HRIS in Texas

8/12/2019 HRIS in Texas

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Hum an ResourcesInformation Systems inTexas City Governments:Scope and Perception ofits EffectivenessBy ChristopherG Reddick PhD

This study examines human resources information systems (HRIS) in citygovernments. This article presents the results of a survey of human resourcesdirectors (HRD) in Texas Cities in the United States. City governments were chosento provide a case study of the scope of information and services provided byinformation technoiogy (IT), especially Web-based self-service, in the humanresources (HR) func tion. HRDs were aiso asked opinions on the effectiveness ofHRIS for their city governm ent. A key finding of this study is that the scope of HR iSis broad with almost 30 of emp ioyees contacting HR through emaii and the Web.However, Web-based self-services offered by HR are mostly providing information,with much less supplying oniine services. In terms of the perception of HRIS byHRDs, operational impacts such as reducing the labor force or lowering HRoperating cost are less important. However, reiational and transformationalaspects such as increasing customer service, improving the quality of services,and retaining knowledge are important to HRDs. The most critical success factor ofHRIS was improved data accuracy and the number one barrier was inadequatefunding for HR IS.

T his article examines the scope and perception of effectiveness of humanresources information systems HRIS) by hum an resources directors HRD) inTexas City go ver nm ents in the U nited S tates. HRIS is any techn olog y th at is usedto attract, hire, retain, and maintain talent, support workforce administration, andoptimize workforce management.^ Examples include com pute rs, Intern et Web andemail) or other technological means of acquiring, storing, manipulating, analyzing,retrieving, and distributing pertine nt information regarding hum an resource s HR).The claimed ben efits of HRIS are typical of information techn olog y IT) solutions,including reduced cost of hiring and personnel staffing, increased effectiveness, andbetter customer or client satisfaction.^


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Operational Relational and TransformationalImpacts of HRISPhases of ado pting HRIS have been classified into th ree stages.^ The first pha se is theoperational impact of T of automating routine activities, alleviating the administrativeburdens, reducing costs, and improving productivity internal to the HR function itselfThe second phase, after the operational impact of IT is the relational impact, isproviding managers and employees' remote access to HR databases and services,reducing response times, and improving service levels. Finally, the transformationalpha se of IT is the redefinition of the scop e and function of the HR organization to focusm or e on strategic issues.^^Ope rationa l Im pa ct off HRISFor many organizations, the starting point for IT utilization within HR focuses onimproving operational efficiency. Given the heavy administrative burden within HR,efforts to automate record keeping and routine clerical activities such as payroll andbenefits adm inistration m akes sense. By eliminating paperw ork, au tom ated systemshave the potential to reduce organizational overhead and generate significant costsavings.^2 IT can help reduce costs and improve productivity by automating routinetasks and practices.^^ The operational impact of HRIS is often one of the firstargum ents presen ted to gain project support and funding.Relationa l Im pa ct off HRISThe operational impact of IT focuses on efficiency and productivity improvementsinternally within HR. IT also influences HR's relationship externally with other partieswithin the organization. IT allows HR to enhance service by providing managers andemployees with remote access to HR databases, supporting their HR-related decisions,and increasing their ability to connect to other parties. By making informationaccessible online, HR can eliminate waste, improve decision quality, and enhancefiexibility and customization. However, some have argued that this disintermediationwithin HR may simply shift the burden of administration back to line personneloverloading them.^ *

The relational aspect of HR implies increasing the timeliness and service levelswith employees and managers, as well as outside parties. By providing managers andemployees remote access to HR databases and information, and increasing their abilityto connect with other parts of the organization as well as outside service providers;managers and employees can perform HR activities themselves, thereby reducingresponse times and improving service levels.^^Transfform ational Im pac t off HRIS


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aligning employee activities with the needs of customers or clients. In this newenvironment, jobs are much more flexible and are designed around skills, roles, andprojects rath er than stable tasks. The idea ofam ore flexible workforce w here IT allowsfor shared information within and o utside of the organization, ^

Perhaps the most dramatic impact ofIT on structural integration within HR is itstransformational role. As IT has enabled people to communicate across geographicbou nda ries and share information, it has eliminated b arriers of time and sp ace, ^ sthefollowing section demonstrates, there is very limited survey research on HRIS,speciflcally as it relates to the public sec tor o rganizations.Existing Survey Research on Human ResourceInformation SystemsThere are few studies that provide survey evidence on the impact of HRIS in publicsector organizations, Elliott and Tevavichulada conducted a survey of public and privatesector HR professionals in 1996 of their use of information systems to help them solveHR management problems,^^ Through their survey they examined the scope ofinformation and services offered online and the level of satisfaction with theseofferings. Ball con du cted a survey of 115 com pan ies in the U nited K ingdom to providea p ro le of usage of HRIS by HR departments,^ Th e resu lts of their survey indicatedthat organizational size was the clear determ inate of w heth er an organization has HRISat all and whether it adopts certain applications. In addition, the clear majority ofapplications focus on administrative tasks and not on decision support. West andBerman examined the implementation of IT in local governments of 50,000 residentsor greater^i They found through a national survey conduc ted be tween Decem ber 1999to M arch 2000 that very few cities use IT and HR in an extensive way.

There are two notable private sector studies on HRIS effectiveness. One studycond ucted a survey of over 200 respo nde nts co ndu cted in November 2001 and foundthat Web-based self-service have reduced operating cost and improved quality ofservices to employees,^^ Research in 2003 of 328 public and private sectororganizations human resources managers indicated thatHRWeb-based initiatives havepositively impa cted data accuracy and quality imp rovem ent,^ He adc oun t reduc tionand strateg ic role of HR are much lower in term s of success objectives.

The existing survey research illustrates the scope of offerings of IT in HR, Itfocuses less on the perception of HRIS effectiveness and the adoption of Web-basedself-service HR systems, which is the contribution of this study. The following sectionoutlines the research questions that are examined in this study.


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Research QuestionsTh ere are four research qu estions, derived from the literature, that are used to exam inethe sc op e and effectiveness of HRIS in city gov ern m en ts.

1. How m uch of a role doe s IT play in contacting HR by em ploye es forinformation and/or services?2. What impact does the Web-based self-service have on the provision of

information and/or services byHR?3. How muc h of an influence does HRIS have on the ope rational, relational, and

transformational aspects of HR?4. What are the barriers and success factors that inhibit and p rom ote HRIS

adoption?Questions and 2 examine the scop e ofHRISin city go ve rnm en ts in Texas. They

specifically addres s whatHRWeb-based self-service systems are provided to employeesand managers through IT.Questions 3 a nd 4 exam ine th e p erce ption of HRDs of HRISeffectiveness. In order to examine these important research questions, the followingtwo sections outline the survey data collection protocols and the characteristics of thesample.Survey Data ollection MethodsThe data collected for this study was do ne by a mail survey in the w inter of2006.Themailing list was obtained from the Texas Municipal League. HRDs or an equivalentposition classification were sent a copy of the survey with a cover letter explaining theresearch project.A reminder letter was sent to HRDs approximately three weeks afterthe initial mailing. In ord er to get m ore c andid re spo nse s, HRDs we re assured that theirindividual responses would be kept anonymous. This study only surveyed cities thatserved pop ulations of 10,000 residents o r greater b ecau se sm aller cities are not as likelyto ne ed advance d HRIS; size of go ve rnm en t is a stron g de term ina te of IT adoption.^ ^

Ou t of 152 cities in Texas that w ere se nt a survey 88 HRDs respo nd ed, which is aresponse rate of58%.This is a good resp on se rate for a local gov ernm ent survey sincethe International City/County Management Association (ICMA) normally obtainsaround a 40% response rate for their surveys of municipal officials. The followingsection provides details on the survey sample and demographic characteristics ofHRDs, to see h ow representative this studyisof HRDs and city go vern m ent.Demographic and ity Government haracteristicsTable 1 provides information on the co m position of the survey sample. One notab le


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opp ortunity to rate how techno sawy they perceived themselves to be . Theresponses to this question were on the high end, approximately four on a five pointscale. This indicates that HRDs who responded to the survey are probably more ITkno wled geab le. Finally,62.5% of the sample was compo sed of itiesthat emp loy 100 to499 full-time equivalent (FTE) employees, which is a small to medium-sized citygovernment.

Overall, it appears from Table 1 that HRDs in Texas that responded to the surveyare middle-aged, female, highly educated, comfortable with IT, and work in a small tomedium -sized city gov ernm ent. T here is no reason to believe that th e survey samp le isnot generally representative of city governments in Texas. However, a few caveatsshould be noted. HRDs who responded to the survey may be more technologicallysophisticated and from smaller cities in Texas and may not be as representative ofcertain population groups. With this information on who responded to the survey, thefollowing s ection illustrates the s cope of HRIS in city govern men t in Texas.Table :Demographics and City Government CharacteristicsW h a t is yo u r a g e r a n g e

25-3435-4445-54

65 or over

Frequency11243419

Percent12.527.338.621.6

GenderFemale

Male5731

64.835.2

Do you have a graduate degree?No

Yes5137

58.042.0

Onascale from1 to 5,with one being technophobic and5being technosawy , w here would youplace yourself intermsof ITsophistication?

1 - Technophobic234

5 -Technosawy

01

344112

0.01 1

38.646.613.6

Approximately how many full-time equivalent (FTE) employees areemployed inyourcity government?

99 or less100 to 499

655

6.862.5


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Methods of Contacting HR to get Information andServicesTh ere are four possible m etho ds of contacting HR by em ployees tha t need informationand/or services. HRDs were asked to specify the approximate percentage of eachmethod that employees typically used to contact HR. The results in Table 2 indicatedthat the most com mo n me thods of contacting HR were in person and over the p ho newith HR specialists at arou nd 35 for each of these m etho ds. The second m ostcom mo n m eth od was contacting a HR specialist via email at 23.2 . The least com mo nmethod was Web-based employee self-service through an Intranet (a Web siteaccessible only to city gov ernm ent e mp loyees) or Intern et at only 5.7 . Th e results inTable 2 showed that the primary methods (through the phone or in person) ofcontacting have not changed substantially because of the Web. However, emailaccounts for almost a quarter of contacts. As the following section demonstrates, oneof the reaso ns for the low deg ree of contacts via the Web may be attributed to th e lackof brea dth of Rservices offered.

Table 2: Perce ntage of Employees who use the fol low ing M ethodsto Contact HR to get Information and/or ServicesMethods of Contacting HR

HR specialists in person or at a meetingHR specialists over the phone

HR specialists via emailEmployee self-service through an Intranet (i.e.,a Web server

accessible only to city government employees) or Internet

Percent35.535.323.2

5.7100.0

HR Web Based Information and Services OfferedTable 3 provides an indication of the use of the Web to offer HR information andservices to employees and managers. In order to determine the implementation ofemployee and manager self-service, the information and services listed are Web-based.The m ost prono unc ed me thod is using the Web for recruitme nt. For example, the useof the Web for job posting s was do ne by 92 of cities in Texas, acce pting applicationsonline was cond uc ted by 85.2 of cities. More advanced functions such as applicationtracking, resume intake/management, and offer/new hire processing were conductedmu ch less frequently online.

The proliferation of the Web has enabled HR to train employees in citygovernment virtually from home or at work. The evidence for this occurring in Texas ismarginal at bes t. For exam ple, only 17 of cities have used the Web for curriculum


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Table 3: HR Web based Information and Services OfferedWeb Serv i ces fo r rec ru i t i ng

J o b p o s t i n g sA p p l i c a t i o n sA p p l i c a t i o n t ra c k i n g

A u t o m a t e d r e s u m e i n t a k e / m a n a g e m e n tO f f e r / n e w h i r e p r o c e s s i n g

Web se rv i ces fo r t ra in ingC u r r i c u l u m o v e r v i e w

C o u r s e e n r o l l m e n tT ra i n i n g /e - le a rn i n g

M e n t o r i n gWeb serv ices fo r empioyee benef i ts

R e t i r e m e n t p la n i n f o rm a t i o nP la n /po l i c y i n f o rm a ti o n

W e l ln e s s i n f o r m a t io n /e d u c a t io nO n g o i n gnew h i re e n ro l lm e n t s

Annual health planandw e l fa re e n ro l lm e n tO n g o i n g s t a t u s / l i f e e v e n t s c h a n g e

T o t a l c o m p e n s a t i o n s t a t e m e n t sM o d e l in g /f in a n c i al p la n n i n g t o o ls

Web services for performance/career managementJ o b d e s c r i p t i o n s

P e r f o rm a n c e a pp rai s a lsIn f o rm a t i o nonp r o m o t i o n s / c a r e e r p at hs

S k i l l / c o m p e t e n c y t r a c k i n gIn d i v i d u a l g o a l -s e t t i n gC a r e e r a s s e s s m e n t s / p l a n n i n g

Web serv ices fo r manager se l f-serv ice too isFinanc i isandac c o u n t in g (e.g. , b u d g e t i n g )

Timeanda tt e n d an c ePayro l l admin is t ra t ionM a n a g e m e n t r e p o r t s

P e rs o n n e l c h an g e t r an s a c ti o n sDivers i t yandc o m p li an c e r e p o r t i n g

W o r k fo r c e p la n n i n g

Percent Offered92.085.235.220.519.3

17.017.014.8

1.1

67.061.446.630.728.423.917.012.5

43.233.018.2

6 . 86 . 84.5

46.640.937.535.223.919.310.2


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Table 3: HR Web-based Information and Services Offered cont.)S e r v ic e s f o r W e b p o r t a l ( w i t h H R f u n c t io n a i it y )

HR information e g reai-time personnei data entry and mana gementHR Financiai information/transactionsWorkforce performance measurement information

P e r c e n t O f fe r e d2 9 , 52 6 , 19 , 1

The use of the Web for information and enrollment in employee benefits isbecoming critical for public sector organizations as the evidence shows. The surveyresults indicated that retirement plan information was provided on the Web by 6 7 ofcities in Texas, Plan/policy inform ation was provided by 61,4 of cities (Table 3), Th eresults in Table 3 indicated that th e Web was mostly being used to provide informationon benefits information. When it comes to more transaction-oriented annual healthplan and welfare enrollm ent, only2 8 , 4 of cities had this online op tion.

Another area for Web services for HR is performance/career management of thecity government workforce. The most common career management Web service wasjob descriptions being provided w ith 4 3 , 2 of respondents saying they had this option.Performance appraisals were be ing provided online by 33 of cities (Table 3), Morespecialized information systems such as career assessments/planning was done onlineby only4 , 5 of cities in Texas,

Manager self-service tools such as financiis and accounting for HR is beingconducted by46.6 of cities through a Web-based system. Time and attendance isbeing do ne by 40,9 of exascities (Table 3), More complicated workforce planning isbeing con du cted online by only 10,2 of cities. The results show that m ost of the Web-based HR is currently providing information rather than more advanced self-servicebased applications.

Finally, how develo ped a re cities in term s of their use of theW eb as a porta l for HRfunctions? A portal is a one-stop sho p for emp loyees and man agers to get HRinformation and /or services, HR information in real time such as perso nn el data en tryand m ana gem ent by em ployees is being con du cted by 29,5 of cities (Table 3), HRfinancial information/transactions are being co m pleted throu gh a portal by 2 6 , 1 ofcities. Only9 , 1 ofcitiesuse workforce performan ce me asurem ent information on theW e b ,

Overall, the results reveal that th e Web is currently being u sed in HR mo re as aninformation source for managers and employees. There are limited numbers of moreadvanced self-service applications used in the cities surveyed. The information rich,transaction poor environment is consistent with existing survey literature on e-go ve rnm en t diffusion in local governments,^5 At this point, this article has p res en tedthe use of IT such as the Web in the HR function. The following section of this studyexamines th e pe rcep tions of HRDs on the overall imp act of IT on HR,


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Operational, Relational, and TransformationalImpacts of ITonHRTable 4 prov ides d ata tha t show s how deve loped IT is in the HR function. It specificallyexamines the everyday operational impacts , improvements in organizationalrelationsh ips, and th e transform ational impacts of IT. ^ Many of the arg um en tsarticulated for the benefits of adopting IT in the HR function can be grouped withinthese three broad categories. In the operational impacts of HR and IT the averagerespo nses the sum ma tion and average o fth e categories strongly agree 2), agree, 1),neu tral 0), disagree -1), and strongly disagree -2)) indicate som e intere sting results.^^The h ighest average respo nse w as improving operationa l efficiency beca use ofIT withan average response of 1.03. The second highest average response was for automatingrecord keeping and other clerical duties, with a score of 0.91. Increasing theproductivity ofHR emp loyees was the third highest op erational impact with an averageresponse of 0.85. However, there was disagreement whether IT will reduce the laborforce with an average response of -0.51. Eliminating paperwork and lowering HRoperating costs scored -0.18 and -0.17, respectively Overall, from the survey results ofIT impacting the operational aspects ofHR there is some co nsensus am ong HRDs thatIT has increased HR operating efficiency, automated routine aspects of the daily HRfunction, a nd m ade HR workers m ore p roduc tive. However, what HRIS did n otaccomplish were a reduction in the HR labor force and the elimination of paperwork,which were aspects one would imagine should happen because of IT adoption. Thesurvey results for the operational impacts of RISare mixed, but the relational aspe ctsare much mo re certain.Table 4: Operational, Relationa l, and Transformationai Impacts ofIT and HRIT in our HRfunctionh as. . .

OperationalAutomated record keeping and other

clerioal dutiesAlleviated administrative burdensImproved HR operating efficiencyIncreased volume of workShifted additional administrative

burdens to line managers becauseof automation

Reduced HR labor force

stronglyagree

25.017.031.8

6.8

3.41.1

agree

52.340.947.721.6

27.318.2

neutral

12.522.713.631.8

38.621.6

disagree

9.113.65.7

36.4

25.046.6

Stronglydisagree

1.15.71.13.4

5.712.5

AverageResponse

0.910.501.03

0.08

0.020.51


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Table 4: Operational, Relational, and Transformational Impacts ofIT and HR (cont.)IT in our HR function has...

RelationalReduced response times to serve our

customers or clientsImproved working relationships with

upper managementEnhanced our ability to recruit and

retain top talentReceived HR staff acceptanceEmpowered employees and managers

to make more decisions on their ownabout needs

Improved employee awareness,appreciation, and use of citygovernment HR programs

Improved line managers ability to meetHR responsibilities

Improved quality and timeliness ofservices to employeesImproved relationships with citizens

and business and HRTransformationalRedefined the sco pe of HR to focus

more on strategic issuesReengineered HRIncreased the flexibility of HRImproved quality of HR servicesEnabled HR to focus on its missionMade HR a strategic partner in city

governmentEnabled me to become and more

effective managerIncreased knowledge management

(i.e., creation, capture, transfer, anduse of knowledge)Reduced the levels of bureaucracy

strongiyagree

20.512.55.7

20,5

6,8

9,19,1

18,26,8

3,44,58,0

17,04,58,0

13,6

17,0

agree

62,536,431,854,5

20,5

25,029,562,531,8

29,535,259,158,044,337,553,4

55,7

neutral

9,139,848,920,5

39,8

44,337,512,551,1

46,631,819,317,038,635,220,5

18,2

disagree

6,810,212,53,4

29,5

20,522,7

5,78,0

19,323,912,5

6,811,415,911,4

8,0

Stronglydisagree

1,11,11,11,1

3,4

1,11,11,12,3

1,14,51,11,11,13,41,1

1,1

AverageResponse

0,940,490,280,90

-0,02

0,200,230,910,33

0,150,110,600,830,400,310,67

0,80


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In the relational impact of IT in HR there are some very pronounced findings.There is evidence that HRIS has reduced response times to serve customers andclients, with an average response of 0.94 recorded for this question. The secondhighest average response was improving the quality and timeliness of services toem ployees scoring 0.91. The third highest average resp on se sco re was 0.90 forreceiving HR staff acceptance. The score of -0.02 showed an ambiguous averagerespon se that HRIS has empo wered employees and managers to make m ore decisionsabo ut HR on their ow n. The results in th e relational imp acts ofHRISshow ed that it hasincreased the quality of HR services to employees, made HR more responsive to itscustomers, and HR staff is generally accepting of IT systems. Compared to theoperational impacts of HRIS there seems to be some consensus that it has impactedrelational aspects of the daily HR function. The transformational impact of HRISis alsoexamined to see wh ether IThas fundamentally chan ged city gov ernm ent HR.

The transformational impact of IT and HR in Table 4 indicated that it hasimproved overall quality of HR services with the highest average response of 0.83.Second , HRIS has increased k now ledge m anag em ent, or the creation, cap ture, transfer,and use of knowledge in the organization, with an average response of 0 80 The thirdhighest re spo nse to the transformational category was that HRIS has enab led HRDs tobecome more effective managers, with an average response of 0.67. Unlike theoperational impacts of HRIS with some negative average responses, the meanresponses for the transformational and relational impacts are generally positive (withthe exception of one category). There was an average response of -0.14 for HRISreducing the levels of bureaucracy within city government. This finding is notsurprising since many HR dep artme nts often use mo re comm and and co ntrolapproaches, which impede the reduction of bureaucracy^^ Overall, the quality of HRservices has been increased, knowledge management has been enhanced, but HRIShas not redu ced bu reaucratic red tape.

The findings for the operational, relational, and transformational impacts of HRISshowed that it was able to achieve certain things, but fall short on others. This is furtherelaborated on in the following section which presents the success factors and barriersof IT adop tion in HR.Success Factors and Barriers of IT and the HRFunctionThere are various success factors and challenges identified in the literature on theadoption of HRIS.^' HRDs were also asked in this survey to specify the applicablesuccess factors for IT and their HR function. Table 5 shows that the most commonlycited factor of succe ss was improve d da ta accuracy, with 71.6 of HRDs believing thiswas the case. The second highest rated success factor was service improvement,


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Table : Succe ss Factors and Ba rriers of IT and HRSuccess Fa ctorsImproved data accuracyService improvementEnable HR to serve morestrategicaiiyQuaiity improvementHR staff acceptanceEmpioyee and managersaccep tanceEmpioyees and managers makebetter decisionsRecruit key taientMeeting costs savings

Percent71.6

64.8

53.45 1 . 1

43.2

33.0

28.4

25.023.9

BarriersInadequate budget/ fundingTeciinical infrastructure notin placeStaff resistant to ci iangeSecurity/privacy fearsInadequate changemanagementLack of support f rom electedofficialsInabil i ty to prove need, showpotential paybackLack of CAO or City Managersuppor t

Percent67.0

48.9

28.422.7

19.3

19.3

15.9

10.2

Table5also shows th e key barriers that inhibit the ado ption of IT in HR. The m ostcommonly cited barrier was inadequate budget/funding according to 6796 of HRDs.The second most common barrier was technical infrastructure was not in place, with49% of resp on de nts saying that this was the case. Only 10.2% of HRDs believed thatthere was lack of support from their chief administrative officer (CAO) or city managerfor HRIS. The problem of trying to convince funding sources of payback and need wasrecorded by16% of respondents.

Overall, the results in Table 5 indicated that funding was a significant barrier toHRIS,which is a comm on them e identified throug hou t the public administration andthe HR literatures. While improving data accuracy was a success factor for HRIS, this isconsistent with the critical support function that HR serves. The following conclusionuses this data on the adoption and perception of RIS in city governments to answerthe research que stions d iscussed earlier in this article.ConclusionThis study has examined the scope of information and services provided by HRIS inTexas City governments. The results of this research indicated that HRDs viewed HRIS,especially Web-based self-service, as more informational and less transaction-based.The Web holds a distant fourth in terms of employee contact with HR for informationand services. HRDs indicated that the primary methods of employee contact with HR


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evidence shows at this point that the scope of RISis information rich and transactionpoor, wh ich is consistent w ith existing survey literature o n IT adop tion in public se ctororganizations,^^

In terms of the impact of HRIS on the operational, relational, andtransformational aspect of the HR function, som e interesting results surfaced. O newould expect that the implementation of HRIS would have operational benefitsbecau se it takes advantage of the low hanging fruit principle of cost savingsjustification when implementing IT, Overall, when examining the survey data of HRDsthere seemed to be less consensus that operational goals have in fact been realized.There is more agreement that relational and transformational impacts have beenachieved because ofHRIS,What do es this m ean for th e future direction of HRIS?

First, this implies that the typical justification for the implementation of RISofreducing costs may not be as well founded in the survey findings presented here. Itseems that improving customer service and providing higher quality services are moreimportant factors. Second, more effort should be devoted to finding ways to increasethe use of HRIS to support more advanced strategic decision-making tools withinpublic sector organizations. The evidence shows that there is more use of HRIS forbasic information, bu t mu ch less on decision sup po rt functions.

There are some limitations that should be noted of this study of HRIS and theperception of HRDs on the effectiveness of its adoption. First, this is a study of citygo ve rnm en ts' us e of HRIS in a single state, namely, Texas; there fore, the results may n otbe generalizable to the larger population use of IT and HR, This is born out in therespo nses to the survey being typically m ore techn osaw y HRDs from small tome dium sized cities. Second, any time you ask HRDs of their opinions on a survey the irrespo nse may be pro ne to exaggeration in their claims of success or failure; therefore,we have n o ind ep en de nt verification of their claims.

To overcome some of these weaknesses future research should examine theWebsites of city government HR departments, possibly interviews, or otherindependent verification of HRIS using a national survey sample. Anotherrecommendation is to expand the sample by replicating this study to cities across theUnited S tates, However, with this study the re was a desire to provide an analysis of th elandscape of RISin city gov ernm ents and the perc eption by HRDs ofits effectivenessin the Rfunction.Notes' Tannen baum , S,I, (1990), Hu ma n Resource Information Systems: User Gro up Implications,Journal of Systems Mana gement. 41(1), 26-32,2 Coursey, D,H,, & McCreary, S,M, (2005), Using Tech nolo gy in th e W orkplac e, in Con drey, S,E,(Ed,)Handbo ok of Human Resource Managem ent in Government. 2nd Edition, (San

Francisco, CA: John Wiley & Sons, Inc),' Elliott, R,H,, & Tevavichulada, S, (1999), C om pu ter Literacy and H um an R esource M anag em ent:


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* Lepak, D.R, & Snell, S.A. (199 8). Virtual HR: Strategic H um an Re sou rce M ana gem ent in the 21stCentury.Human Resource Management Review. 8(3), 215-234.

5 Snell, S.A., Pedigo, ER., & lraw iec, G.M. (1995). Manag ing the Im pac t of In form ationTechnology o n H um an Reso urce M anag em ent. In Ferris, G.R., Rosen, S.D., & Barn um , D.T.(Eds.)Handbook of Human Resource Management. (Cam bridge, MA: Blackwell Pub lishers).

^ Keebler, T.J., & Rh ode s, D.W (2002 ). E-HR: Be com ing th e Path of Least Resistance .Employment Relations Today. 29(2), 57-66.

7 Snell, S.A., Pedigo, PR., & Krawiec, G.M. (1995).8 Towers Perrin. (2001). Web-Based Self-Service: Tbe Current State of tbe Art. Towers Perrin

retrieved March 15, 2006 from http://ww w.tow ersperrin.co m; Lippert, S.K., & Swiercz, PM.(2005). Human Resource Information Systems and Technology Trust. Journal of InformationScience. 31(5), 340-353.

5 Lippe rt, S.K., & Swiercz, PM. (2005).1 Kovach, K.A., & Cath cart, C.E. (199 9). H um an Re sou rce Info rm ation System s (HRIS): ProvidingBusiness with Rapid Data Access, Information Exchange and Strategic Advantage. Public

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> Snell, S.A., Stueber, D., & Lepak, D.P (2002). Lepak, D.P, & Snell, S.A. (1998).'* Snell, S.A., St ue be r, D ., & Lepa k, D .P ( 20 02 ).5 Lepak, D.P, & Snell, S.A. (1998). Snell, S.A., Stue ber, D., & Lepak, D .P (2 002 ); Gard ner , S.D., Lepak, D .P, & Barto l, K.M. (2003).

Virtual HR: Th e Impact of Inform ation Tech nology on the H um an R esourc e Professional.Journal of Vocational Behavior. 63(2 ), 159-179.

17 Snell, S.A., Pedigo, PR., & Krawiec, G.M. (1995); Ulrich, D. (1997). Human ResourceCham pions: The Next Agenda for Adding Value and D elivering Results. (Boston, MA: HarvardBusiness School Press); Hempel, PS. (2004). Preparing the HR Profession for Technology andInformation Work.Human Resource Management. 43(2&3 ), 163-177.

8 Lepak, D.P, & Snell, S.A. (1998).9 Elliott, R.H., & Tevavichulada, S. (1999).2 Ball, K.S. (20 01 ). West, J.P, & B erm an, E.M. (2001). Towers Perrin. (2001). Cedar. (2003).Cedar 2003 Workforce Technologies Survey 6th Edition. CedarCres tone .

Retrieved March 15, 2006 from http://ww w.ced arcreston e.com2'' Norris, D.R, & Moon, M.J. (2005). Advancing e-government at the grassroots: Tortoise or hare?


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2^ This study could have used median responses instead of average responses and arrived atsimilar conclusion s.

28 Sne ll, S,A., Stu eb er, D,, Lep ak, D.P (20 02) ,2 Ash baugh , S,, Miranda, R, (2002), Technology for Hu m an Reso urce M anag em ent: Seven

Questions and Answers.Public Personnel Manag ement 31(1 ), 7-20.30 S n e l l , S ,A . , P e d i g o , P R , , K r a w i e c , G , M , ( 1 9 9 5 ) .3 1 N o r d s , D . R , M o o n , M . J , ( 2 0 0 5 ) ,

AuthorsChristopher G. Reddick PhDAssociate Professor and Department ChairDepartment of Public AdministrationThe University of exasat San Antonio501 W Durango Blvd.San Antonio, Texas(210) [email protected]. Christopher G. Reddick is an associate professor and chair of the Department ofPublic Administration at the University of exasat San Antonio. Reddick's research andteaching interests are in employee benefits and e-governm ent. Reddick recently editedtwo books Handbook of Research on Strategies for L ocal E-Govem ment Adoptionand Implementation: ComparativeStudies and Handbook of Employee Benefits andAdministration.


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