Posted: April 24th, 2025

pp hris

Human Resource Information Systems: Basic Application and Future Direction (5th edition)

by Michael J. Kavanagh & Richard D. Johnson

(ISBN-13: 978-1544396743) Publisher: Sage Publishing 

Chapter 1: Evolution of HRM and HRIS

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Introduction
Human resource management (HRM)
Human Resource Information System (HRIS).
Johnson, Kavanagh, Carlson, Human Resource Information Systems, 5e © SAGE Publications, 2021.
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Human resource management (HRM):
Leading management thinkers argue that HRM will be the most critical and most challenging area for organizations in the 21st century.
To maintain a competitive advantage in the marketplace, firms need to balance their physical, organizational, and human resources to achieve, profit, and survive.
Innovative and valuable people practices are in place in the most effective and well-respected companies.

Human Resource Information System (HRIS): To focus on outcomes and capabilities that align with their broader goals, organizations need timely and accurate information on current employees and potential employees. The ability of organizations to do this has been greatly enhanced through the use of HRIS.

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HR Activities
Transactional activities: day-to-day activities.
Traditional activities: HR programs.
Transformational activities: add value to the organization.

Johnson, Kavanagh, Carlson, Human Resource Information Systems, 5e © SAGE Publications, 2021.
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Satisfies Learning Outcome 1: Describe the three types of HR activities.

Transactional activities:
Involve day-to-day transactions such as record keeping, entering payroll information, tracking employee status changes, and the administration of employee benefits.
The costliest and time-consuming activities undertaken by human resources (HR).
Despite the advances in technology, most HR departments still spend a majority of their time on them.

Traditional activities:
Involve HR programs such as planning, recruiting, selection, training, compensation, and performance management.
Can have strategic value for the organization if their results or outcomes are consistent with the strategic goals of the organization.
HR departments spend about 15% to 30% of their time on these activities.

Transformational activities:
Activities that add value to the organization.
Examples: cultural or organizational change, structural realignment, strategic redirection, and increasing innovation.
HR departments typically spend only 5% to 15% of their time on these activities.

Purpose of design, development, and implementation of HRIS: To reduce the amount of time HR employees must spend on transactional activities, allowing the staff to spend more time on traditional and transformational activities.

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HR Activities (2 of 2)
Purpose of design, development, and implementation of HRIS.
Reduce the time spent by HR employees.

Johnson, Kavanagh, Carlson, Human Resource Information Systems, 5e © SAGE Publications, 2021.
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Satisfies Learning Outcome 1: Describe the three types of HR activities.

Purpose of design, development, and implementation of HRIS: To reduce the amount of time HR employees must spend on transactional activities, allowing the staff to spend more time on traditional and transformational activities.
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Technology and Human Resources (1 of 12)
What is an HRIS?
System to support HR processes and functions.
Information system: “People“ processes.
Johnson, Kavanagh, Carlson, Human Resource Information Systems, 5e © SAGE Publications, 2021.
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Satisfies Learning Outcome 2: Explain the purpose and nature of an HRIS.

System to support HR processes and functions:
What are some ways that organizations us HRIS?

Have been implemented by most large organizations.
Can support activities such as:
Online applications,
Internet-based selection testing,
Management of employee information,
Support of training,
Succession planning, and more.
Broadly referred to as HRIS.

Information system: An HRIS is an information system that is focused on supporting HR functions and activities, as well as broader organizational “people” processes.

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Technology and Human Resources
(2 of 12)
What is an HRIS?

Johnson, Kavanagh, Carlson, Human Resource Information Systems, 5e © SAGE Publications, 2021.
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Satisfies Learning Outcome 2: Explain the purpose and nature of an HRIS.

Figure 1.1: SuccessFactors Employee Home Screen

Source: Ó SuccessFactors, Inc. All rights reserved.

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Technology and Human Resources (3 of 12)
What is an HRIS?
System to store, analyze, and distribute information.
Organization of HRIS: data about employees.

Johnson, Kavanagh, Carlson, Human Resource Information Systems, 5e © SAGE Publications, 2021.
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Satisfies Learning Outcome 2: Explain the purpose and nature of an HRIS.

System to store, analyze, and distribute information: An HRIS can be more formally defined as a system used to acquire, store, manipulate, analyze, retrieve, and distribute information regarding an organization’s HR to support HRM and managerial decisions.

Organization of HRIS: data about employees
HRIS not only includes hardware and software but also people, forms, policies and procedures, and data.
It contains data about people in the organization and can become both the face of HR and the initial system with which new employees interact with the firm.
It can also affect who will accept job offers, who is promoted, and can even affect who remains with an organization.
Inaccurate data within an HRIS can stigmatize employees and employee privacy concerns regarding how and where applicant and employee data are used can affect the organization’s reputation.
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Technology and Human Resources (4 of 12)
What is an HRIS?
Three ways HRIS add value to and organization:
Automate HR processes.
Providing accurate and timely information.
Providing new forms of information.
Johnson, Kavanagh, Carlson, Human Resource Information Systems, 5e © SAGE Publications, 2021.
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Satisfies Learning Outcome 2: Explain the purpose and nature of an HRIS.

Three ways HRIS add value to and organization:
Automate HR processes: To conduct transactional activities more efficiently
Provide accurate and timely information: To the HR personnel and managers to help them make better decisions.
Provide new forms of information: To help HR more fully support the strategic mission of the firm.

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Technology and Human Resources (5 of 12)
eHRM and HRIS
electronic human resource management (eHRM).
Uses information technology.
HRIS: Technology through which eHRM is enabled.
Main focus of eHRM and HRIS.
Johnson, Kavanagh, Carlson, Human Resource Information Systems, 5e © SAGE Publications, 2021.
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Satisfies Learning Outcome 3: Describe the differences between eHRM and HRIS.

electronic human resource management (eHRM):
Technology enabled collection of HR processes.
Reflects a new way of “doing” HR.
Uses information technology, particularly the Web, as the central component of delivering efficient and effective HR services.
The implementation and delivery of HR functionality enabled by a HRIS that connects employees, applicants, mangers, and the decisions they make.

HRIS: Technology through which eHRM is enabled:
An HRIS can include technologies such as databases, small functional systems focused on a single HR application (e.g., performance management), or a large-scale, integrated enterprise resource planning (ERP) system and Web-based applications.
It may even incorporate smartphones to allow employees to access data remotely and social networking tools to support employee social connections.

Main focus of eHRM and HRIS:
eHRM: Delivery, improve, increase efficiency of HR functionality.
HRIS: The systems and technology underlying the design and acquisition of systems supporting the move to eHRM.

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Technology and Human Resources (6 of 12)
The Value and Risks of HRIS
Advantages of HRIS:
A comprehensive picture.
Increasing competitiveness.
Improved timeliness and quality of decision making.
Johnson, Kavanagh, Carlson, Human Resource Information Systems, 5e © SAGE Publications, 2021.
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Satisfies Learning Outcome 4: Explain the value and risks associated with the use of a HRIS.

A comprehensive picture: Providing a comprehensive information picture as a single, integrated database; this enables organizations to provide structural connectivity across units and activities and to increase the speed of information transactions.

Increasing competitiveness: By improving HR operations and management processes, organizations gain a competitive advantage.
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Technology and Human Resources (7 of 12)
The Value and Risks of HRIS
Advantages of HRIS :
Streamlining and enhancing the efficiency HR administrative functions.
Shifting the focus of HR.
Johnson, Kavanagh, Carlson, Human Resource Information Systems, 5e © SAGE Publications, 2021.
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So what do we mean by this?

Satisfies Learning Outcome 4: Explain the value and risks associated with the use of a HRIS.

Shifting the focus of HR: From the processing of transactions to strategic HRM.

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Technology and Human Resources (8 of 12)
The Value and Risks of HRIS
Advantages of HRIS :
Improving employee satisfaction.
Dramatic cost and time savings.
Johnson, Kavanagh, Carlson, Human Resource Information Systems, 5e © SAGE Publications, 2021.
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Satisfies Learning Outcome 4: Explain the value and risks associated with the use of a HRIS.

Improving employee satisfaction: By delivering HR services more quickly and accurately.

Dramatic cost and time savings:
Reduction of salary planning cycle by over 50%.
Reduction of 25% in HR staffing headcount when implementing self-service.
Reduction of 25% in recruiting cycle time.
Reduction of recruitment costs by up to 95%.
Training cost reductions of 40%–60% with e-learning.
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Technology and Human Resources (9 of 12)
The Value and Risks of HRIS
Factors deciding the usage of HRIS:
Size of the organization.
Amount of top management support and commitment.
Availability of resources.
Johnson, Kavanagh, Carlson, Human Resource Information Systems, 5e © SAGE Publications, 2021.
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Satisfies Learning Outcome 4: Explain the value and risks associated with the use of a HRIS.

Size of the organization: Large firms generally reaping greater benefits.

Availability of resources: time, money, and personnel.
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Technology and Human Resources (10 of 12)
The Value and Risks of HRIS
Factors deciding the usage of HRIS:
HR philosophy.
Managerial competence.
Ability and motivation of employees.
Johnson, Kavanagh, Carlson, Human Resource Information Systems, 5e © SAGE Publications, 2021.
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Satisfies Learning Outcome 4: Explain the value and risks associated with the use of a HRIS.

HR philosophy: As well as its vision, organizational culture, structure, and systems;

Managerial competence: In cross-functional decision-making, employee involvement, and coaching.

Ability and motivation of employees: In adopting change, such as increased automation across and between functions.

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Technology and Human Resources (11 of 12)
The Value and Risks of HRIS
Risks:
Use of technology for human judgement.
Privacy concerns.
System rigidity and lack of flexibility.
Employee stress and resistance.
Performance reduction.

Johnson, Kavanagh, Carlson, Human Resource Information Systems, 5e © SAGE Publications, 2021.
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Satisfies Learning Outcome 4: Explain the value and risks associated with the use of a HRIS.

WHAT DO WE MEAN BY THESE?

Use of technology for human judgment: Management by computer and substitution of technology for human judgment – managers may begin to base performance evaluations exclusively from the data captured by the HRIS. Thus, soft skill behaviors such as teamwork and customer service may not be fully considered.

Privacy concerns: Employees and applicants may feel that their data are being accessed and used by those internal and external to the organization

System rigidity and lack of flexibility: Standardization of HR processes can benefit the organization, but some systems may not allow for the inevitable exceptions that arise and as the HR legal environment changes.

Employee stress and resistance: To the use of electronic performance monitoring.

Performance reduction: In complex tasks when performance monitoring systems are used.

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Evolution of HRM and HRIS
(1 of 11)
Johnson, Kavanagh, Carlson, Human Resource Information Systems, 5e © SAGE Publications, 2021.
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Early Systems
Mid-20th Century
Emerging Systems
21st Century

HR Role
Employee Advocate
Maintain Accurate Employee Records
Legal Compliance
React to Organizational Change
Internal Focus: Serve Employees
HR Role
Strategic Management Partner
Evidence-Based HR
HR Data Supports Strategic Decision Making
External Focus: Serve “Customers”
Legal Compliance

System Characteristics
Inflexible
“Islands of Technology”
Batch Processing
Focused on Employee Record Keeping
System Characteristics
Flexible
Mobile
Web-Deployed
Integrated With Organizational System
Real-Time Processing
Focused on Information Sharing

FIGURE 1.2 ■ Historical Evolution of HRM and HRIS

Satisfies Learning Outcome 5: Describe the historical evolution of HRM, including the changing role of the human resources (HR) professional.

Figure 1.2: Historical Evolution of HRM and HRIS.

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Evolution of HRM and HRIS
(2 of 11)
Pre-World War II
Clerical record keeping.
Scientific management: maximize employee productivity.
Limited government influence in employment relations.
Johnson, Kavanagh, Carlson, Human Resource Information Systems, 5e © SAGE Publications, 2021.
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Satisfies Learning Outcome 5: Describe the historical evolution of HRM, including the changing role of the human resources (HR) professional.

Clerical record keeping: Prior to World War II, the personnel function (the precursor of human resources management) was primarily involved in clerical record keeping of employee information.

Scientific management:
The prevailing management philosophy during Pre-World War II
Its central thrust was to maximize employee productivity.
It was thought that one best way to do any work was determined through time and motion studies that investigated the most efficient use of human capabilities in the production process.
Then, the work could be divided into pieces, and the number of tasks to be completed by a worker during an average workday could be computed.
These findings formed the basis of piece-rate pay systems, which were viewed as the most efficient way to motivate employees at that time.

Limited government influence in employment relations:
Employment terms, practices, and conditions were left to the owners of the firm.
As a result, abuses such as child labor and unsafe working conditions were common.
Some employers set up labor welfare and administration departments to look after the interests of workers by maintaining records on health and safety as well as recording hours worked and payroll.

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Evolution of HRM and HRIS
(3 of 11)
Post–World War II (1945–1960)
Impact of mobilization and utilization of labor during the war.
Job description: central aspect of worker classification.

Johnson, Kavanagh, Carlson, Human Resource Information Systems, 5e © SAGE Publications, 2021.
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Satisfies Learning Outcome 5: Describe the historical evolution of HRM, including the changing role of the human resources (HR) professional.

Impact of mobilization and utilization of labor during the war:
This impact was on development of the personnel function.
Managers realized that employee productivity and motivation had a significant impact on the profitability of the firm.
The human relations movement after the war emphasized that employees were motivated not just by money, but also by social and psychological factors, such as receiving recognition for work accomplished or for the achievement of work goals.

Job description:
The central aspect of the classification systems based on workers around occupational categories.
Listed the tasks, duties, and responsibilities of any individual who held the job in question.
Used to design appropriate compensation programs, evaluate individual employee performance, and provide a basis for termination.

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Evolution of HRM and HRIS
(4 of 11)
Post–World War II (1945–1960)
Trade unions.
Emergence of computer technology.
Job analysis and classification data.

Johnson, Kavanagh, Carlson, Human Resource Information Systems, 5e © SAGE Publications, 2021.
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Satisfies Learning Outcome 5: Describe the historical evolution of HRM, including the changing role of the human resources (HR) professional.

Trade unions:
Played an important role in bargaining for better employment terms and conditions.
Significant numbers of employment laws enacted in the United States allowed the establishment of labor unions and defined their scope in relationship with management.
Thus, personnel departments had to assume considerably more record keeping and reporting to governmental agencies.

Emergence of computer technology:
The typical personnel department started keeping increasing numbers and types of employee records, and computer technology began to emerge as a possible way to store and retrieve employee information.
In some cases, in the defense industry, job analysis and classification data were inputted into computers to better understand, plan, and use employee skills.

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Evolution of HRM and HRIS
(5 of 11)
Post–World War II (1945–1960)
Comprehensive Occupational Data Analysis Program (CODAP).
Only large firms could afford to develop CODAP.
Effect of increasing legislation.
Johnson, Kavanagh, Carlson, Human Resource Information Systems, 5e © SAGE Publications, 2021.
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Satisfies Learning Outcome 5: Describe the historical evolution of HRM, including the changing role of the human resources (HR) professional.

Comprehensive Occupational Data Analysis Program (CODAP):
A computer software program used by the AFHRL for collecting data from thousands in jobs within the Air Force.
Established a job description classification system, more accurately for Air Force jobs.

Only large firms could afford to develop CODAP:
During this time, large firms began investing in technology to keep track of payroll, but due to the complexity and expense of computers, only the largest organizations, such as GE, could afford to develop these systems in house.
In addition, companies such as ADP were founded as payroll outsourcers and used mainframe computers to support payroll processing.

Effect of increasing legislation:
With increasing legislation on employment relations and employee unionization, industrial relations became one of the main foci of the personnel department.
Union-management bargaining over employment contracts dominated the activity of the department, and these negotiations were not computer based.

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Evolution of HRM and HRIS
(6 of 11)
Social Issues Era (1963–1980)
Increase in labor legislation: legislative compliance.
Birth of human resources department.
Reduced technology costs: development of management information system.
Johnson, Kavanagh, Carlson, Human Resource Information Systems, 5e © SAGE Publications, 2021.
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Satisfies Learning Outcome 5: Describe the historical evolution of HRM, including the changing role of the human resources (HR) professional.

Increase in labor legislation: legislative compliance:
This period witnessed an unprecedented increase in the amount of labor legislation in the United States, legislation that governed various parts of the employment relationship, such as the prohibition of discriminatory practices, the promotion of occupational health and safety, the provision of retirement benefits, and tax regulation.
As a result, the personnel department was burdened with the additional responsibility of legislative compliance that required collection, analysis, and reporting of voluminous data to statutory authorities.

Birth of HR department:
It was about this time that personnel departments were beginning to be called HR departments and the field of HRM was born.
HRM practices were starting to affect the “bottom line” of the firms, so there was a significant growth of HR departments.

Reduced technology costs: development of management information system (MIS):
The decreasing costs of computer technology versus the increasing costs of employee compensation and benefits made the acquisition of an HRIS a necessary business decision.
As a result, there was an increasing demand for HR to adopt computer technology to process employee information more effectively and efficiently.
These technology developments and increased vendor activity led to the development of a comprehensive MIS for HRM (e.g., HRIS).

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Evolution of HRM and HRIS
(7 of 11)
Cost-Effectiveness Era (1980 to the Early 1990s)
Focus on cost reduction.
Realization about the cost of people.
Client server computing.
Johnson, Kavanagh, Carlson, Human Resource Information Systems, 5e © SAGE Publications, 2021.
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Satisfies Learning Outcome 5: Describe the historical evolution of HRM, including the changing role of the human resources (HR) professional.

Focus on cost reduction:
With increasing competition from emerging European and Asian economies, the United States and other multinational firms increased their focus on cost reduction through automation and other productivity improvement measures.
To improve effectiveness and efficiency in service delivery through cost reduction and value-added services, the HR departments came under pressure to harness technology that was becoming cheaper and more powerful.

Realization about the cost of people:
There was a growing realization within management that people costs were a very significant part of a company’s budget.
Some companies estimated that personnel costs were as high as 80% of their operating costs.
As a result, there was a growing demand on the HRM function to cost justify their employee programs and services.

Client server computing:
Organizations began networking computers together, and the development of microcomputers (e.g., PCs) allowed organizations to leverage the power of both the mainframe and local computer to support HR operations.
This approach to computing was called client server computing and it supported the processing and use of HR data on both the mainframe computer as well as on the local personal computer of an employee.
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Evolution of HRM and HRIS
(8 of 11)
ERPs and Strategic HRM (1990 to 2010)
Radical changes in economic landscape.
HR balanced scorecard and return on investment.
Strategic HRM.
Johnson, Kavanagh, Carlson, Human Resource Information Systems, 5e © SAGE Publications, 2021.
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Satisfies Learning Outcome 6: Discuss the evolution of the technology of HRIS.

Radical changes in economic landscape:
The economic landscape underwent radical changes throughout the 1990s with increasing globalization, technological breakthroughs (particularly Internet-enabled Web services), and hyper competition.
Business process reengineering exercises became more common and frequent, resulting in several initiatives, such as the rightsizing of employee numbers, reducing the layers of management, reducing the bureaucracy of organizational structures, creating autonomous work teams, and outsourcing.
Firms realize that innovative and creative employees hold the key to organizational knowledge and provide a sustainable competitive advantage.

HR balanced scorecard and return on investment (ROI): The people management function became strategic and was geared to attract, retain, and engage talent. These developments led to the creation of the HR balanced scorecard, as well as to added emphasis on the ROI of the HR function and its programs.

Strategic HRM:
Became critically important in management thinking and practice.
HR and the intellectual capital of employees were increasingly viewed as a strategic asset and a competitive advantage in improving organizational performance.

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Evolution of HRM and HRIS
(9 of 11)
ERPs and Strategic HRM (1990 to 2010)
“Best-fit” approach to strategic HRM.
Human resources planning.
Johnson, Kavanagh, Carlson, Human Resource Information Systems, 5e © SAGE Publications, 2021.
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Satisfies Learning Outcome 6: Discuss the evolution of the technology of HRIS.

“Best-fit” approach to strategic HRM:
Since organizations became more aware that there was not one best way to strategically deploy HR resources, researchers increasingly emphasized the “best-fit” approach to strategic HRM as opposed to the “best-practice” approach to strategic HRM.
Best-fit” approach to strategic HRM: the fit between the HR architecture and the strategic capabilities and business processes that implement strategy that is the basis of HR’s contribution to competitive advantage.

Human resources planning:
Primarily concerned with forecasting the need for additional employees in the future and the availability of those employees either inside or external to the company.
Can provide estimates of whether there are enough internal employees or individuals in the external labor market of the new location available with the necessary skills to staff the new facility.

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Evolution of HRM and HRIS
(10 of 11)
ERPs and Strategic HRM (1990 to 2010)
Adoption and use of HR Metrics.
Best of breed: one-specific HR function.
Johnson, Kavanagh, Carlson, Human Resource Information Systems, 5e © SAGE Publications, 2021.
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Satisfies Learning Outcome 6: Discuss the evolution of the technology of HRIS.

Adoption and use of HR Metrics:
For HR, the focus on the measurement of the cost-effectiveness of programs is relatively recent.
Despite the recent utilization of metrics, their use continues to grow and has deepened as organizations seek to compete globally.

Best of breed:
One-specific HR function (such as time and attendance, online recruiting, or payroll).
The approach where the organization would purchase the best system for each functional area.
Some industry leaders who chose this approach were Kronos for time and attendance, ADP for payroll, and Taleo for online recruiting.

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Evolution of HRM and HRIS
(11 of 11)
“The Cloud” and Mobile Technologies (2010–present)
Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.
Cloud-based HR systems.
Johnson, Kavanagh, Carlson, Human Resource Information Systems, 5e © SAGE Publications, 2021.
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Satisfies Learning Outcome 6 and 7: Discuss the evolution of the technology of HRIS and Discuss how the data from an HRIS can assist organizational decision making

Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act:
Was passed in 2010 and with it a host of new healthcare regulations were placed on organizations.
In addition, several new data requirements were needed by organizations to ensure compliance with this act.

Cloud-based HR systems:
Organizations are increasingly moving to cloud-based HR systems which are accessible over mobile devices and which leverage the capabilities of machine learning, social networking, and Web 2.0 tools.
This creates new hurdles for HR professionals as they learn to navigate new technologies and the distribution of data across devices and architectures, some of which are internally controlled by HR and others are outside of organizational control (e.g., Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, etc.).

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HRIS within the Broader Organization and Environment
(1 of 2)
Johnson, Kavanagh, Carlson, Human Resource Information Systems, 5e © SAGE Publications, 2021.
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Satisfies Learning Outcome 8: Understand how HRM and HRIS fit within a comprehensive model of organizational functioning in global business environments.

Figure 1.3: Overview of an HRIS Embedded in Organizational and Global Business Environments

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HRIS within the Broader Organization and Environment
(2 of 2)
Critical aspects of the model for HRIS:
A framework for learning.
A systems model.
HRIS and HR program evaluation results.
Alignment.
Johnson, Kavanagh, Carlson, Human Resource Information Systems, 5e © SAGE Publications, 2021.
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Satisfies Learning Outcome 8: Understand how HRM and HRIS fit within a comprehensive model of organizational functioning in global business environments.

A framework for learning: The model is a framework to use in reading, organizing, and understanding the information

A systems model: It is organic and can change over time, as the environment changes.

HRIS and HR program evaluation results: These results in terms of HR metrics and cost–benefit results (value added and return on investment—ROI) are in continual interaction.

Alignment: The alignment between the global business environment, the strategic management system, the strategic HR management system, the business goals, the HR goals, and the HR programs is critical to the organization’s maintenance of its competitiveness in the market.
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