Janet H. Marler

Making human resources strategic by going to the Net: reality or myth?

This paper discusses whether e-HRM makes the HR function more strategic. A model of e-HRM strategy formulation is developed and the efficacy of the HR function becoming more strategic is discussed. Based on this model, a primarily administrative HR function is unlikely to become more strategic with the addition of e-HRM. In contexts where e-HRM goals are likely to be strategic, however, the tendency for HR managers to copy best practices, be overly skeptical or satisfice poses serious challenges. Implications and avenues for future research are discussed.

Training and Effective Employee Information Technology Use

Using longitudinal survey data from a matched sample of 94 administrative employees across a range of job levels in an organization that was implementing a Web-based enterprise-wide resource planning software system, the authors examined the relationships between technology training and employees’ acceptance and preparation for mandated technology use. Structural equation analyses indicated that employees’ beliefs about resources to support use of new software mediated the relationship between technology training and intention to use new software outside of formal training and prior to mandated use. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Got image? Examining organizational image in web recruitment

Purpose – This study aims to investigate whether organizational image: mediates the relationship between web site attributes and organizational attraction and moderates the relationship between person‐job (P‐J) fit and organizational attraction.Design/methodology/approach – A total of 320 observations were collected from 80 senior‐level undergraduates, each half navigating a different set of four actual organizational web sites.Findings – Organizational image was found to fully mediate the relationship between a web sites aesthetic features and organizational attraction; and moderate the relationship between P‐J fit perceptions and organizational attraction such that the change in organizational attraction was more sensitive to perceptions of P‐J fit when organizational image perceptions were more unfavorable rather than favorable. In addition, intercept differences revealed that individuals with below average P‐J fit were more attracted to organizations having a favorable image than an unfavorable image...

A Model of Employee Self-Service Technology Acceptance

We review the literature on individual acceptance of technology to show how organizations can improve the effective use of human resource web-based technologies. Integrating and expanding several theoretical models of technology acceptance, we develop a perceptual model of employee self-service (ESS) acceptance and usage. Based on this model, we propose several key individual, technological, and organizational factors relevant to individual intentions to use ESS technology. We summarize these in several testable propositions and also discuss implications for organizational researchers and practitioners.

An evidence-based review of HR Analytics

Abstract We conduct an evidence-based review using an integrative synthesis of published peer-reviewed literature on Human Resource analytics (HR Analytics). Our search of several publication databases identified 60 articles on this topic, however only 14 articles were in quality peer-reviewed journals. Our review of these articles addresses the following 5 questions: (1) What is HR Analytics (how has the concept definition evolved)? (2) How does HR Analytics work (what are the processes)? (3) Why does HR Analytics work (what theories explain cause-effect relationships, antecedents, and consequences)? (4) What does HR Analytics produce (what are the outcomes)? (5) What is required for HR Analytics to succeed (what are the moderators of the analytics-outcome relationships)? We conclude that despite evidence linking the adoption of HR Analytics to organizational performance that adoption of HR Analytics is very low and academic research, and therefore, evidence on this topic is sparse. We offer potential explanations for this paradox and suggest avenues for future research.

Human resource management, strategic involvement and e-HRM technology

Associated with the emergence of internet-based human resource management technology is rhetoric predicting that such technological advances (electronic human resource management technology or e-HRM) will make HRM in organizations more strategic. Yet such a prediction is contested in the literature on the role of technology in organizations. Using a large survey data-set consisting of 5665 companies that are located in 32 different countries, we use non-recursive simultaneous equation models with instrumental variables to empirically evaluate competing theoretical perspectives in this literature. We find and show that strategic HR involvement and greater e-HRM capability are both directly and reciprocally related supporting both theoretical perspectives but also showing each is not mutually exclusive. We discuss the implication of these results for human resource management theory, practice and future research.

The dual nature of prior computer experience: More is not necessarily better for technology acceptance

It is often presumed that individuals with greater computer experience will easily adopt new or updated replacements of existing information technology. To examine this assumption, this study reviews prior computer experience research, identifies two key dimensions of computer experience i.e. computer use and computer proficiency and evaluates their effects individually. Analysis of survey data from 737 respondents using structural equation modeling indicates that each dimension had differential effects on behavioral intentions to use a newly introduced internet-based technology with computer use having curvilinear effects on adoption intentions. Implications for research and practice are discussed.

Managers’ Family-Supportive Supervisory Behaviors: A Multilevel Perspective

Using a combination of trait and situational variables we develop a model to explore the antecedents of managers’ family-supportive behaviors. Our model hypotheses were tested using data gathered from a sample of 312 subordinates matched to 92 managers. Hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) of the nested data yielded results that show both an individual manager’s trait (i.e., empathy) and situational variables (i.e., subordinate’s family-to-work conflict and leader–subordinate exchange quality) significantly predicted managers’ supportive behaviors. Additional HLM analyses showed that the manager’s gender (trait) and group work-to-family conflict (situation) moderated the relationship between manager’s empathy and family-supportive behaviors. Our results suggest that managers’ family-supportive behaviors are related to individual characteristics of the manager and to subordinate workgroup contexts, but not to organizational culture.