JanetH.MarlerSandraFisher
AN EVIDENCE-BASED REVIEW OF E-HRM AND STRATEGIC HRM
AGENDA
Mo#va#onandpurpose
Researchques#ons
Evidence‐basedmethodology
Results
Synthesizedconclusions
Futuresteps
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TOP U.S. PRACTITIONER INITIATIVES IN 2005
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15
21
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25
26
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32
42
0 20 40 60 80
ExpandingHRITwithanaly#cs
Sarbanes‐Oxley
Warfortalent
Upgrade
EnterpriseportalforHRtransac#ons
Compensa#onmanagement
ManagerSelf‐Service
Aligningemployeegoals
EmployeeSelf‐Service
Businessprocessimprovements
%ofRespondentsin2005
%Budget
%TimeRespondents
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Source:CedarCrestone2005‐2006
TOP US PRACTITIONER INITIATIVES IN 2010
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Source:CedarCrestone2009‐2010
PRACTITIONER STATED INTENDED E-HRM OUTCOMES
CostSavings
• Headcount/centraliza#on
• Automa#on
HRServiceDelivery
• Self‐service• Bestprac#ces
StrategicBusinessPartner
• Supportbusiness
• Talentmanagement
E‐HRM
E-HRM “THEORETICAL” LITERATURE: TALE OF TWO PERSPECTIVES
E‐HRM StrategicHRM“IT’stransforma#onalimpactonHRM”
Snell,Stueber&Lepak(2002)Lengnick‐Hall&Moritz(2003)
“ITasastrategictooltomeetHRstrategicobjec#ves”
Broderick&Boudreau(1992)Reddington&Mar#n(2006)Ruel,BondaroukandVanderVeld(2007)
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THE DUALITY OF TECHNOLOGY
Technologicaldeterminism Independentvariable Exogenouschange
Technologyastriggeringforce
Technologyasanoutcome Dependentvariable Consequenceofstrategicchoice
Technologyasatool
Orlikowski,1992;Strohmeier,2009
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EVIDENCE-BASED QUESTIONS
e‐HRM
StrategicHRM
Performance
StrategicHRM
e‐HRM
Performance
1)Whate‐HRMandstrategicHRMrela@onshipsarepresentandsupportedacrossstudies?
2)Doestheevidencesupportadeterminis@cviewinwhichtechnologytriggersorganiza@onalchangeordoestheevidencesuggestamoreinfluen@alroleforsocialandorganiza@onalactors?
3)Underwhatcondi@onsdoeseHRMleadto/enhancestrategicHRMandwhatmechanismsoperateinthisrela@onship?
Systema#cReviewofEvidence(Rousseau,Manning&Denyer,2008;Briner,Denyer&Rousseau,2009)
Akeymethodologyforloca#ng,appraising,synthesizing,andrepor#ng“bestevidence”frommul#plestudies.
Morestructured,unbiasedandprac##onerfocusedthantradi#onalliteraturereview.
Begerthanevidencefromonestudy.
4Approaches Aggrega#on Integra#on Interpreta#on Explana#on
5CategoriesofEvidence
Evidence‐BasedMethodology
4 EVIDENCE-BASED APPROACHES Aggrega@on Integra@on Interpreta@on Explana@on
Goal • Combineeffectstoincreasesamplesizeandreducebias• Predictinterven#onresultsviamoreexactes#matethananysinglestudyachieves
• Synthesisacrossdifferentmethodstoanswerspecificques#ons.• Toexplorewheninterven#onsaremorelikelytobeappropriate.
• Createtenta#vetheoriesofphenomenaincludingpagernsofsocialconstruc#onbasedonqualita#vedata
• Synthesistocreateexplana#ons.• Generatetheory
Method • Quan#ta#vecombina#onofresultsofprimarystudies
• Triangula#onacrossmul#plestudiesandmethods;reviewerjudgment
• Compila#onofdescrip#vedata.• Cross‐studyconceptsareiden#fiedandtranslatedintonewcategories
• Discernpagernsbehindexplanatoryclaims
Data • Favorsrandomizedcontrolledstudies• Publishedandunpublishedstudies;datasets
• Typicallypublishedstudies
• Publishedstudieswithqualita#vedataoncomparablesubjectmager.• Incorporatesprimaryresearcherinterpreta#ons
• Mul#pleformsofevidence.• Typicallypublishedstudies.
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5 CATEGORIES OF EVIDENCE
Constructvalidity Internalvalidity
covaria#on, causeprecedeseffect,and noplausiblealterna#veexplana#ons
(i.e.,notaspuriousrela#onship) Effectsize Externalvalidity Contextualiza#on—iden#fiesthe
limitsofaphenomenonorcauseandeffectrela#onship
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EVIDENCE-BASED REVIEW METHODOLOGY
Integra#onSystema#cReview(Rousseau,ManningandDenyer,2008) Goal
Synthesisacrossdifferentmethods
Method Triangula#onsacrossmul#plestudies
Data Typicallypublishedstudies
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E-HRM CONSTRUCT
IntendedandactualHRMprac#cesorservices Awayofimplemen#ngHRMpoliciesandprac#ces
(Ruel,Bondarouk&Looise,2004)
Represen#ngcollabora#onsbetweenemployeesororganiza#ons Supportsatleasttwoindividualorcollec#veactors
insharedperformanceofHRac#vi#es(Strohmeier,2007)
Deliveredorenabledbyinternet/intranet‐basedinforma#ontechnology Configura#onsofcomputerhardware,somwareand
electronicnetworkingcapability(Marler&Fisher,2010)
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METHODOLOGY: SAMPLE SELECTION
Allpublishedar#clesoneHRMinlasttenyears(1999‐2009)
Searchedprimarybusinessandpsychologydatabases ABI/Inform/Proquest,BusinessSourcePremierandPsycAr#cles Mul#plesearchtermsused(B2EandHRM,e‐HRe‐HRM,HRIS,self‐
service,virtualHRM,web‐basedHRM,HRMandInternet) Scannedreferencelists
77publishedar#cles Peerreviewed,includedquan#ta#veorqualita#vedata,addressed
useofeHRMinorganiza#onsnotforpedagogy Limitedini#allyto2007‐2009
Finalsampleforthisreview‐20ar#cles
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CLASSIFICATION OF SAMPLE ARTICLES
KeyTheore#calPerspec#ves ConstructandInternalValidity
Defineconstructs
Establishbasisofinternalvalidity
Levelofanalysis
Empiricalapproach Covaria#on;cross‐sec#onal
Causal‐longitudinalorexperimental
Descrip#ve;casestudy
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KEY THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES
StrategicHRMLiterature Stages(Lengnick‐Hall,etal.2009)
Con#ngencytheoryofSHRM
Strategicoutcomes/RBV
Intendedvs.realized
Informa#onScienceLiterature Technologicaldeterminismdebate
StagesofHRISande‐HRM
Structura#ontheory
TechnologyAcceptanceModel(TAM)
Other
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THEORETICAL CLASSIFICATION RESULTS
20percentuseonemaintheory(HRorIS)
60percentusemul#pletheories 30%partlybasedonTAM
30%explicitlyorimplicitlyusedeterminism
15%usecon#ngencytheoryofSHRM
5%useRBV
20percentusenotheory–largelydescrip#ve
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EMPIRICAL CLASSIFICATION RESULTS
EmpiricalApproach
45%crosssec#on
30%casestudy
20%experimental
10%longitudinal
Internalvalidity
Covaria#on
70percentofstudies
Causeprecedingeffect
30percent
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STUDY RESULTS QUESTION 1
Whate‐HRMandstrategicHRMrela@onshipsarepresentandsupportedacrossstudies?
40percentdealexplicitlywiththee‐HRMStrategicHRMrela#onship
Macrolevelconstructs
Evidencenotadequatetoestablishcausality
Allcrosssec#onalordescrip#ve
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QUESTION 2
Determinis@cvieworamoreinfluen@alroleforsocialandorganiza@onalactors?
Mul#pletheoriesusedsuggestbiastowardstechnologicaldeterminism 5survey‐basedstudiesinUK,Canada,Greece,and
Netherlandssupporte‐HRMtoStrategicHRMrela#onship Leadstopercep#onsofHRMasastrategicpartner
1casestudyindicatesnorela#onship
1casestudyindicatespossiblenega#verela#onship
1survey‐basedstudysupportsreversedirec#on(StrategicHRMtoe‐HRM)
However,empiricaldesigncorrela#onalordescrip#ve
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STUDY CLASSIFICATION RESULTS: QUESTION 3
Underwhatcondi@onsdoeseHRMleadto/enhancestrategicHRMandwhatmechanismsoperateinthisrela@onship? Intendedvs.actualoutcomes
Complexi#esinsystemdevelopment
Experimentalstudies
Dataprivacyconcerns
Supportforcontextualiza#on 60percentatmicrolevel
10percentatmacrolevel
Therearemanycontextualcon#ngencies
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SYNTHESIZED PRACTICAL CONCLUSIONS
1.Managersexpecte‐HRMtoleadtostrategicHRM
Althoughevidencelargelysuppor4ve….
2.Evidenceisalsomixedondirec@onofrela@onship
3.Noevidenceonactualstrategicoutcomes
Superiorperformance?
Compe##veadvantage?
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SYNTHESIZED PRACTICAL CONCLUSIONS
4.Therearemanycontextual/modera@ngfactorstoconsider Stageofe‐HRMdiffusion(publish,auto,transform)
Culture
Na#onalins#tu#onalinfrastructure
Compe##veenvironment/pressures
HRcustomerexpecta#ons,perceivedusefulness,andEOU
Managerialpressure
Organiza#onalsupport/training
Par#cipa#onindevelopmentandimplementa#on
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NEXT STEPS
Constructvalidity Howtomeasuree‐HRMandstrategicHR
StrategicHRcurrently“perceptual” Definingstrategicoutcomes
Needmoreevidenceoninternalvalidity Partnerwithbusinessonwhetherexpecta#onandrealityare
thesame Strategicoutcomestudies Longitudinalresearchdesigns Moremacrolevelmul#‐organiza#onalormul#‐unit
researchdesigns
Contextualevidence:moderatorsandmediators E.g.,underwhatcondi#onsise‐HRMstrategic? Throughwhatprocessormechanism?
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