Human Resource Information Systems (HRIS) Essay

tender imaginativeness info Sy motifs (HRIS) An Unrealised Potential* David accord** sprain and Organisational Studies The implant Building (H03) The University of Sydney NSW 2006 Australia netmail d.grantecon.usyd.edu.au Tel +61 (0)2 9351 7871 Fax +61 (0)2 9351 5283Kristine Dery flex and Organisational Studies The Institute Building (H03) The University of Sydney NSW 2006 Australia Email k.deryecon.usyd.edu.au Tel +61 (0)2 9036 6410Richard H in all in allWork and Organisational Studies The Institute Building (H03) The University of Sydney NSW 2006 Australia Email r.hallecon.usyd.edu.au Tel +61 (0)2 9351 5621Nick WailesWork and Organisational Studies The Institute Building (H03) The University of Sydney NSW 2006 Australia Email n.wailesecon.usyd.edu.au Tel +61 (0)2 9351 7870Sharna WiblenWork and Organisational Studies The Institute Building (H03) The University of Sydney NSW 2006 Australia Email s.wiblenecon.usyd.edu.au Tel +61 (0)2 9036 7603Abstract Over the last decade ther e has been a considerable addition in the do of judicatures gather, storing and analysing discip field regarding their human elections with the utilise of pitying Resource development Systems (HRIS) softwargon or some an modernistic-made(prenominal)(prenominal) types of softw ar which include HRIS controlality ( ball, 2001 Barron, Chhabra, Hans sustain, & Henson, 2004 Hussain, Wallace, & Cornelius, 2007 Ngai & Wat, 2006). The growing adoption of HRIS by transcriptions combine with the profit sophistication of this softwargon, benecircumstanceions the mankind Resource function with the opportunity to enhance its region to organization outline. In this larn we examine the ship canal in which HRIS energy be utilizationd in order to achieve this. Our analysisof iv Australian type orbit governing bodys finds that the cl incured probable of HRIS to contri stille to line of products strategy is contingent on its all overcoming one or to a greater extent o f troika draw contends. * This research is funded by an Australian inquiry Council Linkage Grant (LPLP0882247) in collaboration with the Australian Senior Human Resources Roundtable (ASHRR). ** Corresponding Author.Human Resource discipline Systems (HRIS) An Unrealised Potential The last decade has seen a signifi squeeze outt increase in the number of organisations gathering, storing and analysing human options entropy exploitation Human Resource Information Systems (HRIS) (Ball, 2001 Barron et al., 2004 Hussain et al., 2007 Ngai et al., 2006). In this paper we show that the correction of the impact of HRIS is of direct moment to the on red debate about the consummation to which Human Resources (HR) can play a strategicalal office in the organisation (Becker, H utilizelid, & Ulrich, 2001 Hewitt Associates, 2007 H aimlid, 1995 Lawler & Mohrman, 2003 Sheehan, Holland, & De Cieri, 2006). Specifi chew the faty, we examine the argument that through its capacity to renounc e spotless and condemnationly metrics, HRIS has the authority to assist the HR function in evolution business strategy and therefore enhancing organisation carrying out (Barney & Wright, 1998 Broderick & Boudreau, 1992 Gueutal, 2003 Lawler, Levenson, & Boudreau, 2004 Lengnick-Hall & Moritz, 2003). Our initial findings from the root phase of interviews with tetrad-spot organisations ground in Australia, suggest that the voltage of HRIS to deliver the strategic competencies promised re main(prenominal)s largely unrealised and that instead HRIS is economic consumptiond to increase administrative efficiency and/or obtain compliance support. Specifically, we find that the murder and single-valued function of HRIS is world hindered by three main gainsays asseverateing organisational attending, addressing the decomposableities associated with pot steering, and managing physical exertionr acceptance of the heighten associated with the governance. The paper compris es cardinal main pieces. In the source section we review the literature on HRIS paying particular concern to prior studies which bed challenges associated with the selection and executeation of HRIS as well as the importance of sociable verbalismism as a theoretical lens to snap this topic. In the second section we discuss our case field of battle methodological analysis and profile our quadruple case conduct organisations. In the third section we discussour aftermaths by identifying and discussing the three challenges which we identify as important to the study of HRIS and HR. The final section summarises the findings and provides recommendations for caution.Literature Review and Theory The overbold propagation of HRIS automate and devolve routine administrative and compliance functions traditionally performed by corporate HR departments and can facilitate the outsourcing of HR (Barron et al., 2004). In doing so, HRIS not only make it possible for organisations to importantly reduce the cost associated with HR delivery, only when as well to reassess the shoot for retaining internal HR capabilities. However, HRIS besides provide HR professionals with opportunities to enhance their region to the strategic direction of the degraded. First, by automating and devolving much routine HR tasks to line guidance, HRIS provide HR professionals with the time fatalityed to direct their caution towards more business critical and strategic level tasks, such(prenominal) as leadership development and talent commission (Lawler et al., 2003). Second HRIS provides an opportunity for HR to play a more strategic exercise, through their skill to throw real time reports on HR lie withs, including hands planning and skills profiles, which can be employ to support strategic ratiocination making (Hendrickson, 2003 Lawler et al., 2004 Lengnick-Hall et al., 2003). The subsisting literature on HRIS suggests that they slang polar impacts on HR across organisations, but provides little explanation for this variation. early on surveys suggested that HRIS were utilize predominantly to automate routine tasks and to replace filing cabinets (Martinsons, 1994). Ball (2001) reported similar terminations for small and medium sized enterprises in the UK and cerebrate that HR had missed the strategic opportunity provided by HRIS. much untested-fashioned research shows greater use of HRIS in support of strategic decision making by HR (Hussain et al., 2007). However, the extent to which HRIS is used in a strategic fashion differs across organisations, with the vast majority of organisations continuing to use HRIS but to replace manual touch on and to reduce costs (Bee & Bee, 2002 Br let, 2002). novel debates about engineering and organisation aim highlighted the importance of complaisant context and seek to develop frameworks which acknowledge both the material and social event of technologies including HRIS (Dery, Hall, & Wa iles, 2006). Accordingly,theories which can be considered as social constructivist can play an important role in the study ofengineering as they explicitly whop that technologies, such as HRIS, can not be evaluated and analysed without having an explicit rationality of the context of individuals and groups which consequently comprehend, interpret, use and engage with the technology (Grint & Woolgar, 1997 Orlikowski & Barley, 2001 Williams & Edge, 1996). genial constructionist views reach out insights into the murder and use of HRIS in a number of ways. In this study we draw on the social construction of technology and technologiesin-practice literature. The social construction of technology (SCOT) approach challenges the idea that technologies and technological arte facts watch a pre-given and located meaning and in its place argues that the routine, design and selection of technologies are exonerated and can be accedeed to contestation (Pinch & Bijker, 1984). Thus a tec hnology is seen to be characterised by interpretative flexibility and various relevant social groups who furnish and promote particular expositions of it. This meaning, over time tends to become accepted and the interpretation of the technology stabilised (Dery et al., 2006). In similar tradition to SCOT approaches, the technologies-in-practice approach endeavours to recognise the inability to separate the technology from surrounding social relations. Orlikowski (2000) conceives of technologies-in-practice as the construction that is enacted by users of a technology as they use the technology in re received ways. The important implications of this idea for the purposes of this research is the realisation that it is only when individuals use the HRIS that the associated social practices exit frame and determine the value that they attribute to it. because the process of use a technology involves users interacting with facilities (such as the properties of the technology artefac t), norms (such as the protocols of using the technology), and interpretative schemes (such as the skills, knowledge and the assumptions about the technology as might be positioned by the user) (Dery et al., 2006). Both of these approaches are important and efficacious as they recognise that when considering relationships and experiences with technology, it is essential that social factors and previous experiences be considered. thusly the opinions of respondents can only be undersas welld inthecontext of individuals and groups comprehending, interpreting, using and engaging with the technologies (Dery et al., 2006). The study discussed in this paper was initiated after a prior survey of the use of HRIS in 138 Australian Listed companies (Grant, Dery, Hall, & Wailes, 2007). The survey found that although 50% (n=69) of the participant organisations were found to suffer an HRIS, the extent to which they were existence used in a strategic manner varied and for the nearly part the claimed potential of the information brasss was not being realised. For pattern, while 91% of organisations with an HRIS used the arrangement of ruless in order to process and record leave, only 34% used them in relation to staff planning. In order to gain further insights into these results, the present study explores the impact of HRIS on the HR function in stage over a three year period at four large Australian organisations using a multiple case study approach (Yin, 2003). Specifically, the toil examines whether HRIS enhances the strategic contribution of HR by exploring the ways in which HR professionals might make more effective use of these strategys. The project is sure by four research questions 1. Is there ascertain(p) to suggest that HR is using opportunities provided by the HRIS to enhance its contribution to firm strategic direction? 2. Do HRISs which are a module of enterprise imaging planning (ERP) systems have different impacts on the HR function than stan dalone HRISs? 3. How do different organisational characteristics affect the ability of HR to use the opportunities provided by HRIS to act as strategic partners? 4. What strategies can HR professionals adopt to ensure that the use of HRIS in their organisations supports the strategic contribution of HR? Methodology and Background The four case study organisations each volunteered to go into in this study which is funded by an Australian Research Council (ARC) Linkage grant. to each one organisation is a member of the Australian Senior Human Resources Round-table (ASHRR) the main industry partner in the project. from each one of the case studies has either a standalone HRIS (e.g. CHRIS) or an enterpriseresource planning (ERP) system module of HRIS (e.g. SAP) in place and all are in the process of either replenishment or upgrading their subsisting system.Each compevery views the HRIS replacement or heave as a commission to further extending the strategic contribution of the sys tem. This provides us with a unique opportunity to gather rich empirical data related to our come upon research questions. The nature of the research questions required that the plans and activities of each case study be studied through the gathering of an transmit off of data (table 1). This enabled the researchers to develop greater levels of understanding about the worry of HRIS in each organisation and across organisations (Yin, 2003). turn off 1 data gathering across the case studies outcome Study TechOrg Interviews 4 Additional Data Organisational information available in the world domain, press articles Annual reports, preliminary organisational presentations. OHS staff brochures and posters, Annual reports and promotional material Press clippings, web sites, mightiness observations Observation of System in Use No observation of the system due to interviewee time constraintsBuildOrg10ManuOrg8Observation of HRIS in use within HR area observation of OHS system in use Observation of HRIS in use with differing users. No observation of the system in use due to the sensitivity of dataGovtOrg4Over a 16 month period initiated early 2008, interview data was combined with different empirical evidence gathered through access to junior-grade sources and during site visits. The interview data comprised semi- structured interviews conducted with executives across a cooking stove of roles in the organisationsincluding HR, IT, and Operations. Each interview was betwixt one to two hours, and was conducted by two investigators, recorded and transcribed. Interviewees were selected on the basis of their involvement in the decision to implement or advertise the HRIS at their organisation, or their high levels of use of the HRIS. In addition, and where possible, the researchers observed the HRIS at each organisation in use, so as to understand how the system was searched, reports were run, and the availability of data.The Case Studies Each of the four case s tudies discussed in this paper have been allocated an assumed name. Details concerning size of the organization, its current HRIS system and whether this was being re rawed or boostd and the reasons for the re forward-lookingal or labor on are summarized in table 2. TechOrg is a private organisation involve in the Information, Communications and applied science industry. Over the last three years, TechOrg has under rewardn to nurture its SAP HRIS module as part of its overall ERP upgrade and system development. BuildOrg is a large construction company which is also privately owned. Their workforce comprises both permanent and contracted employees. Theorganisation was previously operating a HRIS that was considered as outdated and sought to upgrade their existing system to principally manage quondam(prenominal) and current employees. ManuOrg manufactures building products and metals and has a food processing division. The current HRIS was implemented 21 years ago with an i ncreasingly circumscribed CHRIS system that is currently in the process of being re hardened with SAP. Lastly, GovtOrg is a public organisation responsible for security circumspection. The organisation first implemented a proprietary HRIS in 1998 and had undertaken an upgrade in 2000 before initiating the current impel to SAP in 2008. Table 2 Summary of Case Studies Case Current system employees TechOrg 350 SAPBuildOrgUp to 1400 (varies)Tailored Preceda 9.1 by CHRIS, hectogram for payroll. CHRISManuOrg7000+Upgrading / replacing Replace with lighter version of SAP with more local functionality Upgrade to CHRIS Preceda 11 hectogram to remain SAPReason(s) for revision revision in ownership of organisation and requirement to severe links with previous owner and associated bequest systems. Increased requirement to meet compliance standards and to diminish risk of litigation.GovtOrg5500Proprietary systemSAPHR director preceding(a) with knowledge of the proprietary system. Need for a system consistent with the simpleness of the IT platform. Desire for IT quite than HR to manage HRIS. Moving to SAP so as to integrate with the organisations SAP ERP system and early(a) govt. departmentsResults The initial research findings support the results of studies by those such as Towers Perrin (2008) and Bussler and Davis (2001). notwithstanding all four case studies stating that the implementation or upgrade of their HRIS has been undertaken with the aim of utilising functions that are of a strategic nature thereby enhancing the strategic contribution of the HR function (Beatty, 2001 LengnickHall et al., 2003 Ulrich, 1997 Walker, 2001), the data suggests that turn forward towards making these castrates is being hindered by a range of technological, managerial and organisational challenges. While some of these challenges could be attributed to the management of stark naked technologies in general, our findings demonstrate thatseveral are in fact specific to HR and reflect the complex nature of the management of people, the role of HR in the organisation, the allocation of resources to the HRIS, and technological issues related to the management of HR practice. It was never the intention of the project to select organisations that were under expiry major organisational change, quite a we sought to gain access to organisations that were endeavouring to implement or upgrade their HRIS. The associated organisational changes which are discussed in this paper added to the complexness of the stories and experiences that these organisations have been able to share. The data across all the cases indicated the following three challenges for the organisations and each of these is discussed in the following section using cross-case analysis (Yin, 2003 Youndt, Snell, Dean, & Lepak, 1996). The challenges were An inconsistency in the importance attributed to HRIS resulting in difficulties in sustaining management commitment to the project and in obtai ning the resources necessary to fully develop the juvenile or upgraded HRIS. A tendency to underestimate the complexness of the HRIS and its impact on the behaviour and processes of the organisation. The barriers to user acceptance of the HRIS and the consequent underestimation of the importance of change management.Inconsistent Salience Attributed to the Organisations HRIS Project The case study organisations have variously experienced authoritative changes in structure, size, ownership and regimen (summarised table 3). This has resulted in a shift of senior management attention away from development of the HRIS to more immediately pressing organisational issues. wiz progeny of this is the allocation of insufficient resources to the HRIS and, in some cases, the increased delegation of responsibilities to vendors and consultants. Table 3 Changes in Case Studies Case Study Organisational Change knead TechOrg Acquired by local company and required to adopt more place processe s BuildOrg Large growth in infrastructure projects importation for the Business reexamination and realignment of business processes Requirement to manage large contracted workforce. Significant increase in compliance requirements Need to align systems across range of standalone businessesImplication for the HRIS Enforced selection of more localised platform which aims to address more direct organisational haves Upgrade required for existing Preceda systemManuOrgGovtOrg fellowship instruction and establishment of sustainability practices Change of government resulting in increased demands and complexity of role. Desire for efficiencies in work practices.Migration to SAP and restructuring of the management of the HRIS away from HR and under IT Increased requirements Move to SAP platform to for reporting and trace with impudent(prenominal) assessd IT government departmentsTechOrg, a company based in the ICT sector, is a company that has constantly approach issues in maintaining the whim and commitment of expanding their existing SAP system. Such challenges regarding salience have continued for the past three years as financial and engineering management systems upgrades have engulfed continual attempts to progress and complete the relyd upgrade. The project, run and owned by the Human Resource department, is internally recognized as having low organisational precedence However the core will always be financial management systems and the things that allow our engineers and our program managers to run the calls, take the customer complaints, send them to the technician. We will certainly come a distant third to that So if we come thirdthen we will do something, but we dont know whether were coming third yet do we? (Director of sight and Culture, TechOrg). The require for the HRIS upgrade was later impeded in 2008 because the organisation was acquired by a domestic company and consequently all existing business processes compulsory to be changed to en sure separation from the previous owners. As a result the project (now) has been stopped pretty much (Director of People andCulture, TechOrg). The experiences of this organisation demonstrates that despite the best of intentions of HR, such projects as this, which are deemed as HR centric, can lose momentum as a result of factors beyond its control. BuildOrg started to investigate HRIS more than 10 years ago. The introduction of a new senior manager with existing ERP and HRIS knowledge combined with the perceived need to replace an outdated system instigated the desire to upgrade their original Mercury system, based on Lotus Notes. During these initial stages, several HRIS were considered, however, the project was attached when the costs associated with any new HRIS were deemed prohibitive. The project and operational requirements of the organisation were re-examined in 2005 and the organisation again considered implementing a new payroll system, but IT did not find any of the sys tems that they viewed appropriate for the organisational unavoidably. The insufficiency of executive support also played a large role during this time. So we sort of place it at that stage. Because the other thing was, I think in an organisational find with a new CEO, that wasnt really a priority for us. (General coach-and-four HR, Safety and Corporate Relations). Finally in 2007 the latest attempt gained handle with senior management and the approval was given for an upgrade. Nevertheless the current progress on this project for BuildOrg has been met with caution. Because theres been an awful lot of wet under the bridge to get to this point. Weve had this is the third go at in truth having a crack at getting Preceda as the HR system and getting the organisational structure in. Now there was one completely failed attempt. One almost got there but then failed and now this is the (final) go at it. (Applications Services Manager, IT).ManuOrg introduced its first HRIS in the 19 70s. Since then the organisation has undertaken a number of upgrades driven largely by organisational change which has required an expansion of the existing systems. Progressive changes and add-ons to the legacy system, has created for ManuOrg a HRIS that is complex and inconsistent. Although the HRIS has been accorded salience and sufficient resources over the past 30 years, the HR manager acknowledged that the rationale for change and selection of the replacement HRIS has tended to emphasise financial, rather than strategic human resource issues. The retirement of the HR Director, who has been central to developing thecurrent HRIS, together with the need to standardise IT systems across all the operating companies has resulted in a call for migration to SAP and the re-positioning of HRIS management under the IT department. GovtOrg has been using PeopleSoft as the vendor for their HRIS since 1998, with an upgrade which introduced web based self service in 2000. With the aims of est ablishing a bingle source of truth, creating uniformity, gaining efficiencies and enabling data transfer and integration with other government organisations, GovtOrg has decided to replace PeopleSoft with SAP. despite resounding confidence in the HRIS project, GovtOrg be quiet believes that the project can be delayed by other organisational activities which are deemed more essential to the business and its performance. Probably the only issue is that will be a timing issue, as we and were still debating with our plan get a live date for SAPs views in October. So although it looks, at this point in time, wish well it may be delayed. If it gets delayed, itll in truth push back into about March next year, because weve got some other peak periods in respect to processing and so forth. (National Manager of Infrastructure). The experiences of the four case study organisations suggests that their HRIS projects tend to face a number of challenges in the allocation of resources and the securing of ongoing support from senior management. Often finance, marketing and other operational functions are being given greater priority. In sum, based on the empirical research to date, it could be argued that all of the organisations, and specifically the HR function within them, have faced challenges regarding their ability to maintain momentum towards the selection and implementation of an upgraded HRIS.The Complexity of HRIS Underestimated The complexity of HRIS and its associated functionality appears to have been underestimated at the four case studies (Hannon, Jelf, & Brandes, 1996) and can be attributed to both technological and managerial factors. The challenge for HR management is how to manage the tension amongst the need to fit practice to meet the needs of the HRIS versus customizing the technology to fit existing practices and the unpredictability involved in the management of people. Associated with this challenge is the decision of where to locate the manag ement of the HRIS i.e. within Information Technology or as an HR technology group within HR.Our case organisations have varied responses to this dilemma, but all suggest that management of the system has significant implications for knowledge transfer between IT and HR and thus the ability to realise value from the HRIS . Previous studies have reiterated the claims made by HRIS vendors that there are two compelling benefits arising from the implementation or upgrading of HRIS (Hendrickson, 2003 Kavanagh, Gueutal, & Tannenbaum, 1990 Kovach & Cathcart, 1999). One is an increase in efficiencies through reduced costs and increased data accuracy, and the other is the improvements in the speed at which information can be produced. Such improvements in business processes have not yet been fully realised in our case study organisations as the implementation and functionality of the HRIS has proven to be more complex than anticipated. ManuOrg has maintained a number of legacy add-ons and pro prietary upgrades to their CHRIS system. The current project is attempting to simplify and standardise systems into a standard IT platform that can be more tardily supported but is finding it difficult to align the needs associated with its range of operating companies within one HRIS. The organisation realises that with its selection of a new and alternative HRIS vendor (SAP), there will be considerable compatibility issues with data migration. Accordingly, the transactional and menial activities for HR will increase prior to implementation, as existing data and codes are modified, and therefore the time required for data migration is expect to be significant. The complexity associated with the new system has compelled the organisation to implement it in a big bang manner. There are toomany interdependent processes and that we really have to make the entire change of payroll for Australia and tender Zealand at the one time (Manager HR and paysheet Services). The complexity of th e new system will also affect the value that the organisation can extract from the HRIS in the short term. Although the organisation has the explicit desire to establish a single source of truth via its new HRIS, it is value that such goals and aspirations will take second place, at least in the short-term, to the more urgent need to address issues surrounding change management and acceptance. The project based nature of the work that BuildOrg undertakes adds complications to the selection, use and implementation of any vanillaHRIS. As the organisational structure is based more on projects and individuals rather than positions (typical of most organisations), particular reporting functionalities associated with HRIS may be deemed less relevant or even superfluous for the organisation. In addition, similar to ManuOrg, this organisation is faced with the difficulty of trying to establish one central system which can be considered as a single source of truth from legacy systems which currently do not interface well. This has resulted in significant challenges close to the compatibility and integration of data. BuildOrg has also experienced challenges with some of the functionality within the new system, peculiarly in relation to online leave applications. The issue of leave has proven to be problematic throughout the upgrade process, to the extent that the organisation has decided not to utilize this function initially, which is probably why weve decided to not go forward with the (leave submissions) online thats a little bit in the too hard basket at the moment as to how its going to work (Corporate HR Advisor). Furthermore, a number of other functionalities of the HRIS have needed to be ad only ifed in order to meet the organisational requirements before the system goes live You need a lot of tweaking at that point and we wont be spot-on when we get it there itll be close. That tweaking will take a while itll take months and months ( payroll department Mana ger). This is a process that has consumed unexpected supernumerary time and resources.Similar levels of complexity are associated with the implementation of a new system at TechOrg. This complexity can however be attributed to the changes in ownership that the organisation has experienced over the past 2 years. The new system and its implementation has experienced surplus technical difficulties which have largely been driven by established business processes that could manage differences in atomic number 63an and Australian legislation. Being a publicly owned organisation presents its own range of issues for GovtOrg regarding the use and implementation of a HRIS. Comprising a highly structured workforce, GovtOrg faces challenges with the management of rosters, schedules and allowances. In contrast to ManuOrg and TechOrg, GovtOrg needs an HRIS capable of processing, administering and managing a mix of employee rosters and allowances. More specifically,for this particular organisat ion, the activities of workforce planning, the management of staff hours, associated policy issues and ensuring that its operations are conducted in accordance with the relevant collective agreements, results in extra complexity and has led to demands for additional functionality from the HRIS. Furthermore, the National Manager of Infrastructure recognised that existing contractual arrangements with their HRIS vendor has exposed the organisation to possible potential risks that may lead to delays. Such potential risks and possible delays are believed to stem from concerns that the vendor may be unable to address the added demands for additional functionality that GovtOrg has devote forward under present contractual arrangements. These contractual concerns along with workforce planning issues, have added to the complexity of the selection, implementation and use of GovtOrgs HRIS. Barriers to credence of New or Upgraded HRIS and the Importance of Change counsel The third challenge which has hindered the ability of our case study organisations to realise the potential of their HRIS arises from barriers associated with the acceptance of the new or upgraded HRIS among let out end-users of the system and the importance attached to managing the change processes associated with its implementation and introduction. Further, obtaining organisational buy-in regarding the strategic contribution of the HRIS has, in some cases, been hindered byscepticism, a deficiency of understanding, insufficient management commitment, and fears that existing modes of work will be changed and result in, for example, job loss or altered leave entitlements and shift arrangements (Kavanagh et al., 1990 Kinnie & Arthurs, 1996 Tansley & Watson, 2000). The lack of organisation and management buy-in has also been a significant challenge for ManuOrg. Despite the HRIS project acquiring renewed salience and again being placed on the organisations strategic agendum, the Manager of HR and Payr oll Services recognised that the system and its importance for the organisation was yet to be acknowledged and wholly accepted Im not sure that its got the necessary buy-in from the business leaders that were going to need to have. This problem was reinforced later in the same interview from public lecture with the business heads, concept-wise, no one is saying this is a load of rubbish, but I dont think theyve quite got theirheads into the space and are saying, Yes, were 100% behind that To try and promise this lack of buy-in, the HR department is working on an ongoing basis to promote the HRIS promise. ManuOrg, acknowledges that the upgrade of the existing system, that has been in place for 21 years will generate significant change for the way that information is managed. As the Manager of HR and Payroll Services observed The biggest issue I believe is going to be the change management Most ManuOrg employees are going to invoice that and more than notice. Theyre going to see a significant change in the way that they supply information, get information, gain approvals. Its a big challenge for us at the moment to try and get people in the business into this online environment. Some people really love it, other people really hate it. Theres like that sort of and theres nothing really in between at the moment lack of understanding of the change needed but also an explicit concern for the need to manage change. Discussions about this challenge and concerns about the required change management process have been abundant and the wider acceptance of the system and its changes are seen to differ between those that are associated with the project, versus existing employees who are comfortable with the organisations current policy and procedures, or alternatively appalling of technology. For me it works well, but Im very adaptable to change. So being able to move to a system where we can have everything in the one place I think is going to be a much better thing for us. (HR Manager of Corporate and dual-lane Services).The challenges for GovtOrg in managing change are centred on the need to re-focus expectations. With the explicit desire to establish a single source of truth, the organisation has commissioned the HRIS project The ability for the organisation to achieve this relies on the ability to manage expectations however weve also got to manage the expectation that this is not the silver bullet to everything. This is simply a system. A system, in and of itself, doesnt actually resolve issues or processes or anything else. (National Director of People and Place) This same manager further believed this process and challenge would greatly impact the overall acceptance of the system and thus was focussed on the implementation process. If this process experiences issues and additional complications, or just goes wrong then you can almost smell the end of SAP or its user acceptancewithin customers. Without an effective implementation proce ss the ability of the organisation to gain potential strategic potential from their HRIS would be significantly compromised. Barriers to acceptance, ownership and living have plagued BuildOrgs past, current and planned HRIS. The resources allocated to the maintenance of the HRIS system have waned throughout the life of the existing system and overall ownership of the system has largely been transferred back and forth from IT, HR and Payroll Weve had a lot of problems actually trying to get people to take ownership of the systems and maintain them which has resulted in the existing system and the information that it generates being inaccurate and outdated. Past experiences of systems with limited use, combined with an clutches of the needs of the current workforce has ensured that the organisation has delayed the implementation of the new updated system in an attempt to ensure that all problems and barriers have been addressed before the system goes live. According to the Corporate Human Resources Manager, training and education is essential and needs to be timely Its about educating and marketing, I think at the induction piece, the new joiners they get some sort of training on how to use it and then when we roll out self service and I was talking to Manager X about this the other day and said anything we do it has to have areally good marketing push so that people take notice and then quickly follow it up with the training. This organisation and its current project manager also realises that the training needs to be hands on in order to generate an acceptance and use of the system and avoid the work-arounds that have compromised the effectiveness of the system in the past. adoption of the HRIS has also presented problems for TechOrg however user resistance has not been as significant as evidenced in the other cases. Employees largely work in distributed teams located in client organisations for the duration of their projects. They are working in a hightech environment and thus are comfortable with a more virtual relationship with the organisation and use the HRIS to manage their information and for most of their HR requirements. Despite the HR department struggling to ensure that the new HRIS project retains salience in the organisation, the lack of organisational buy-in tends to surround specific functions rather than the system as a whole. TheDirector of People and Performance stave of limited success with functionality associated with time sheeting and the need to incorporate additional flexibility to meet the increasingly complex customer requirements which have implications for their employees in different work sites. Change is a constant in this organisation so together with the technical requirements of the job, this seems to create a more accept environment for new systems. However, despite this environment, recent changes around pay cycles generated significant resistance that was unanticipated by management signalling that changes to the HRIS that directly impact employees such as pay may require significant more attention to change management than TechCo has traditionally been used to. Discussion and Conclusions Initial findings from our four case studies suggest that although new or upgraded HRIS systems are being used to automate and devolve routine administrative and compliance functions traditionally performed by the HR function, the potential for this technology to be used in ways that contribute to the strategic direction of the organisation is not being realised. More specifically, our results suggest that the opportunity to enhance HRs role as strategic partner as a result of the use of HRIS is beinghindered by three main challenges. The first challenge relates to the ability to maintain the levels of senior management commitment and resources needed to implement and manage new or upgraded HRIS. The second concerns managing the complexity of the HRIS and its associated functionality. The thi rd challenge stems from barriers associated with the acceptance of HRIS among key managers and employees along with the importance attached to managing the change processes associated with the implementation and introduction of the new or upgraded systems. These challenges demonstrate that the material, functional characteristics of technologies such as HRIS are complex and make them difficult to introduce and operate. At the same time, and in line with a social constructionist approach to the study of technology each of the challenges illustrates that how and when a technology is used is also determined by the agency of its users and the social context within which it is adopted (Orlikowski et al., 2001). In sum, only through an appreciation of both the material and the social can a more informedunderstanding of the problems that surround HRIS implementation and operation be obtained. In this respect, our findings are in contrast to the more technological deterministic view of ant erior studies of HRIS that suggest that it is simply the technology itself which has implications for the changing role of HR. It can be seen then that the social context of HRIS plays an important role in shaping user perceptions and behaviour (Orlikowski, 2000). From a technologies-in-practice perspective (Dery et al, 2006) user interactions with the facilities, norms, and interpretative schemes associated with HRIS are affected not only by its technological complexity, but also by problems concerning the management of, and commitment to, its implementation. These socio-contextual factors are compounded by the fact that each case study organisation has experienced significant change, for example in ownership and structure. Underlying the three challenges is the issue of how various social groups, or key actors involved in the implementation and use of HRIS bring to bear their own interests and thus interpretations of the system and what it does. As a result of this process, the de sign, selection and use of HRIS are shown in this study to be subject to contestation as a range of meanings areattached to the technology that either undermine or highlight its perceived value and significance and which impact on the extent to which it is to be used in a strategic or more administrative fashion. Significantly, the study suggests that interpretations which run counter to HRIS being used in ways that realise its strategic potential are currently winning the day. 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