The Relevance of Organizational Culture to the Implementation of Human Resources Information Systems

Abstract

Human resource information systems are application systems that collect data and produce information about the workforce of an organization to facilitate personnel control, planning, development, and forecasting. In this article we study the linkage between organizational culture and human resource information systems. We describe the implementation history of four human resource information systems, and show bow cultural considerations are relevant to the implementation process. In the discussion that follows we suggest that human resource information systems vary along the 'cultural relevance spectrum'. The higher the cultural relevance, the more risky is the implementation, because of the increased potential for cultural incompati bility between the system being implemented and the culture of the im plementing organization. In conclusion we offer practical advice to organizations contemplating the implementation of human resource infor mation system.