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EDITORS’ NOTE
In Chapter 1, the history of HRM was discussed along with its eventual merging with
the field of IT, thus creating a new field of study and managerial practice—human
resource information systems (HRIS). This book has provided information on the
development and implementation of an HRIS. Most of the HRIS development and
sophistication began in the United States, but these systems have spread rapidly
throughout the industrialized countries of the world. The question to be answered
here is where the field of HRIS is going in the future. Forecasting the future is always
difficult. One can expect evolutionary, rather than revolutionary, changes in the HRIS
field. This chapter will discuss some of these trends in the field of HRIS.
CHAPTER OBJECTIVES
536
Chapter 17 The Future of HRIS 537
INTRODUCTION
Forecasting the future is, in general, quite difficult and even more so in HRM.
Although one can examine past tends and extrapolate to the future, there can
be unexpected contingencies, such as the financial crisis of 2008–2009. Also,
changes in laws, directives, and guidelines from governmental agencies can
strongly affect the future of HRM and HRIS. In fact, any significant changes in
the environmental factors depicted in Figure 1.2 could cause major changes in the
operation of HRM and an HRIS in organizations. To examine any future trends in
the HR field, one must look within and between countries, since labor laws differ
from country to country and, thus, could have a significant impact on any new
developments in HRM for that country. However, the international HRM literature
presents some similar trends across countries (e.g., a focus on the cost effective-
ness of HR programs). An update on the future trends in HRM and HRIS in the
United States will be discussed next in this chapter. However, there will also be
discussion of trends in HRM, IT, and HRIS in multinational enterprises (MNEs).
It is important to remember that countries may differ somewhat in terms of spe-
cific future trends within their culture.
Chapter 17 The Future of HRIS 539
Forecasting the future is, in general, quite difficult and even more so in HRM.
Although one can examine past tends and extrapolate to the future, there can
be unexpected contingencies, such as the financial crisis of 2008–2009. Also,
changes in laws, directives, and guidelines from governmental agencies can
strongly affect the future of HRM and HRIS. In fact, any significant changes in
the environmental factors depicted in Figure 1.2 could cause major changes in the
operation of HRM and an HRIS in organizations. To examine any future trends in
the HR field, one must look within and between countries, since labor laws differ
from country to country and, thus, could have a significant impact on any new
developments in HRM for that country. However, the international HRM literature
presents some similar trends across countries (e.g., a focus on the cost effective-
ness of HR programs). An update on the future trends in HRM and HRIS in the
United States will be discussed next in this chapter. However, there will also be
discussion of trends in HRM, IT, and HRIS in multinational enterprises (MNEs).
It is important to remember that countries may differ somewhat in terms of spe-
cific future trends within their culture.
The common themes across these two surveys are the importance of talent
management, organizational culture, and compensation in a global
business environment. The first study (Clark & Schramm, 2009) focused on
trends in HR without any consideration of how to manage the trends forecasted
for only one year. The second survey specifically asked how HR was going to
survive the challenges over the next ten years.
In terms of the issues for multinational enterprises (MNEs), these organizations
face the challenges of globalization and of managing data for a global
workforce. For example, in a recent study by Jeitosa Group International and
IHRIM (Beaman, 2009), the survey respondents indicated that three important
challenges facing them as they move toward a global workforce are (1) how to
Chapter 17 The Future of HRIS 543
ensure data quality and integrity (31%), (2) concerns about data privacy and
the associated (and often inconsistent) country regulations (29%), and (3) inter
national compliance (27%) (p. 3).
Although shared services have been around for more than a decade, another
trend in IHRM is the growing use of these services, with 32% of organizations
recently surveyed indicating that they have a global shared-services center
(Beaman, 2010). The shared-services approach refers to the centralization of all
HR services into one location rather than having separate HR staff in different
locations and divisions. Sharing services provides economies of scale and scope
and helps to centralize knowledge and expertise and make both available to all
divisions.
A final trend in HRM on which we briefly touch is the virtualization of work.
No longer are employees confined by physical or temporal space. Employees can
conduct work anywhere and at anytime. “The virtual workspace can be defined
as an environment where employees work away from company premises and
communicate with their respective workplaces via telephone or computer
devices” (Lockwood, 2010, p. 1). For example, one of the authors has recently
taught a class in which a student was part of a virtual team. His team consisted
of six members on four continents, none of whom had physically met. Together,
they were responsible for ensuring that a global corporation’s database systems
were “constantly up” and free of errors. They had to coordinate global schedules
to hold monthly meetings to ensure that the team was meeting targets and
schedules. Yet, they had to do this while never working in the same physical
space! Managing in this geographically dispersed environment creates challenges
in leadership, in the effectiveness of communication, in technology, and in
procedures for conducting virtual meetings and ensuring appropriate HR
management. For example, Figure 17.1 lists several keys to managing virtual
meetings successfully. Given the growing use of virtual teams, organizations will
increasingly need to be aware of the benefits and pitfalls of managing employees
in the virtual workplace.
As seen by these forecasted HR trends, which present both domestic and global
challenges, managers of HR are facing a complex future world. Although all of the
studies previously described focus on different issues, there are common themes
across all: the importance of human capital, organizational culture, and com
pensation in a global business environment. It is interesting to note that these
common themes were identified as playing a role in the future of HR in 2011 as
well as ten years from now. Thus, how managers respond to this complexity will
be aided by advances in both HR practice and the technology that supports it (e.g.
HRIS). Accordingly, the next section of this chapter covers future trends in the
fields of IT/IS and HRIS.
544 P A R T V S P E C I A L T O P I C S I N H R I S
Prepare and distribute agendas in advance; ensure agendas reflect input requested
from participants.
Initiate meetings with “roll call” of all participants; review agenda, meeting objectives
and timeframe.
SOURCE: SHRM interview with Global Dynamics, Inc. (www.global-dynamics.com), as presented in Lockwood
(2010).
In the first edition of this book, we started this section as follows: “When
examining future trends in HRIS, it is impossible to separate the future trends in
IT/IS without relating them to the field of HRM” (Kavanagh & Thite, 2009,
p. 413). If anything, this statement is more accurate today than when the first
edition of this book appeared. The knowledge economy is being profoundly
influenced not only by the intensity but also by the speed of technological
evolution. Information technologies have been steadily evolving and improving
from mainframes to client servers and now to Internet/Web interfaces (Collective
HR Solutions, 2010; Macy, 2010; Roberts, 2006). Network communication
technologies (broadband and wireless), convergence technologies (e.g., cell
phones and PDAs), collaborative tools (e.g., Web 2.0, portals), service-oriented
architecture (SOA), rich Internet application (RIA), and business intelligence HR
software systems are some of the notable developments that have affected the field
Chapter 17 The Future of HRIS 545
of HRIS and its related technologies. Apart from achieving better coordination and
integration of different systems within an enterprise, these technologies are
empowering both employers and employees to deploy, share, and use their
knowledge for the common benefit of their company. One the most critical aspects
of the emerging technology is a focus on more efficient and accurate decision
making, also a primary focus throughout this book. For example, the goal of
intelligent HR software is to replace the traditional approach to decision making
with an approach that makes a better decision in the most efficient manner.
Obviously, this technology can help organizations improve their use of human
capital and increase their competiveness in the market. We next briefly discuss the
changes in technology that will have a large impact on the HRIS and the delivery
of HR functionality.
Service-Oriented Architecture
One of the major problems during this technological evolution has been the
frustration associated with frequent system upgrade cycles. SOA may be a
solution, as it converts monolithic and static systems into modular and flexible
components. According to Roberts (2006), “The big change in enterprise software
that will impact everything from financials to HR is standards-based, service-
oriented software (SOA)” (p. 104). The self-contained services in an SOA are
loosely coupled, like a set of Lego pieces, and can be reconfigured to suit a
particular business process and end-user application rather than being hard-coded
together, as they were in the past.
SOA is about “efficient modular design and deployment, and reusable
software is at the heart of the architecture” (Macy, 2007). SOA offers several
advantages to end users, who can change the business process when needed
and purchase or develop only those applications that are involved in the new
processes. This approach is much better than working around the existing
system or purchasing a package from a vendor based on predetermined processes
and applications. Thus, under SOA, the business process dictates the IT system
to be used and not the other way round. In the long run, this will reduce
technology costs and should improve productivity. The use of SOA in talent
management is covered in Chapter 10.
In Chapter 10, XML-enhanced SOA was also discussed. Whether SOA
delivers what it promises depends on how the major companies in the ERP
market respond. For example, having acquired PeopleSoft and JD Edwards,
Oracle may need to integrate its own systems before harnessing the potential of
SOA. Oracle Fusion and SAP’s NetWeaver, the two strategies adopted by Oracle
and SAP around SOA, will play an important role in how HRIS technology
evolves in the future. In addition, Workday, a new firm in the IT/IS and HRIS
field, is developing a product built around a document-centric data structure, like
Google (Roberts, 2006).
Web 2.0
This term refers to a second generation of Web-related services focusing on
creativity, collaboration, and sharing, in contrast to traditional isolated information
silos. Web 2.0 users not only access information but also generate, share, and
Chapter 17 The Future of HRIS 547
Web 2.0 has also encouraged businesses to promote user collaboration to share
knowledge and to communicate with business partners, such as suppliers and
outsourcing providers. With an emphasis on sharing, Web 2.0 can dramatically
change the way in which employees communicate with each other and with
customers. Using Web 2.0 will require the HR department to pay greater attention
to the legal, ethical, and security implications of information exchange.
Social Networking
As noted in the previous section, social networking is one of the features of
Web 2.0. Social networks such as Facebook, MySpace, blogs, and wikis are
personal in nature and vary in the extent to which organizations have adopted
them. Although these networks were originally developed to enhance social
connections, organizations are increasingly harnessing the power of social
networking in the workplace. For example, tools such as wikis are being used by
organizations to harness and centralize employee knowledge. Some companies are
even requiring that employees contribute to the company wiki, making these
548 P A R T V S P E C I A L T O P I C S I N H R I S
contributions a formal component of various jobs. Blogs are not only used to
share information within the company and with external stakeholders but also to
communicate organization culture and personality.
In addition, companies are using Facebook and Twitter to help expand their HR
brand and attract employees to the organization. Many companies, such as IBM
and Deloitte are making social networking a central component of how they bring
new employees into the organization, connecting them with current employees
and easing their transition into the company.
Companies are also using social networks to connect employees and share
information. For example, EMC Corporation uses its social business network,
EMC/One, to generate ideas from its employees for its annual innovation contest.
After the employees post their innovation ideas on EMC/One, they can also vote
for the best idea (Roberts, 2010). At AT&T, senior HR managers use its social
business network, tSpace, to identify employees with special skills or knowledge,
such as the ability to read or speak a foreign language. Of course, as Roberts notes,
there is the possibility that some organizations may use these networks
inappropriately. However, part of this problem is controlled by the fact that social
business networks require employees to use their full names, and companies have
strict policies regarding a code of conduct for employees.
Enterprise Portals
Enterprise portal is the general term used to refer to the ways in which indi-
viduals can interact with each other. Enterprise portals can be information
portals, collaboration portals, expertise and knowledge portals, operation portals,
social business networks, or a combination of all of these. Within an HRIS,
employee and manager self-service portals are powerful examples of the potential
use of such portals (see Chapter 10). In the context of portals, two of the most
commonly used standards are WSRP (Web Services for Remote Portlets) and JSR
(Java Specification Request), although, as described in the previous section, com-
panies are beginning to adopt software necessary to built social business networks.
One very important implication regarding the establishment and use of enterprise
portals is their effect on the family-work conflicts that dual wage earners face.
Being able to respond to and, it is hoped, solve work problems from one’s home
will be increasingly important in the future.
and, in each cycle, new functionality is added and errors from previous releases
are fixed. Each cycle, then, culminates with a release date. In addition, vendors
will often stop supporting older releases as they place more resources into newer
releases. The software developed in this way is copyrighted, and the source code
is neither open nor available for others to enhance. This approach to software
development has been criticized by some software developers as increasing the
cost of software, stifling innovation, and encouraging developers to make previ-
ous versions obsolete (requiring companies to then upgrade).
In response to these concerns, some software developers have agreed to a dif-
ferent approach to the development of software called open source. In an open
source approach to software development, the developers make the source code
available for anyone to see and to change. This means that other companies or
developers can then expand on the product or easily develop complimentary prod-
ucts. Open source software also costs much less than traditional (or proprietary)
software, and is sometimes provided for free. Open source products are available
for a wide variety of organizational needs. Examples of open source products
include Linux (an operating system), Apache (a Web server that plays a central
role in the operation of the Web), OpenOffice (a free alternative to Microsoft
Office), and MySQL (a database product). The major risk facing organizations
considering open source adoption is the long-term viability of the product as the
continued success of these products depends upon the continuing interest of the
developers. But, in many areas where needs are common across organizations,
open source products are finding strong support.
Open source software should grow in importance for human resources in the
near future. For example, many HR vendors such as Workday, Taleo, and Journeyx
use open source software in support of their product offerings. In addition, com-
panies are starting to emerge that offer open source HRIS. Some of these are
integrated and some are more function specific. For example, TimeTrex is open
source software for time and attendance management, and OrangeHRM offers a
more integrated suite. These products are targeted at small- to medium-sized busi-
nesses. Central to these companies’ business model is not the sale of the software
itself. Instead these companies focus on providing support services and customiza-
tion support. The business model thus changes from one of continual updates for
profit to one of developing a long-term relationship with clients.
The many future trends in the HRM, IT/IS, and HRIS fields can easily lead to
confusion for organizations, management, vendors, and employees. A solution to
550 P A R T V S P E C I A L T O P I C S I N H R I S
this confusion has been proposed by Carden (2009), and we agree wholeheartedly—
technology should serve strategic goals. Carden notes that the increasing
competition by organizations to improve their profitability has often led to the
conclusion that new technology will solve these issues, but the reality is more
complex than that. Organizations that are most successful are those who are able
to leverage the technology that most closely links to a strong business strategy.
With the recent global recession, the increasing pressure to remain competitive
and survive has led to companies adopting technology to carefully diagnose what
strategic goals the adoption of technology could support. “Even the most
sophisticated software is rendered powerless without a solid business strategy
behind it.” (Carden, 2009, p. 20). Thus, as we consider the changes in workforce
technologies, it is important to keep in mind that how effectively organizations are
able to harness the power of these new technologies will depend on how well they
link it to their HR strategy.
In the first edition of this book, we noted that Henson (2005) had made the
following predictions about the future of workforce technologies:
SOURCE: CedarCrestone 2010–2011 HR Systems Survey: HR Technologies, Service Delivery Approaches, and Metrics,
13th Annual Edition (CedarCrestone, 2010).
Data for this report were collected in 2010 from 1,289 respondents representing
over 20 million employees. The sample represents companies from throughout the
globe including North America, Europe, Asia and Australia. The major findings of
this study are as follows:
1. As was reported in the first edition of this book, organizations that have
more automation across all categories of technologies outperform those
organizations with less automation on the important productivity measures
of net income growth, sales growth, and sales per employee.
2. Due to recent economic conditions, the market was quite unstable for the
organizations represented in the survey sample. However, the respondents
in the survey reported that their organizations have had strong recoveries,
and they forecasted a 100% growth in HRIS talent management, social
media,4 and analytics and planning applications.
552 P A R T V S P E C I A L T O P I C S I N H R I S
SUMMARY
As noted early in this chapter, forecasting the future is very difficult. One reason for this
difficulty is that the field of HRIS is not just about what might become technically
possible. It is, essentially, about systems that serve humans and human enterprise.
Students focusing on understanding the field of HRIS must never forget the human issues
involved in developing and implementing an HRIS. The field of HRIS continues to
evolve, and it is important for those studying it not only to understand what is occurring
today but also to look at the environmental and technological forces that will affect it in
the coming years. If there is one central theme of our look toward the future, it is the
importance of HR policies matched with organizational change and technology; this
alignment will have the greatest impact on the future success of HRIS and the
organizations investing in these systems. For example, one of the findings from the
CedarCrestone survey was the emphasis on change management—to which an entire
chapter of this book was devoted (see Chapter 9). Technology is not a substitute for
managerial competence and employee discretionary behavior (Armstrong, 2005). It can
only be a messenger, not a message. It is also impractical to expect information systems
to supplant the soft functions of the HR department, such as an online electronic tutor
replacing a good executive coach (Stanton & Coovert, 2004). In sum, technology is
extremely important in the field of HRIS, but people are simply more important.
KEY TERMS
NOTES
1. Selected specific examples of the general trends will be covered here. The main trends
quoted here can be found in Clark and Schramm (2009, p. 4) Interested readers can access the
entire document at http://www.shrm.org/Research/FutureWorkplaceTrends/Documents/09-0700
Workplace panel_trends_sympFINAL Upd.pdf.
2. The bold font used here and for some other quoted phrases has been applied by the editors
to highlight key terms.
3. We are reporting only part of the results of this survey due to its length; however, the entire
survey may be obtained from CedarCrestone (http://www.cedarcrestone.com/whitepapers/
CC_2010-2011_HRS_Survey_WP.pdf).
4. This finding echoes the description of social business networking discussed in an earlier
section of this chapter.
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