E-HRM Practices and Its Impact On Organi PDF
E-HRM Practices and Its Impact On Organi PDF
org
ISSN 2222-1905 (Paper) ISSN 2222-2839 (Online) DOI: 10.7176/EJBM
Vol.11, No.6, 2019
1. Introduction
Information technology is changing the way HR departments handle record keeping and information sharing. It
decreases the paperwork substantially and allows easy access to voluminous data. The processing and transmission
of digitalized HR information are called Electronic Human Resource Management (Nenwani & Raj, 2013). E-
HRM is a “way of implementing HR strategies, policies and practices in organizations through conscious and
directed support of and with the full use of web-technology based channels” (Looise & van Riemsdijk, n.d.).
Organization worldwide has taken various initiatives to increase firm performance through investment in
information and Communication Technologies (ICT) with a view to transforming management practices and to
increase the efficiency of the organization. As Web technologies matured and organizations enthusiastically
adopted them, more and more of the HRM functions got Web-enabled. E-HRM essentially transfers HRM
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European Journal of Business and Management www.iiste.org
ISSN 2222-1905 (Paper) ISSN 2222-2839 (Online) DOI: 10.7176/EJBM
Vol.11, No.6, 2019
functions to employees and managers(Sagum, 2015). They access these functions over a web interface, typically
over a corporate intranet. e-HRM can range widely in scope; at the low end, it can be a simple web-based system
to access Human Resource (HR) related documents(Sagum, 2015). At the high-end e-HRM is a fully integrated,
organization-wide electronic network of HRM-related data, information, services, databases, tools, applications,
and transactions that are generally accessible at any time by the employees, managers, and HRM
professionals(Hussain, Wallace, & Cornelius, 2007).
Organizations worldwide have recognized the increasing importance of IT for leveraging human resource
management function, thereby leading to the adoption of E-HRM(Hosain, 2017). Information and Communication
Technologies (ICT)enable innovative ways of carrying on routine organizational tasks via the power of the virtual
work environment. Advanced e-HRM systems typically include Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems,
HRM service centers, Interactive Voice Response (IVR), manager and employee portals and web applications.
The empowerment of managers and employees to perform certain chosen HR functions relieves the HR department
of these tasks, allowing HR staff to focus less on the operational and more on the strategic elements of HR, and
allowing organizations to lower HR department staffing levels as the administrative burden is lightened(Swaroop,
2012). It also helps the organizations to upgrade the HR functions to web-based technology and speed up the flow
and implementation of business strategies and processes.
IT possibilities for HRM are endless; in principle, all HR processes can be supported by IT. Computers have
simplified the task of analyzing vast amounts of data and they can be invaluable aids in HR management, from
payroll processing to record retention(Kumar & Kamal, 2013). With computer hardware, software and databases,
an organization can keep records and information in a better way as well as retrieve them with greater ease(Kumar
& Kamal, 2013). With the state of IT, HRM has become more effective through the use of e-HRM
technologies(Winarto, 2018).
“While e-HRM systems indeed offer wide-ranging and unprecedented benefits to organizations, they also entail
huge costs and risks (Bell et al., 2006; Weekes, 2006; Anonymous, 2006)”(Pant, Chatterjee, & Jaroliya, 2008).
Such costs emanate not only from the costs of the system but also from those associated with changing the
organizational processes, employee training, and the time of the HR and the top management in implementing,
adopting and promoting these systems. Risks are inherent in employees not using the system, as well as in
employee alienation and resistance to change.
2. Literature Review
E-HRM is a relatively new phenomenon, literature in this area is still emerging. We have based our study on
available literature and borrowed heavily from other disciplines like Information Systems, Organizational Culture
and Behavior, Organizational Communication, and of course, Human Resource Management. The field of E-HRM
is evolving at a rapid pace since the lots of research is being conducted on E-HRM and lots of theory, framework
and methodology is being developed as a result. In this literature, we mainly focused on E-HRM practices and
organizational performance.
A great deal of research has been done in the field of the contribution of IT into HR. In the early 1960s, personnel
management was early to be used for office automation in payroll, benefit administration and maintaining
employee records(Ball, 2001). Since past several decades, organization worldwide has taken various initiatives to
increase firm performance through investment in ICT with a view to transforming management practices and to
increase the efficiency of the organization(H. Ruël & van der Heijden, 2009; Iqbal & Ahmad, 2016). Therefore,
organization worldwide are trying to understand how the human resource management system influences
organizational performance (Davis, Bagozzi, & R. Warshaw, 1989).
A number of researchers agreed that E-HRM has a capacity to transform the HR department into a strategic
function by exploiting technology for “operational, relational and transformational” purposes (Parry & Tyson,
2011; Iqbal & Ahmad, 2016). A plenty of literature can be found supporting the assertion that E-HRM enhances
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European Journal of Business and Management www.iiste.org
ISSN 2222-1905 (Paper) ISSN 2222-2839 (Online) DOI: 10.7176/EJBM
Vol.11, No.6, 2019
the HR and organizational effectiveness through cost reduction strategies (such as reducing headcount), shorten
the cycle and improving the quality of transactional-HR activities and decreasing administrative burden through
devolution of HR task to line manager, improving decision making, ensuring timely completion of work, effective
communication, supporting differential labor & enhancement of control over (Lepak & Snell, 1998; Hendrickson,
2003; L. LENGNICK-HALL & MORITZ, 2003).
Distinctive/innovative approaches to HRM increase organizational performance then the E-HRM practices seems
a good fit for superior organizational performance (Gardner, Lepak, & Bartol, 2003; Orlikowski & Scott, 2008;
Marler & Parry, 2016; Iqbal & Ahmad, 2016). Recent literature on E-HRM suggested that technology-based
practices pushed HRM function in new horizon through fast and accurate decision making, providing a more
flexible work environment and to make HRM more efficient (Godard, 2004; Iqbal & Ahmad, 2016). Studies
regarding the implementation of E-HRM make a shift towards addressing the dynamic nature of implementation
and using such concepts like innovation, implementation, learning, change management(Keebler & Rhodes, 2002;
H. J. M. Ruël, Bondarouk, & Van der Velde, 2007). Management (HRM) is undergoing a major change. One agent
of change identified by researchers is the use of the Internet and the Web technologies to augment and enhance
HRM (L. LENGNICK-HALL & MORITZ, 2003; Stone, 2005)
In Bangladesh, a few large companies have started to implement electronic HRM in the last few years(Sabrina
Jahan, 2014). Only few studies is conducted on Bangladesh regarding E-HRM like “Evaluating the Practices of
Electronic Human Resources Management (E-HRM) as a Key Tool of Technology-Driven Human Resources
Management Function in Organizations-A Comparative Study in Public Sector and Private Sector Enterprises of
Bangladesh” (Islam, 2016), “THE IMPACT OF E-HRM ON ORGANIZATIONAL PERFORMANCE:
EVIDENCE FROM SELECTIVE SERVICE SECTORS OF BANGLADESH”(Hosain, 2017) etc.
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European Journal of Business and Management www.iiste.org
ISSN 2222-1905 (Paper) ISSN 2222-2839 (Online) DOI: 10.7176/EJBM
Vol.11, No.6, 2019
improve attitudes(Choochote & Chochiang, 2015). Through the system, an employee can book and get training if
available. This system can identify enthusiastic and motivated employee and groom them properly to be an asset
for the long terms.
F. Idea and Creativity Exchange System
The idea and creativity exchange system is developed to stimulate the management of self-responsibility for each
employee, where different ideas and viewpoints received from meetings, daily conversations, and social network
can be shared(Choochote & Chochiang, 2015). Here employee can share new idea and information through the
web which helps the organization to move forward.
G. Assessment System
Assessment programs help organizations to assess employee fast and accurately. Basically, there are two types of
assessment named self-assessment and organization assessment(Choochote & Chochiang, 2015). Self-assessment
motivates employees greatly to achieve their target goal. Organization assessment helps shape employees’ career,
salary, and trend which way employee will grow.
H. Welfare System
Employees are greatly motivated by the welfare system. Typically, the welfare system includes provident funds,
travel expense, gratuity, allowance etc. The welfares offered to the employees are designed to suitably meet the
targeted organizational goal in accordance with the limitation of individuals in the database(Choochote &
Chochiang, 2015).
I. Career Development System
The career development system is one of the most important one in E-HRM systems. As different employees have
different skills and abilities, it is required to bring out their most excellent skills and abilities to ensure that each
task can be accomplished thoroughly with regard to their educational backgrounds, work-related experiences and
special qualifications to be evaluated by their respective managers, as part of the ambitious goal(Choochote &
Chochiang, 2015).
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European Journal of Business and Management www.iiste.org
ISSN 2222-1905 (Paper) ISSN 2222-2839 (Online) DOI: 10.7176/EJBM
Vol.11, No.6, 2019
well. It ensures that we properly looked at all the area for measuring organizational performance.
Effectiveness: Erlendsson (2002) defines effectiveness as the extent to which objectives are met (‘doing the right
things’). Effectiveness main focus is to achieve the objective or output previously mentioned.
Efficiency: Efficiency is the extent to which an activity achieves its goal whilst minimizing resource usage.
Thursby (2000, p. 400). An ability to perform well or achieve a result without wasted energy, resources, effort,
time or money.
Quality: ISO 9000 defines quality as "Degree to which a set of inherent characteristics fulfills requirements”. Here
satisfied customer, Satisfied Employee, Defect-free product etc. are counted as quality.
Timeliness: Timeliness are measured in three areas for organizational performance named cycle time, wait time
and completed on time.
Cycle time: refers to how much time requires to perform a specific task.
Wait Time: refers to time customer wait for product or services.
Completed on time: refers to whether the task is completed on due time.
Finance: Finance is defined as the management of money and includes activities like investing, borrowing, lending,
budgeting, saving, and forecasting. It can be a good indicator of how well a company is performing.
Workplace Environment: Working environment is a broad term and means all your surroundings when working.
Your physical working environment is, for example, your work tools as well as air, noise, and light. But your
working environment also includes the psychological aspects of how your work is organized and your wellbeing
at work. The working environment is a good indicator to measure organizational performance.
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European Journal of Business and Management www.iiste.org
ISSN 2222-1905 (Paper) ISSN 2222-2839 (Online) DOI: 10.7176/EJBM
Vol.11, No.6, 2019
3. Research Methodology
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ISSN 2222-1905 (Paper) ISSN 2222-2839 (Online) DOI: 10.7176/EJBM
Vol.11, No.6, 2019
4. Data Analysis
Reliability Statistics:
Construct Cronbach's Alpha N of Items
From our analysis, we have found that E-HRM practices where we took 17 variables under 9 categories which has
excellent reliability level. On the other hand, Organizational Performance where we took 6 variables under 6
categories has excellent reliability as well.
Model Summary
Regression analysis assesses the impact of all independent variables on dependent variables. Here we have nine
independent variables for E-HRM practices and one cumulative dependent variable for organizational performance.
The model summary indicated that about 86.9 percent of the regression model could be accounted for in the study.
ANOVA
Model Sum of Squares df Mean Square F Sig.
1 Regression 301.577 9 33.509 164.164 .000b
Residual 43.477 213 .204
Total 345.054 222
a. Dependent Variable: Organizational Performance
b. Predictors: (Constant), Career Development System, Employee System, Salary Management System,
Assessment System, Recruitment System, Idea and Creativity Exchange System, Learning and Training
System, Information Management System, Welfare System
The F test provides an overall test of significance of the fitted regression model. The F value of 164.164 indicates
that all the variables in the equation are important hence the overall regression is significant.
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ISSN 2222-1905 (Paper) ISSN 2222-2839 (Online) DOI: 10.7176/EJBM
Vol.11, No.6, 2019
Coefficients
Standardized
Unstandardized Coefficients Coefficients
H2: The higher the level of e-HRM systems implementation in an organization, the better will be the organizational
performance
Organizational Performance
Level of E-HR Practice Mean N Performance Std. Deviation
Increase
NO E-HRM 1.3636 44 0 .48661
Informational 2.3526 95 73 .55377
Interactional 4.0536 56 197 .43474
Transformational 4.6667 28 242 .24003
Total 2.8752 223 512 1.24671
We have earlier discussed that there is three level of E-HRM practices which is Informational E-HRM Practices,
Interactional E-HRM Practices and finally Transformational E-HRM Practices. If an organization doesn’t have
any E-HRM practices it is categorized as NO E-HRM practices organization. We have collected 223 samples from
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European Journal of Business and Management www.iiste.org
ISSN 2222-1905 (Paper) ISSN 2222-2839 (Online) DOI: 10.7176/EJBM
Vol.11, No.6, 2019
all over Bangladesh. Among 223 respondents, we found that 44 respondent organization don’t perform any form
of E-HRM practices, 95 respondent organization perform level 1 which is Informational E-HRM, 56 respondent
organization perform Level 2 which is Interactional E-HRM and 28 respondent organization performs level 3
which is Transformational E-HRM.
We took NO E-HRM practice organization as base performance and compare it with the rest of E-HRM performing
organization to see whether performance increase or not. We can clearly see that informational E-HRM practicing
organization performance is 73% higher than No E-HRM practicing organization. Interactional E-HRM practicing
organization performance is 197% higher than No E-HRM practicing organization. And finally, Transformational
E-HRM practicing organization performance is 242% higher than No E-HRM practicing organization.
This is so because, through e-HRM systems, organizations are able to reduce the paper trail in HRM processes,
reduce work-load on HRM employees as many of the tasks are performed by the employees themselves, and
organizational competitiveness improves as HRM personnel are freed to devote time to HRM Development. So,
we can say that Higher level E-HRM Practices have a higher level of organizational performance which is proof
of our hypothesis H2.
"owners are not interested to invest heavily on e-HRM systems. it is true mostly in case of smaller
organizations"
"cost of deploying E-HRM system and training personnel is high and the return rate is relatively slow"
"sometimes it is easier to maintain small firm without using E-HRM"
"the majority of the employee show some kinds resistant to change when first-time E-HRM is deployed
"
"larger organization tends to gain more implement E-HRM"
"overexerting on E-HRM benefits and scope can sometimes show negative results"
"We are using our e-HRM system for internal job postings."
"Sometimes e-HRM system is to act as grievance addressing system."
"One major downside of these systems is the huge costs."
"e-HRM systems are helping us improve our bottom line."
"After working for long hours on a manufacturing shift, employees are not at all motivated to fill in
particulars via an e-system."
"e-HRM systems have a positive effect on growing our business."
"We do not have an online performance appraisal system - we are using our e-HRM system to mostly
collect employee suggestions."
5.2 Limitations of the Study
The study is conducted on the Manufacturing Industry in Bangladesh. As such the findings may vary if
the study conducted in another area, Industry, demographic landscape, economy and Time period.
The respondents may not be found intending to give time to response the question or they may feel
uncomfortable.
The findings of the study will be based on the information provided by the respondents and these are
subject to the respondent’s bias and partiality.
Most of the information is collected through google form which can deviate slightly from the actual
scenario.
Time, Money, Access to information and sometimes updated knowledge acts as a limitation of the study.
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ISSN 2222-1905 (Paper) ISSN 2222-2839 (Online) DOI: 10.7176/EJBM
Vol.11, No.6, 2019
5.3 Recommendation
E-HRM actually increase organizational performance quite significantly in almost all the area. E-HRM
implementation can boost organization efficiency, effectiveness, financial capability etc. it can make an
organization focus more on the job rather than day to day task which will farther increase organizational
performance. With the new era of the twenty-first century, E-HRM can be used so many innovative ways that we
just barely manage to scratch the surface of it. With the introduction of Artificial Intelligence, there are countless
possibilities in E-HRM.
As intuitive as it may be, E-HRM benefits to cost must compare by E-HRM in case of Bangladesh. Most of the
organization in Bangladesh is lower to medium size in nature. Here organization need must be focused carefully
before implementing E-HR. Most importantly remember E-HR is just the advancement of HR functionality based
on sophisticated information, communication, and technology. That’s why we must remember whether the expense
in E-HRM is worth it or not.
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ISSN 2222-1905 (Paper) ISSN 2222-2839 (Online) DOI: 10.7176/EJBM
Vol.11, No.6, 2019
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