Instructor’s Manual Human Resource Information Sy.stems
Basics, Applications, And Future Directions 6th Edition, By.
Johnson CH ( 1-15)
,TABLES OF CONTENTS
Chapter 1 The Evolution of hRM and hRIS
Chapter 2 Strategic and International Considerations for Electronic hRM
Chapter 3 Preparing for a New or Upgraded hRIS
Chapter 4 Managing hRIS Design and Implementation
Chapter 5 Justify.ing hRIS Investments
Chapter 6 hR Administration and hRIS
Chapter 7 Talent Management and hR Planning
Chapter 8 Recruitment and Selection in an Internet Context
Chapter 9 Training and Development
Chapter 10 Rewarding Employ.ees and hRIS
Chapter 11 Workforce Analy.tics
Chapter 12 hRIS Privacy. and Security.
Chapter 13 The Role of Social Media in hR
Chapter 14 Artificial Intelligence in human Resource Management
Chapter 15 Emerging Trends and the Future of hRIS
,Answers to Questions in the Text
Chapter 1: The Evolution of hRM and hRIS
1. What are the factors that changed the primary. role of hRM from a
caretaker of records to a strategic partner?
The major factors were as follows:
The mobilization and utilization of labor during World War II had a
great impact on the development of the personnel function.
Managers realized that employ.ee productivity. and motivation had
a significant impact on the profitability. of the firm. The human
relations movement after the war emphasized that employ.ees were
motivated not just by. money. but also by. social and psy.chological
factors such as recognition of work achievements and work norms.
During the Social Issues era, there was an increasing need to be in
compliance with numerous pieces of employ.ee protection
legislation or suffer significant monetary. penalties. This made
senior managers aware of the importance of the hRM function. In
other words, effective and correct practices in hRM were starting to
affect the “bottom line” of the firms, so there was a significant
growth of hR departments.
The increased use of technology. and the changed focus of the hRM
function as adding value to the organization’s product or service led
to the emergence of the hR department as a strategic partner. With
the growing importance and recognition of people and people
management in contemporary. organizations, strategic hRM
(ShRM) has become critically. important in management thinking
and practice. ShRM derives its theoretical significance from the
resource-based view of the firm that treats human capital as a
strategic asset and a competitive advantage in improving
organizational performance.
, The students may. or may. not mention the importance of hR metrics
in answering this question. This factor is implied in the discussion of
the cost- effectiveness section of the chapter. For example, one could
not complete a balanced scorecard or a cost–benefit analy.sis without
having hR metrics. Y.ou should emphasize this point to the students
and indicate there is much more detail on this topic in Chapter 6.
2. Describe the historical evolution of hRM and hRIS in terms of the
changing role of hRM and the influence of computer technology. on
hRM.
The role of hRM in the firm has changed over time from primarily.
being concerned with routine transactional and traditional hR
activities to dealing with complex transformational ones.
Transactional activities are the routine bookkeeping tasks--for
example, changing an employ.ee’s home address or health care
provider. Traditional hR activities are focused on hR programs like
selection, compensation, and performance appraisal. however,
transformational hR activities are those actions of an organization
that “add value” to the consumption of the firm’s product or service.
Transformational activities increase the strategic importance and
visibility. of the hR function in the firm.
The historical evolution of hRM can be classified in terms of five
broad phases of the historical development of industry. in the
United States. These phases are Pre–World War II, Post–World War
II, Social Issues, Cost-Effectiveness, and Technological
Advancement Era.
During the Post–World War II phase, it is important to realize that
computer technology. was just beginning to be used at this time, and
it was complex and costly.. During the Social Issues phase, effective
and correct practices in hRM were starting to affect the “bottom
line” of the firms, so there was a significant growth of hR
departments, and computer technology. had advanced to the point
where it was beginning to be used. As a result, there was an
increasing demand for hR departments to adopt computer
technology. to process employ.ee information more effectively. and
efficiently.. This trend resulted in an explosion in the number of
vendors who could assist hR departments in automating their
programs in terms of both hardware and software. Simultaneously.,
computer technology. was evolving and delivering better
,productivity. at lower costs. During the Cost-Effectiveness phase, to
achieve the goal of improving 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. Even small and
, medium firms could afford computer-based hR sy.stems that were
run by. increasingly. user-friendly. microcomputers and could be
shown to be cost- effective. During the Technological Advancement
Era, the increased use of technology. changed the focus of the hRM
function. There was a shift to adding value to the organization’s
product or service, which led to the emergence of the hR department
as a strategic partner. With the growing importance and recognition
of people and people management in contemporary. organizations,
strategic human resource management (strategic hRM) has become
critically. important in management thinking and practice.
Technology. is key. to the implementation of strategic hRM.
3. What is required for the effective management of human resources in a
firm to gain a competitive advantage in the marketplace?
The effective management of human resources in a firm to gain a
competitive advantage in the marketplace requires timely. and
accurate information on current employ.ees and potential
employ.ees in the labor market. With the evolution of computer
technology., meeting this information requirement has been
greatly. enhanced through the creation of hRIS.
4. Describe the emergence of strategic human resources management
(strategic hRM) and the influence of computer technology.. What are
some of the approaches used in hRM to facilitate the use of strategic
hRM in a firm’s business strategy.?
The development of hRIS helped enable hRM to become a strategic
partner in organizations, which then led to the emergence of
strategic hRM. While technology. is key. to the implementation of
strategic hRM, strategy. is not sufficient. Implementation is critical
in the firm’s ability. to gain a competitive advantage. A critical
aspect of an hRIS in supporting the implementation of strategic
plans is using it to make decisions about employ.ees, human capital
programs, and initiatives. All of these hRM decisions are aided by.
the ability. of the hRIS to generate reports (e.g., the number of new
employ.ees needed for a specific job).
5. how does technology. help deliver transactional, traditional, and
,transformational hR activities more efficiently. and effectively.?
, One of the major advantages of the design, development, and
implementation of an hRIS is to reduce the amount of time the hR
staff have to spend on transactional activities, allowing the staff to
spend more time on traditional and transformational activities.
This notion of using technology. to process transactional activities
more efficiently. is the central theme of this book and provides one
of the primary. justifications for a computer-based sy.stem.
6. Justify. the need for an hRIS.
There are several advantages to firms in using hRIS. They. include the
following:
Providing a comprehensive information picture as a single,
comprehensive database; this enables organizations to provide
structural connectivity. across units and activities and increase
the speed of information transactions
Increasing competitiveness by. improving hR operations and
improving management processes
Collecting appropriate data and converting them to information and
knowledge for improved timeliness and quality. of decision making
Producing a greater number and variety. of accurate and real-time
hR-related reports
Streamlining and enhancing the efficiency. and
effectiveness of hR administrative functions
Shifting the focus of hR from the processing of transactions to strategic
hRM
Reengineering hR processes and functions
Improving employ.ee satisfaction by. delivering hR services more
quickly. and accurately. to them
7. Describe and differentiate the major ty.pes of information sy.stems.
Listed below are examples of the ty.pes of information sy.stems and the
ty.pes of information they. provide.
Transaction Processing Sy.stem
, Improved transaction speed and accuracy.
Improved efficiency. in the processing of daily. business transactions
Automation of routine transactions
Reduced transaction costs
Management Information Sy.stem
Provides key. data to managers
Supports regular and ongoing decisions
Provides defined and ad hoc reporting
Executive Information Sy.stem
Provides aggregate, high-level data
helps managers with long-range planning
Supports strategic direction and decisions
Decision Support Sy.stem
Interactive and iterative managerial decision making
Supports forecasting and “what-if” analy.sis
Supports business simulations
Expert Sy.stem
Embeds human knowledge into information sy.stems
Automates decisions with technology.
Office Automation Sy.stems
Designing documents
Scheduling shared resources
Communication
, Collaboration Technologies
Supports electronic communication and collaboration between
employ.ees
Supports virtual teams
Enterprise Resources Planning Sy.stem
Integration and centralization of corporate data
Share data across functional boundaries
Single data source and common technology. architecture
Answers to Questions in the Text
Chapter 2: Sy.stems Considerations in the Design of an
hRIS
1. Identify. the various ty.pes of users or customers of an hRIS.
Individuals who will be using the hRIS can be split into two general
groups: employ.ees and nonemploy.ees. The employ.ee category.
includes the following:
Managers who rely. on the hRIS and the data
analy.zed by. the analy.st/power user to make
decisions
Analy.sts or power users who use the hRIS to evaluate
potential decision choices and opportunities
Technical staff who are responsible for providing a sy.stem that
is usable and up-to-date for each user and clerical employ.ees
who largely. engage in data entry.
Employ.ees who use the hRIS on a self-service basis to obtain
personal information--for example, to look up pay.check
information, to make choices about benefits during open
enrollment, or to see how much vacation time they. have
available
Basics, Applications, And Future Directions 6th Edition, By.
Johnson CH ( 1-15)
,TABLES OF CONTENTS
Chapter 1 The Evolution of hRM and hRIS
Chapter 2 Strategic and International Considerations for Electronic hRM
Chapter 3 Preparing for a New or Upgraded hRIS
Chapter 4 Managing hRIS Design and Implementation
Chapter 5 Justify.ing hRIS Investments
Chapter 6 hR Administration and hRIS
Chapter 7 Talent Management and hR Planning
Chapter 8 Recruitment and Selection in an Internet Context
Chapter 9 Training and Development
Chapter 10 Rewarding Employ.ees and hRIS
Chapter 11 Workforce Analy.tics
Chapter 12 hRIS Privacy. and Security.
Chapter 13 The Role of Social Media in hR
Chapter 14 Artificial Intelligence in human Resource Management
Chapter 15 Emerging Trends and the Future of hRIS
,Answers to Questions in the Text
Chapter 1: The Evolution of hRM and hRIS
1. What are the factors that changed the primary. role of hRM from a
caretaker of records to a strategic partner?
The major factors were as follows:
The mobilization and utilization of labor during World War II had a
great impact on the development of the personnel function.
Managers realized that employ.ee productivity. and motivation had
a significant impact on the profitability. of the firm. The human
relations movement after the war emphasized that employ.ees were
motivated not just by. money. but also by. social and psy.chological
factors such as recognition of work achievements and work norms.
During the Social Issues era, there was an increasing need to be in
compliance with numerous pieces of employ.ee protection
legislation or suffer significant monetary. penalties. This made
senior managers aware of the importance of the hRM function. In
other words, effective and correct practices in hRM were starting to
affect the “bottom line” of the firms, so there was a significant
growth of hR departments.
The increased use of technology. and the changed focus of the hRM
function as adding value to the organization’s product or service led
to the emergence of the hR department as a strategic partner. With
the growing importance and recognition of people and people
management in contemporary. organizations, strategic hRM
(ShRM) has become critically. important in management thinking
and practice. ShRM derives its theoretical significance from the
resource-based view of the firm that treats human capital as a
strategic asset and a competitive advantage in improving
organizational performance.
, The students may. or may. not mention the importance of hR metrics
in answering this question. This factor is implied in the discussion of
the cost- effectiveness section of the chapter. For example, one could
not complete a balanced scorecard or a cost–benefit analy.sis without
having hR metrics. Y.ou should emphasize this point to the students
and indicate there is much more detail on this topic in Chapter 6.
2. Describe the historical evolution of hRM and hRIS in terms of the
changing role of hRM and the influence of computer technology. on
hRM.
The role of hRM in the firm has changed over time from primarily.
being concerned with routine transactional and traditional hR
activities to dealing with complex transformational ones.
Transactional activities are the routine bookkeeping tasks--for
example, changing an employ.ee’s home address or health care
provider. Traditional hR activities are focused on hR programs like
selection, compensation, and performance appraisal. however,
transformational hR activities are those actions of an organization
that “add value” to the consumption of the firm’s product or service.
Transformational activities increase the strategic importance and
visibility. of the hR function in the firm.
The historical evolution of hRM can be classified in terms of five
broad phases of the historical development of industry. in the
United States. These phases are Pre–World War II, Post–World War
II, Social Issues, Cost-Effectiveness, and Technological
Advancement Era.
During the Post–World War II phase, it is important to realize that
computer technology. was just beginning to be used at this time, and
it was complex and costly.. During the Social Issues phase, effective
and correct practices in hRM were starting to affect the “bottom
line” of the firms, so there was a significant growth of hR
departments, and computer technology. had advanced to the point
where it was beginning to be used. As a result, there was an
increasing demand for hR departments to adopt computer
technology. to process employ.ee information more effectively. and
efficiently.. This trend resulted in an explosion in the number of
vendors who could assist hR departments in automating their
programs in terms of both hardware and software. Simultaneously.,
computer technology. was evolving and delivering better
,productivity. at lower costs. During the Cost-Effectiveness phase, to
achieve the goal of improving 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. Even small and
, medium firms could afford computer-based hR sy.stems that were
run by. increasingly. user-friendly. microcomputers and could be
shown to be cost- effective. During the Technological Advancement
Era, the increased use of technology. changed the focus of the hRM
function. There was a shift to adding value to the organization’s
product or service, which led to the emergence of the hR department
as a strategic partner. With the growing importance and recognition
of people and people management in contemporary. organizations,
strategic human resource management (strategic hRM) has become
critically. important in management thinking and practice.
Technology. is key. to the implementation of strategic hRM.
3. What is required for the effective management of human resources in a
firm to gain a competitive advantage in the marketplace?
The effective management of human resources in a firm to gain a
competitive advantage in the marketplace requires timely. and
accurate information on current employ.ees and potential
employ.ees in the labor market. With the evolution of computer
technology., meeting this information requirement has been
greatly. enhanced through the creation of hRIS.
4. Describe the emergence of strategic human resources management
(strategic hRM) and the influence of computer technology.. What are
some of the approaches used in hRM to facilitate the use of strategic
hRM in a firm’s business strategy.?
The development of hRIS helped enable hRM to become a strategic
partner in organizations, which then led to the emergence of
strategic hRM. While technology. is key. to the implementation of
strategic hRM, strategy. is not sufficient. Implementation is critical
in the firm’s ability. to gain a competitive advantage. A critical
aspect of an hRIS in supporting the implementation of strategic
plans is using it to make decisions about employ.ees, human capital
programs, and initiatives. All of these hRM decisions are aided by.
the ability. of the hRIS to generate reports (e.g., the number of new
employ.ees needed for a specific job).
5. how does technology. help deliver transactional, traditional, and
,transformational hR activities more efficiently. and effectively.?
, One of the major advantages of the design, development, and
implementation of an hRIS is to reduce the amount of time the hR
staff have to spend on transactional activities, allowing the staff to
spend more time on traditional and transformational activities.
This notion of using technology. to process transactional activities
more efficiently. is the central theme of this book and provides one
of the primary. justifications for a computer-based sy.stem.
6. Justify. the need for an hRIS.
There are several advantages to firms in using hRIS. They. include the
following:
Providing a comprehensive information picture as a single,
comprehensive database; this enables organizations to provide
structural connectivity. across units and activities and increase
the speed of information transactions
Increasing competitiveness by. improving hR operations and
improving management processes
Collecting appropriate data and converting them to information and
knowledge for improved timeliness and quality. of decision making
Producing a greater number and variety. of accurate and real-time
hR-related reports
Streamlining and enhancing the efficiency. and
effectiveness of hR administrative functions
Shifting the focus of hR from the processing of transactions to strategic
hRM
Reengineering hR processes and functions
Improving employ.ee satisfaction by. delivering hR services more
quickly. and accurately. to them
7. Describe and differentiate the major ty.pes of information sy.stems.
Listed below are examples of the ty.pes of information sy.stems and the
ty.pes of information they. provide.
Transaction Processing Sy.stem
, Improved transaction speed and accuracy.
Improved efficiency. in the processing of daily. business transactions
Automation of routine transactions
Reduced transaction costs
Management Information Sy.stem
Provides key. data to managers
Supports regular and ongoing decisions
Provides defined and ad hoc reporting
Executive Information Sy.stem
Provides aggregate, high-level data
helps managers with long-range planning
Supports strategic direction and decisions
Decision Support Sy.stem
Interactive and iterative managerial decision making
Supports forecasting and “what-if” analy.sis
Supports business simulations
Expert Sy.stem
Embeds human knowledge into information sy.stems
Automates decisions with technology.
Office Automation Sy.stems
Designing documents
Scheduling shared resources
Communication
, Collaboration Technologies
Supports electronic communication and collaboration between
employ.ees
Supports virtual teams
Enterprise Resources Planning Sy.stem
Integration and centralization of corporate data
Share data across functional boundaries
Single data source and common technology. architecture
Answers to Questions in the Text
Chapter 2: Sy.stems Considerations in the Design of an
hRIS
1. Identify. the various ty.pes of users or customers of an hRIS.
Individuals who will be using the hRIS can be split into two general
groups: employ.ees and nonemploy.ees. The employ.ee category.
includes the following:
Managers who rely. on the hRIS and the data
analy.zed by. the analy.st/power user to make
decisions
Analy.sts or power users who use the hRIS to evaluate
potential decision choices and opportunities
Technical staff who are responsible for providing a sy.stem that
is usable and up-to-date for each user and clerical employ.ees
who largely. engage in data entry.
Employ.ees who use the hRIS on a self-service basis to obtain
personal information--for example, to look up pay.check
information, to make choices about benefits during open
enrollment, or to see how much vacation time they. have
available
