier was insufficient financial support. Moreover, there was a statistically significant difference between HRIS adopters and non‐adopters, and between small, medium, and large companies, regarding some potential benefits and barriers to ...

Human resource information systems: a review and empirical analysis

Executive Overview Global competition is putting increasing pressure on U.S. managers to make faster and better business decisions. Investments in information technology are often touted as a critical means of speeding up and improving management decision making. Yet it has proved distressingly difficult to realize the potential of information technology investments. This is particularly so in business areas such as Human Resources (HR), though the longer lead times traditionally associated with changes in HR systems mean that it is a prime candidate to benefit from information technology. To pull into the lead in global competition, managers must control labor costs, motivate employees to high quality, customer-oriented performance, and continuously search out new and better ways of doing both. These objectives must be met in the face of shrinking head count and a global environment in which employees are more culturally diverse and located throughout the globe. Even the relatively routine tasks of emplo...

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Human resource management, information technology, and the competitive edge

Using an exploratory model of the evolution of computers systems in organizations, the authors interviewed HR computer systems people in ten Fortune 500 firms considered leaders in HR computer use. Generalizable measures of growth in computer use and related changes in HR department structure, strategy, and personnel were found. These measures were used to identify three stages of growth in computer use: threshold, growth, and consolidation/strategic expansion. In the latter two stages, differences were found among firms in the way computer use evolved. These differences appeared closely related to the company's choice of technology and the centralization of the firm's key HR decision makers. The implications of the exploratory model and findings for practice and future research are discussed.

The evolution of computer use in human resource management: Interviews with ten leaders

Excerpt] Increasingly, today's organizations use computer technology to manage human resources (HR). Surveys confirm this trend (Richards-Carpenter, 1989; Grossman and Magnus, 1988; Human Resource Systems Professionals 1988; KPMGPeat Marwick, 1988). HR professionals and managers routinely have Personnel Computers (PCs) or computer terminals on their desks or in their departments. HR computer applications, once confined to payroll and benefit domains, now encompass incentive compensation, staffing, succession planning, and training. Five years ago, we had but a handful of PC-based software applications for HR management. Today, we find a burgeoning market of products spanning a broad spectrum of price, sophistication, and quality (Personnel Journal, 1990). Top universities now consider computer literacy a basic requirement for students of HR, and many consulting firms and universities offer classes designed to help seasoned HR professionals use computers in their work (Boudreau, 1990). Changes in computer technology offer expanding potential for HR management (Business Week, 1990; Laudon and Laudon, 1988).

Human Resource Information Systems for Competitive Advantage: Interviews with Ten Leaders

Just doing business: human resource information systems in the global organization

Excerpt] This report describes findings from a study that we view as a first step in a long term research program conducted by the CAHRS to address sponsor concerns One of this program's objectives is to identify organization dimensions that predict the success or failure of computer systems in HR A Second objective is to specify a model that will increase value-added decisions about HR computer system investments and guide the planning and implementation of HR technology strategies

Renae F. Broderick

Papers

Human resource management, information technology, and the competitive edge

The evolution of computer use in human resource management: Interviews with ten leaders

Human Resource Information Systems for Competitive Advantage: Interviews with Ten Leaders

Just doing business: human resource information systems in the global organization

Human Resource Automation for Competitive Advantage: Case Studies of Ten Leaders