A wide range of Human Resources (HR) processes and information can now be managed and devolved to line managers and employees using e-HRM (‘electronic Human Resource Management’). E-HRM has been defined as “An umbrella term covering all possible integration mechanisms and contents between HRM and information technologies, aiming at creating value within and across organisations for targeted employees and management.” (Bondarouk & Ruel, 2009, p.507). Contemporary e-HRM technologies contain powerful functionality that can support organisations in reducing the cost and improving the quality of Human Resource service delivery, as well as enabling higher productivity and providing strategic capability. The aim of this dissertation is to explore why the development of e-HRM has been relatively immature, given that organisations tend to take an ‘automating’ approach that focuses primarily on administrative efficiency. The central thesis is that future development of e-HRM depends on two factors; firstly, that stronger links between e-HRM and competitive advantage at the organisational level must be defined and exploited; and secondly that shared frames of reference with regard to technology are critical to gaining the support of investors in e-HRM. The dissertation explores the wider context of e-HRM and its relationship to contemporary themes such as HR transformation, service delivery models, the growth of the internet and changing employee and managerial workplace expectations. Various definitions of e-HRM are explored, together with a literature review that categorises and summarises e-HRM literature over a twenty-one year period, concluding that there has been inadequate focus on understanding how e-HRM creates value. The dissertation makes a key contribution to practice through the e-HRM Value Model, a framework for defining, understanding and articulating how e-HRM creates organisational value. Its focus is on the outcomes of e-HRM rather than its characteristics, proposing that only three forms of outcomes can be derived from e-HRM: Operational HR cost reduction, improved people management / productivity and increased strategic capability. It represents a means of defining not only the value outcomes of e-HRM, but also the linkages between value potential, value conversion and value outcomes, providing a practical framework for defining the linkages between e-HRM and competitive advantage, as well as the basis for a diagnostic tool. The dissertation makes a contribution to knowledge through the analysis and subsequent synthesis of a wide-ranging literature review and interviews with fortysix managers and line managers across fifteen organisations that were planning for or had implemented e-HRM. It concludes with a series of proposed reasons for the slow progress towards greater strategic use of e-HRM, based on a technological frames approach with regard to the Nature of Technology, Technology in Use and Technology Strategy. The dissertation argues that unless HR professionals are themselves able to make sense of e-HRM and articulate the benefits in terms of competitive advantage, e-HRM development is likely to remain immature. Further research opportunities to develop and test the model are identified, together with an assessment of the implications for e-HRM management.

With organizational development, many of management systems should be established and developed to handle different challenges and situations. Flamholtz and Randle (2007) figure out different but typical management orientation and systems at different stages of this development process and emphasize the importance of organizational transition between the stages. Human resource management (HRM) is regarded as one of the most important management systems to overcome challengers and gain competitive advantages during organization development. This paper concentrates on a HRM perspective to research on the relationship between organizational transition and HRM changes. The findings show HRM correlated with organizational transition from an entrepreneurial stage to a professionally managed one needs to change from traditional to strategic. The essence of this process is correspondingly a role change from a service provider to a strategic participant. Meanwhile, the functions and abilities to support them in HRM should be changed also.

Human Resource Management (HRM) consultants are becoming more common. Simultaneously there is a lack of HRM in small and medium enterprises (SME’s). SME’s states neither to afford, nor have the time to perform HRM in their business. This thesis is a Working Scholarly essay based on qualitative method, based on ten semi- structured interviews. The purpose of this thesis is to investigate whether external HRM consultants can help SME’s with their HRM work. The questions to be answered are: - What business opportunities there are for HRM consultants to work with SME’s? - What obstacles HRM consultants working towards SME’s face in the market? The survey was conducted using a “data triangulation” of three different target groups where all participants originated from different companies. Interviews were performed on ten people with knowledge of HRM. Five of those interviewed with specific knowledge of HRM consultants working towards SMEs. The interviews were analysed by categorizing and placed into a SWOT analysis to identify the HRM consultants' business opportunities in relation to SME’s. The study's results showed that the HRM consultants have good business opportunities to work towards SME’s but there also exist some obstacles and threats. / Human Resource Management- (HRM) konsulter blir allt vanligare samtidigt som det råder brist på HRM-arbete i små- och medelstora företag (SME-företag). SME-företagen påstår sig varken har råd eller tid att utföra HRM-arbete. Studien är en Arbetsvetenskaplig uppsats utarbetad ur en kvalitativ metodansats baserad på tio stycken semistrukturerade intervjuer. Syftet med studien är att undersöka huruvida externa HRM-konsulter kan hjälpa SME-företag med deras HRM-arbete. Frågorna som ställs är vilka affärsmöjligheter det finns för HRM-konsulter att arbeta med SME-företag, samt vilka hinder HRM-konsulter som jobbar mot SME-företag möter på marknaden. Undersökningen genomfördes med hjälp av en datatriangulering av tre olika målgrupper, där samtliga deltagare kom från olika företag. Intervjuer utfördes med tio personer med kunskap inom HRM, varav fem stycken med specifik kunskap om HRM-konsulter som jobbar mot SME-företag. Intervjuerna analyserades genom kategorisering och placerades in i en SWOT- analys för att kartlägga HRM-konsulters affärsmöjligheter gentemot SME-företag. Studiens resultat visade att HRM-konsulter har goda affärsmöjligheter att arbeta gentemot SME-företag men att det även föreligger en del hinder och hot.

Práce se věnuje přínosu a vlivu informačních a komunikačních technologií na personální procesy v oddělení řízení lidských zdrojů ve společnosti T-Mobile Czech Republic a.s. V první, teoretické části práce jsou stručně představeny základní činnosti řízení lidských zdrojů, charakterizuji vývoj personálních informačních systémů a představuji společnost společnost T-Mobile jako součást mezinárodního uskupení. Ve druhé, praktické části ukazuji, jak jednotlivé nástroje e-personalistiky pomáhají v práci zaměstnancům úseku Řízení lidských zdrojů. U jednotlivých nástrojů shrnuji jejich využívání; jejich klady a zápory.

In the context of Human Resource Management (HRM), organisations have been increasingly encouraged to implement a range of practices which, it is argued, will improve their competitiveness in the global market place. Thus, change initiatives within organisations follow one after the other. Yet, although there is apparent acceptance among practitioners and academics that evaluation is a crucial step in any process of continual improvement the reality is often that little has been done to assess the impact and degree of success of each initiative before organisations progress to the next. However, despite wide acknowledgement within the literature that is a significant problem there are few explanations offered and little evidence of any in-depth empirical exploration of the issues involved. This thesis reports on a study which sought to identify and explain the factors which created barriers to evaluation. Using a case study approach the research explored the reality of the evaluation process as it occurred in three UK public sector organisations, each of which was seeking to evaluate a Human Resource Management (HRM) change initiative. Two distinct types of barrier were found to exist which were labelled primary and secondary. As anticipated, there were barriers (secondary) that arose during an evaluation process that related to the choices made about purpose, process and responsibility and which made it difficult for 'good' (thorough, unbiased, relevant) evaluation to occur. However, of greater significance was the discovery in all three organisations of other factors (primary barriers) which, in combination, created a context in which the failure to undertake formal evaluation could be justified as a reasoned, and reasonable, action on the part of managers thereby offering an explanation for why such evaluations are rare. These primary barriers relate to the organisational and individual value placed on the act of evaluating and the learning that occurs as a result of any findings, including the way that it informs the change. Among those responsible for the initiation and implementation of the initiative (normally those who have control of the resources necessary to enable formal evaluation to take place), informal evaluation of the initiative and the context in which it occurred determined the perceived degree of need for formal evaluation to take place. Past experience, observation and shared perceptions suggested that formal evaluation activity was neither valued nor required by the organisation and was likely to have negative personal consequences. Matters are further clouded by an academic and practitioner literature which actively promotes the benefits of HRM strategies, supported by simplistic prescriptions for success, while the majority of empirical studies offer examples which substantiate these claims. In each of the cases reported here the nature of the chosen HRM initiative was assumed to be inherently good, something which would inevitably benefit the organisation in some way, by those responsible for its adoption and implementation thus making formal assessment unnecessary. The research clearly identifies the complexity of the barriers; each type having its roots in different factors that need to be addressed in a variety of ways if they are to be overcome and thus enable the organisation is to achieve the collective, and productive, learning from experience increasingly called for by the management literature. Until evaluation is valued at senior levels and accompanied by the necessary incentives, responsibilities, resources and rewards, wider perception of it as an important and valued activity is unlikely to become an active reality. Thus, the failure to learn from experience, to share understanding and to achieve both continuous improvement and greater levels of success in the management of change will continue. It is also clear that the same academic literature which is currently advocating a key role for HR and evaluation in the context of change needs to offer more in the way of information, guidance and support to make a positive contribution to the changes in perception that are required.

Syfte: Syftet med uppsatsen är att kartlägga hur HR-funktionens arbete är värdeskapande i organisationen. Metod: Studien utgår från en deduktiv forskningsansats och har tillämpat en kvalitativ forskningsstrategi. Det empiriska underlaget har samlats in genom åtta semistrukturerade intervjuer med personer inom HR och med chefer i organisationen. Studien genomfördes på företagen Volvo Cars och Scania Slutsats: Studien har visat att de faktorer som ger ett värdeskapande HR-arbete är verksamhetsförståelse, närvarande HR, delaktighet i ledningsgrupp för HR-personal samt att det finns en förståelse för vad HR arbetar med från chefernas perspektiv.

Syfte: Syftet med uppsatsen är att kartlägga hur HR-funktionens arbete är värdeskapande för organisationen. Metod: Studien utgår från en deduktiv forskningsansats och har tillämpat en kvalitativ forskningsstrategi. Det empiriska underlaget har samlats in genom åtta semistrukturerade intervjuer med personer inom HR och med chefer i organisationen. Studien genomfördes på företagen Volvo Cars och Scania. Slutsats: Studien har visat att de faktorer som ger ett värdeskapande HR-arbete är verksamhetsförståelse, närvarande HR, delaktighet i ledningsgrupp för HR-personer samt att det finns en förståelse för vad HR arbetar med från chefernas perspektiv.

Yes

Retail work constitutes an estimated 10.5 per cent of the UK workforce (British Retail Consortium, 2011). The literature suggests homogeneity in the nature of HRM in the retail industry with low formal skills, pay and trade union density associated with this context (Skillsmart Retail, 2010; Department for Business Innovation and Skills, 2010). Furthermore, the downward pressure on the working conditions of employees is observed across front-line work in general and this, seemingly does not improve with competitive strategy (Kelliher and Perrett, 2001; Lloyd, 2005; Lloyd, Warhurst and Dutton, 2013). However, the service work literature reveals diversity at the workplace level in the performance of emotional labour (Bolton, 2000) and the different types of customer (Bolton and Houlihan, 2005). Yet there are gaps in the literature related to how the performance of emotional labour compares and contrasts across retail organisations through different management control mechanisms as well as how the employee-customer interaction may explain diversity at the workplace level. The thesis draws on a comparative case approach of four case study organisations in the retail industry each reflecting different market positions in clothing and electrical product markets. A total of 37 semi-structured interviews were conducted with managers and employees across the case study stores. In addition the methodology also included the analysis of the customer perspective which is traditionally missing in the work and employment relations literature (Korczynski, 2009) This included collecting data using eighteen customer shopping reports, a method based on qualitative diaries. The overall aim of the study was to compare and contrast management, employee and customer perspectives across different retail organisation contexts and explore how the nature of HR and the performance of emotional labour are framed and reframed by the dynamics and negotiations that take place between these three actors. The findings reveal homogeneity in the nature of HRM with no improvement in recruitment and selection, training, pay and collective employee involvement going up the quality chain in the retail industry. This confirms other studies in the service industry more generally (Kelliher and Perrett, 2001; Lloyd, 2005; Lloyd et al, 2013). However within this downward pressure on the nature of HRM there were elements of diversity in the management requirements for the performance of emotional labour and the conceptualisation of the customer which shaped the employee-customer interaction in much broader terms than Strategic HR theorists might have assumed. To understand diversity across the retail organisations it was necessary to analyse the nature of employee-customer interactions within the context of management performance strategies. This revealed that many of the nuances between the case study retailers related to the ways the customer shapes, and is shaped, by the performance of emotional labour. The thesis will argue for the continued relevance of the concept of triangular relations which has been recently criticised (Belanger and Edwards, 2013) because it recognises the three actors that shape the performance of emotional labour at the level of workplace relations.

HR är ett yrkesfält som avser en verksamhets personalförvaltning, men har sedan det uppkom varit tvetydigt och under ständig utveckling. Många av de studier som bedrivits kring fältet har till följd av detta fokuserat på att fastställa vad HR är och vad dess funktion bör vara. Forskning har fokuserat på att finna universella svar, men det saknas studier som låter dessa frågor besvaras utifrån en specifik organisationskontext. Vidare finns även en brist på empirinära studier inom HR-fältet. Genom detta samt den tvetydighet och föränderliga bakgrund HR-fältet präglas av, har vi identifierat HR-funktionen som vagt inramad inom forskningen. Utifrån detta är studiens syfte att bidra med praktiknära kunskap om hur HR-arbetet sker i praktiken.Vi har genomfört en kvalitativ studie med en jämförande design. Baserat på ett teoretiskt urval inkluderades, genom semistrukturerade intervjuer, totalt tre företag med fristående HR-avdelning. I Varje företag intervjuades en HR-ansvarig respektive tre avdelningschefer. Analysen har tagit form utifrån en abduktiv ansats föranledd av ett hermeneutiskt perspektiv. Den teoretiska modell som tillämpades i analysen utvecklades via tidigare forskning och användes i syfte att belysa eventuella motsättningar i respondenternas synsätt avseende HR.Vår studie har lett till en slutsats om att HR som funktion inte bör fastställas i specifika termer, utan att vikten ligger i att skapa en för organisationen intern samstämmighet gällande HR’s roll och sedan kommunicera det till organisationens medlemmar. Detta för att främja enhetliga förväntningar kring funktionen och således minimera missriktad kritik. I samtliga företag framträder främst dualistisk HRM, genom vilken både mjuk och hård HRM återfinns. Till skillnad från en stor del av tidigare forskning som bedrivits inom fältet, inriktar sig denna studie på att undersöka HR praktiknära i sitt specifika sammanhang. Således bidrar studien till en djupare förståelse för hur HR-arbetet sker i praktiken givet en viss kontext. / HRM, human resource management, is a profession concerning, as its name indicates, managing the human resources of an organization. Ever since emerging, it has been ambiguous and constantly evolving. Many of the studies conducted in the field has therefore focused on identifying what HR is and what its function should be. Research has focused on finding universal answers, but there are few studies that allow these questions to be answered on the basis of a specific organizational context. Furthermore, there is also a lack of empirical studies in the field of HR. Through this, as well as through the ambiguity and changing background the field of HR is characterized by, we have, in research, identified the HR function as vaguely framed. Based on this, the purpose of the study is to contribute with practice oriented knowledge about how HR work is managed in practice.We have conducted a qualitative study, on which we have applied a comparative design. Based on a theoretical sample, three corporations with an independent HR department were included in the study through semi-structured interviews. In every corporation a HR manager and three department heads were interviewed. The analysis has been shaped by an abductive approach, inspired by a hermeneutic perspective. The theoretical model used in the analysis, was developed on the basis of previous research and served purpose to help emphasize, possibly opposing, differences in the interviewees views, regarding HR.The findings of this study has led to conclusions that HR as a function should not be determined in specific terms. However, the importance is to create an internal consistency regarding the role of HR and then to communicate this throughout the organization. This, in order to promote consistent expectations of the function and thus minimize misguided criticism. In all the corporations, dualistic HRM was the most appearing approach, in which both soft and hard HRM exist. Opposed to the majority of previous presented research of the field, this study focus on exploring HR-practice in its specific context, thus it contributes to a deeper understanding the practice of the field. This paper is written in Swedish.