Comparing Two University Websites in Terms of Their e-HRM - Research Paper Example

? e-HRM practice: Comparing two websites of the affiliation with information about affiliation, research grants, how to contact.Abstract The electronic human resource management (e-HRM) main goal is to improve the strategic human resource management. The purpose of this paper is to compare the e-HRM in two universities ( Zayed and Texas). Those universities are located in two different regions, in an international level. Therefore the contextual factors and the management type have different implications in each one. Specifically both universities web sites were examined. Based on a scientific framework several aspects were analyzed: contextual factors, website architecture, e-HRM activities, actors, goals, e-HRM strategy and possible outcomes. The organization type is similar in both cases. But the results reveal that the type of e-HRM practice is different. Therefore the e-HRM practice on each organization has different consequences. It happens because the contextual environment is not the same and the the e-HRM application and the web sites main activities are very different. This paper emphasizes the importance of the controlling and monitoring task in order to prove the effectiveness of the e-HRM practice. It provides also instructions for future researches. e-HRM practice: Comparing two university websites e-HRM is a new research theme. As a new application is important to identify the research needs and define a research framework in order to achieve a proper result. e-HRM appears as the use of the information technology in order to support the human resources functions. The questions are: How can the IT technology coexists with the HR functions and improve its efficiency? “With e-HRM, managers can access relevant information and data, conduct analyses, make decisions, and communicate with others - and they can do this without consulting an HR professional unless they choose to do so. For example, a manager who wants to make a merit pay decision may access files containing text, audio, and video describing how best to make the decision. Then, the manager can access the data file containing information on his/her employees. With a click of the mouse, the decision is recorded and other departments (such as finance) are notified. Hours of processing are reduced to minutes, and much paperwork is avoided by the use of this technology (Lengnick-Hall & Moritz; 2003, p. 366).” The first studies appears in 1995 ( Strohmeier, S. 2007). Strohmeier presents a research framework. Ruel and the colleges developed “An explorative empirical study in five large companies on web-based HRM”. With this experience were identified four type of goals in e-HRM practice, and crucial research point were defined. The purpose of this paper is to compare the actual practice of e-HRM on two different Universities' websites and determine the similarities and differences between e-HRM practices on both websites. The Universities are Zayed and Texas. Based on previous studies, as the Ruel and Strohmeier experiences, is possible to identify critical points to analyses in both e-HRM practice. Applying this knowledge to the current case study, this paper aims to identify and to describe the e-HRM practices and policies in both cases. After presenting the theoretical concepts on chapter 3, the methodology and the results will be presented in sections 4 and 5. In the conclusion ( section 6), the themes will be synthesized and the lessons learned presented. HRM and e-HRM Strategic Human Resources Management Martin-Alcazar, Romero-Fernandez and Sanchez-Gardy ‘s literature review define Strategic Human Resources Management “ as the integrated set of practices, policies and strategies through which organizations manage their human capital, that in?uences and is in?uenced by the business strategy, the organizational context and the socioeconomic context.” ( Alcazar, Fernandez & Gadey, 2005). Built on an intensive research work on strategic HRM models as the contingent, configurations and contextual perspectives, this definition sets strategic HRM beyond the organization ( Janet H.M., Sandra L.F., 2012). The strategic HRM implementation in an organization could lead into important outcomes as the human capital improvement, social capital, knowledge and intellectual capital. This practice is referenced as a body of principles for a competitive advantage in an organization ( Janet H.M., Sandra L.F., 2012). What?s e-HRM Most of all the literature reviewed refers the Ruel, Bondarouk and Looise e-HRM definition: “e-HRM is a way of implementing HR strategies, policies, and practices in organizations through a conscious and directed support of and/or with the full use of web-technology-based channel” (Ruel, Bandarouk & Looise, 2004). Strohmeier comes with a new definition, equally accepted and cited. This one is more focused on the technological context: “e-HRM is the (planning, implementation and) application of information technology for both networking and supporting at least two individual or collective actors in their shared performing of HR activities” ( Strohmeier, 2007). In order apply the strategic Human Resource Management, e-HRM appears as an important tool.It improves the HRM policies, politics, and the efficiency of the relationship between users. e-HRM Goals The costs associated with the e-HRM technology are high. When implementing this technology the organizations are expecting some results. Which are these goals? Why should the organizations invest in e-HRM technology? Lengnick-Hall & Moritz defends a position for those answers “Use e-HRM and your organisation can reduce process and administration costs. Fewer HR professionals are needed because e-HRM eliminates the “HR middleman”. Furthermore, e-HRM speeds up transaction processing, reduces information errors, and improves the tracking and control of HR actions. Thus e-HRM improves service delivery.” ( Strohmeier, 2007). Ruel et al. (2004) developed a scientific framework of e-HRM goals. This framework is based on the four Lepak & Snell (1998) pressures: “• The increasingly strategic role of the HR departments • The greater demand of flexibility • The pressure to be as efficient as possible • Maintain the role as service provider to managers and employees” . Those four pressures were reduced by Ruel and colleagues to three: “1. Improving the strategic orientation of HRM 2. Cost reduction/efficiency gains 3. Client service improvement/facilitating management and employees.” (Ruel et al., 2004). These three types of goals were the base for Ruel research. However in the case study with five companies Ruel founds another one. Four of the five companies were emphasized with standardize/harmonize HR policies and processes, in order to globalization.Therefore are identified four types of goals in e-HRM (Ruel et al., 2004).): “. Cost reduction; . Client service improvement; . Improving strategic HRM; . Integration of HRM function;” e-HRM Types Lepak and Snell (1998) defines three HRM types: operational, relational and transformational HRM. These are three different types of behavior concerning the HRM politics and implementation. Applying this approach to the e-HRM results: . Operational e-HRM is related to the administrative functions: salary and personnel data administration; . Relational e-HRM is concerned with recruitment, training, awarding and other business support process; . Transformational e-HRM is focused on strategic HRM; Relevant topics of e-HRM research Strohmeier (2007) defines a general framework to structure the e-HRM research. This framework defines two analysis levels: the individual (micro level) and the organizational one ( macro level). Under this model is recommended to analyze the contextual factors. Factors as availability, on the individual level and culture on organizational level, could have different implications of the e-HRM research. After is recommended to consider the actors, activities, strategies and technology in order to provide a consistent research and to reach into the e-HRM consequences. Methodology The understanding of the research goals is critical for defining the research methodology. Regarding the Zayed University and Texas University web sites, this paper will aim: To compare the actual practice of e-HRM on both websites; To determine the similarities and differences between e-HRM practices on both websites; With this paper, it’s expected the whole picture of the comparison e-HRM practices on both websites. To reach this objective the strategy research chosen is the qualitative: focused on providing a detailed description of the research topic. As said, this paper presents a qualitative research, based on an intensive analyze of the two universities human resources websites. With this research it will be provided a detailed description of the e-HRM use on both Universities. The project propose is comparing the practice and policies of the e-HRM in the Texas University and Zayed University. In order to achieve into reliable results the qualitative research design adopted in this paper is based on the following steps: 1. Classifying the organizational level: micro/macro; 2. Identifying the contextual factors; 3. Analyzing the technology: website architecture; 4. Understanding the e-HRM activities; 5. Classify the actors; 6. Analyzing the type of goals and the website strategy; 7. Identify the e-HRM type; 8. Outcomes and Consequences; 9. Providing a comparison; Results In this paper is proposed present a comparison between the e-HRM implementation in two different Universities. First of all is important classify the organization. As said the implementation of e-HRM has different consequences depending on the organization type. The organization level is macro, in both cases. Zayed University is a public institution located in United Arab Emirates ( campus at Dubai and Abu Dhabi). After the web site analysis is evident the concerning with the globalization and the Zayed University quotation in an international scale. Zayed University has accreditation by the Commission on Higher Education of the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools ( US based) and has developed cooperations with institutions all over the world ( Scotland, Australia, Spain and Japan). University of Texas is a public institution too, located in Austin ( United States of America). The University of Texas is an institution concerned with the global experience. This public organization is rated in the top 10 for international student enrollment and also supports also many international resource centers (Latin American studies, Middle Eastern studies, South Asian studies, Russian, East European and Eurasian studies). Both Universities are from two different regions: United Arab Emirates and United States of America. Therefore is important to understand in both cases the contextual factors as culture and legal conditions. These factors influence the e-HRM strategy and the implementation consequences. For example the typical way of managing people is different in both countries. Many studies reveal that in the UAE the HR work is from the organization director responsibility. The UAE style management is characterized by centralized the power. Typically the organizations are autocratic and directive (P.  Wright, Szeto,  &  Geory,  2000). On the other hand the UEA management style is characterized to maximize the work empowerment. In order to understand specifically the management style and other factors on both institutions should be done a research into the internal organization. This type of research implies the use of other instruments (example: interviews and surveys). In order to understand how the e-HRM is applied is important to know how the information technology is used in both websites. By exploring all the functional application and the website architecture, could be design the information workflow and how it interacts with the organizations and its implications on HRM. On Zayed University (ZU) website (http://www.zu.ac.ae/main/en/_careers/index.aspx) the main activities are described in table 1. Therefore the website actor outside the organization is prospective employees and inside the organization is the HR professionals (figure 1). The website architecture reveals the responsibility maps expected on the e-HRM implementation. In ZU case the HR professional responsibility supported by the technology is only the administrative tasks. The main activities in this case are related to making available general information about the institution as a workplace, job applications and support recruitment activities. Therefore only the recruitment process is supported by the IT technology. It means that e-HRM technology contains the process flow of this specific activity. All the other HR professional functions related with the strategic orientation of the organizations are being devoloped without the IT support. The IT role in supporting the HR activities is recording of the interactions when a recruitment activity is being performed. Therefore the intended impacts are: . The automation of the HR professional activities; . Optimizing the workflow with employees. In ZU case the website appears as a way to collect information and support the recruitment activities, so the e-HRM type of practice and police in ZU is the Relational e-HRM. Relational e-HRM IT technology , supports the communication between the HR professional and the employees/managers. In ZU case these interactions are supported when recruitment process is performed based on the web site. The main goals related to this case are cost reduction and service improvement. Cost reduction is achieved by reducing the cost of HR transactions, reducing the use and distribution of paper and improving the productivity of HR professionals. The service improvement is related to the decreasing of personal character of the services, the increasing of the accessibility of the recruitment service. The main consequences and possible outcomes related to the e-HRM implementation at Zayed University are: .To free the HR professional from the administrative tasks related to the recruitment process; . The improvement in the communication in the recruitment process. Exploring the University of Texas (UT) website (http://www.utexas.edu/hr/index.php) leads into a more complex workflow. First of all there is a specific website for the HRM implementation. This fact reveals the importance of e-HRM technology at UT organization. Analyzing the website architecture there are six different types of actors (Figure 2): current employee, prospective employee, retired employee, student employee, manager, HR professional. For each actor there are various available activities, as described in the following table 2. The architecture of the UT human resources website confirms the HR activities performed by those actors. This separates these HR activities by categorizing them in different clusters. Every actor, when logged on, has restricted access to certain applications and information, depending on their function and roll on the organization. The UT website appears as an IT which supports the strategic HRM, by automatizing the HR activities, improving flexibility in the organization, decreasing bureaucracy and increasing efficiency of the processes. In this case all the organization gets involved with the website. The way of conducting process becomes different and the implementation of the IT modifies the internal organization. In this case the e-HRM type applied is the transformational e-HRM technology. In UT e-HRM technology divides HR tasks over the different actors by the use of knowledge management systems. The website ensures the correct activity's performance: on time and by the right persons. In this case the main goals are cost reduction, service improvement, improving strategic HRM and the integration of HRM functions. The cost reduction and service improvement goals appear in the same way as the ZU case. The IT technology improves internal relationships, the full use of the human capital, the effective coordination of employees across all the departments and the planning of the activities. For these reasons the strategic HRM is improved. The integrations of HRM functions are achieved with the standardization and harmonization of HR functions: equalize the contents related to the HR functions and enable cooperations Therefore is expected that the e-HRM implementation affects all the organization in a strategic way. At UT the possible outcomes are more complex: . To free the HR professionals from the administrative tasks (not only in the recruitment process but in the all the activities); . Speeds up the transactions; . Reduces information errors in the whole organization; . HR professionals are more concentrated in strategic activities; . e-HRM improves service delivery; In UT case the e-HRM integrates the HR policies with the organization’s business strategy. It performs almost all HRM activities with a consistent focus. Although using the same IT, the two universities have differentiated types of practicing the e-HRM policies. The table 3 presents a synthesized comparison. Discussion and Conclusions This paper aimed a comparison on e-HRM practice on two different Universities' websites: Zayed and Texas. In both cases is expected the cost reduction and the service efficiency by increasing the automation HR activities. On TU case the standardization of the HR policies and the decentralization of the HR activities could lead also to a strategic integration improvement. However, these goals are only expected outcomes. In ZU case is important to consider the rising cost of web advertising. The risk associated with the non-qualified application is an important factor too. These factors could revoke the e-HRM implementation and consequences. In order to measure and to achieve the reals outcomes should be done an intensive research into the internal activity of both organizations. An additional important task is controlling the results of e-HRM implementation. This task should be done in order to measure the effectiveness of the e-HRM implementation. In order to analyze these aspects should be done a quantitative analysis based on the following aspects (Philips 2001): . Analysis costs; . Development costs; . Implementation costs; . Operating costs; . Evaluation costs; . Quality improvement savings; . Output increases; . Time savings; . Cost savings in operation and overhead. The e-HRM appears as a critical application for the globalization. In both cases the improvement of the efficiency of the communication links people more easily. The concept of globalization nowadays is present in the organizations all over the world. Therefore, in the HRM sector, is needed an efficient application to link people in different parts of the world. The e-HRM implementation appears to give an effective response to this problem. As said both universities are concerned with the globalization. Therefore the use of IT technology supporting HRM functions appears as an essential instrument in order to develop the globalization theme on the organization. e-HRM is an important investment. It’s critical to the HRM service improvement and to properly track the globalization process. Ignoring e-HRM costs money. Ignoring it could cost even more. References Grix, J. (2004), The foundations of research, Palgrave MaCMillan, NewYork Lengnick-Hall, M.L. & S. Moritz (2003), The impact of e-HR on the Human Resource Management Function, Journal of Labour Research, Vol. 24, No. 3, P. 365-379 Lengnick-Hall, M.L. & S. Moritz (2003), The impact of e-HR on the Human Resource Management Function, Journal of Labour Research, Vol. 24, No. 3, P. 365-379 Lepak, D. & S.A. Snell (1998), Virtual HR: Strategic Human Resource Management in 21st century, Human Resource Management Review, Vol. 8, No. 3, P. 215-234 Martin-Alcazar, F., Romero-Fernandez, P.M.&Gardey, G.S. (2005). Strategic Human Resource Management:Integrating the Universalistic, Contingent, Configurational and Contextual Perspectives. International Journal of Human Resource Management, 15(5). 633-659. Phillips, J. J., Stone, R. D., & Phillips, P. P. (2001), The Human Resource Scorecard Measuring the Return on Investment, Butterworth-Heinemann Ruel, H.J.M., Bondarouk, T.V.&Looise, J.K. (2004). E-Hrm: Innovation or rritation. Explorative Empirical Study in Five Large Companies on Web-Based Hrm. Management Revue, 15(3). 364-380. Strohmeier, S. (2007). Research in E-Hrm: Review and Implications. Human Resource Management Review, 17(1). 19-37. Wright, P., Szeto, W., & Geory, G. (2000). Changing the management mindset: Management style and coping with world-class competition. Management Decision, 38(9), 607-611. Table 1 Zayed University website - main activities Activities Description 1. Employment Opportunities Interactive application where prospective employees could find new jobs and send their CV. 2. UAE National Employment This field gives the user information about opportunities in UAE and how to apply. 3. Working at ZU Information about Zayed University, the mission and history. 4. Moving to UAE Main information about moving and living in the UAE. 5. Living in the UAE 6. FAQ’s Answers to the most frequently asked questions. Table 2 Texas University website - main activities Actor Activity Prospective employee Career management Time off Insurance Employee assistance program UTemps Compensation Retirement Programs Wellness Compliance Conflict management Forms Prospective employees About Austin Applying Benefits Compensation Temporary employment Retired employees Checklist Insurance Part-time work Support & Services Forms Student employee Finding a student job Orientation and training Compensation Insurance and benefits Student academic employment Student non academic employment Managing student employees Additional resources Forms Manager Hiring & Separation Compensation Performance management Worker’s compensation Timekeeping Management tools Forms HR Professional Hiring & Separation Timekeeping Worker’s compensation Compliance Well being & Safety Training HR Forum Find HRS Reps Forms Table 3 Comparison of the two websites Zayed University web site Texas University web site Organization Type Macro Macro Contextual Factors Culture and legal conditions Culture and legal conditions Actors HR professional Organization Web site strategy Optimize , automation and recording of the interaction on the HR activities Support the HR decision making, decrease the bureaucracy, increase the organization flexibility. e-HRM goals Cost reduction Service improvement Cost reduction Service improvement Improving Strategic HRM Integration of HRM functions e-HRM Types Relational e-HRM technology Transformation e-HRM technology Possible Outcomes and Consequences Free HR professionals from the administrative tasks related to recruitment; Improving the communication between HR professional and prospective employees; HR professionals more concentrated in strategic tasks; The “HR middle man” is eliminated; The communication is improved inside and outside the organization( with prospective employees and with the whole organization); Reduces information errors; Improves service delivery; Figure 1 Zayed University website – actors Figure 2 Texas University website – actors Read More