chapter 3 - case study analysis -...

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CHAPTER 3 - CASE STUDY ANALYSIS

This study has also has focused on finding the pattern of implementation of E-HRM

in select firms using the case study approach. The information on implementation of E-HRM

in both Manufacturing and IT firms have been gathered, selecting one firm in each category

and the data from the case studies has been analyzed using a structured approach. This

chapter outlines the details of the case study method used, profiles of the companies and their

HR and E-HRM practices, results of the case study analysis and a summary of the findings

from this part of the study as well.

3.1 THE CASE STUDY APPROACH As there are many overviews of case study methodology are available as given by Yin

and Leeet.al. rather than general description of case study method, the specific application of

the method used here is given here [114,115]. The five main components of a case study are,

research issue, theoretical propositions, units of analysis, logic linking data to these

theoretical propositions, and the criteria for evaluating these propositions [115]. The first two

had been addressed in the previous chapters. The next component, determining the unit of

analysis should reflect the phenomenon that is to be studied. The danger with case study

research is in the isolation of the phenomenon from its broader context. Since obvious

solutions are not immediately available, it is important to be as explicit as possible while

defining the unit of analysis. The Organization is chosen as our unit of analysis chosen for

our study. The last two components, the logic linking data to the theoretical propositions and

the criteria for evaluating these propositions, are discussed below.

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3.1.1 Case selection

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to the research questions or for testing the theoretical propositions.

The cases for this study were selected based on a number of criteria. For obvious

practical reasons, the companies needed to be located in Chennai our scope of study. An E-

HRM system had to be in-��

of E-HRM (support/full use of HRM by use of web-technologies). In addition, E-HRM had to

have been implemented one to two years ago, so users had gained some experience from

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employed within the organizations. Preferably, the cases should differ in the way of E-HRM

implementation, the type of E-HRM, the reputation of the system, and to some extent in the

organizational characteristics like size and type of product. With the support of HR software

suppliers, approximately 60 potential cases were approached to participate in the study. Out

of these two companies did match the criteria and were willing to be involved in the study.

Also we have selected large companies (> 1000 employees) in order to present and

explore interesting cases. The intent was to explore and, as a result, to make a start with

theoretical generalization (Yin, 1994). We involved the following two large companies (each

with more than 1000 employees in the operating under the Chennai based administrators):

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of years, and in a variety of ways. In fact this suggests the first conclusion: there does not

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different markets, and have various structures and cultures. This selection was done so as to

explore variety of companies in Manufacturing and in IT services.

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3.1.2 Case study technique

In the case study approach, specific technique for collecting the data in our study was

conversational interviews. These interviews are used to describe the variables in the research

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happened from the start of implementation up to the moment of our investigation. The

immediate participant observations were also used as a source of data. The data was analyzed

using a categorization process in line with the indicators for the identified variables for the

responses to the questions in the interviews, the documents, and the observations and the

conclusions were drawn.

3.1.3 Case Studies of the Firms in Manufacturing and IT Sectors Studied In the next section we present the profile of the firms in both IT and Manufacturing sectors

where they had implemented the E-HRM solution for at least three years and are the apt

candidates for the study. These firms were selected based on their past implementation of E-

HRM with a large enough workforce. The material had been gathered using company

documents, online information about the company which was later verified by interaction

with the company officials as well.

The approach taken up here focuses more on the HR practices of these companies since our

interest is in the area of E-HRM and hence how the HR practices are in force on day to day

work. But at the same time we also need to take cognizance of the overall strategic direction

taken up by the company as well since our interest is also to evaluate how usage of the E-

HRM tool enables HR to find more time to align itself to the overall strategy of the firm as

well. Specifically in the two firms studied we found that though not all the HR functions

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available in the E-HRM software used, both the firms had implemented the performance

management module of the software. Hence the comparative analyses have focused on the

difference between these two firms engaged in IT and Manufacturing, in terms of the

performance management aspect of HR.

3.2 CASE STUDY OF TI CYCLES

TI Cycles ��%��n enviable market share

of 30 percent (as of 2012-2013). This company also accounts for 41 percent of the

Murugappa group turnover as the flagship company. ��ision is to be leader

worldwide in cycle and cycling solution by instilling the joy of ownership.

TI cycles of India, is one of the leading bicycle manufacturers in India. The company

started in 1949, has been at the forefront of innovations and is a pioneer in the market of

cycles. �%� �� $�� #&'� ��

Philips cycles. HERCULES the flag ship brand of TI cycles portfolio, this first launched

brand of TI is still as young as over signifying strength and passion.

BSA is another flagship brand of TI cycles. TI cycle is the only bicycle manufacturer

with brand for the comfort end of the market (BSA) and Hercules for the rough and tough

end of the market. This marketing muscle is backed up by a strategic outsourcing policy with

network of 2500 plus dealers this company has nationwide presence. It has 3 fully

functioning plants and 4 Regional offices across the country.

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Organization Structure:

Fig:3.1 Organization Structure of TI Cycles (source: Research Data)

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The Parent - Murugappa Conglomerate: TI cycles is one of the groups of firms of

the Murugappa group of organizations. As a reputed Engineering company in India, it is

driving excellence in work and also as the flagship company of Rs. 6250/- Cr. Murugappa

group. It manufactures precision steel tubes and strips, car door frames, automotive and

industrial chains and bicycles. The company is listed on the National, Mumbai and Chennai

stock exchanges in %�� ()�&�� *��$�� +*��"� ��

product segments are engineering, metal framed products and cycles.

The business has its origins in 1900, when Dewan Bahadur AM Murugappa Chettiar

established a money-lending and banking business in Burma (now Myanmar), which then

spread to Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Indonesia and Vietnam. The Murugappa group is a market

leader in India across a spectrum of products like sanitary ware, fertilizers, abrasives,

automotive chains, car door frames and steel tubes. Many ��$��n brands

like BSA and Hercules in bicycles, Parryware in sanitary ware, Parrys Nutraceuticals, Ball

master and Ajax in abrasives, Gromors, Paramphos in fertilizers have come from the

Murugappa Group. The Murugappa group has 29 companies active in the area of

engineering, abrasive, sanitary ware, Fertilizers, finance, bio-products and plantations.

TI Cycles had a production Turn Over in 2013 of 750 Crores and a profit of 30 Crores

(Financial year ending April 2013). Product Profile of TI cycles has a stable of about 50

products for its domestic markets. Products are exported to countries like Germany,

Denmark, USA, UK and Sri Lanka in their own brand name.

Employees Profile: TI Cycles have a permanent work force of 1208 besides using

contract l�$��, 500 to 700 depending on demand and an average number of trainees at

350. There are n�� force.

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HR Functions: The main functions of Human Resource department are:

� Recruitment

� Training

� Disciplinary action

� Maintain and update ��

� Long term settlement co-ordination

� Shift & attendance record

� Employee grievances

� Safety

� Security

� Company first aid centre ( dispensary) management

� Employee social arrangement

� Leave records maintenances

� Leave records maintenances

� Advise for wages calculation

� Retirement

� Award distribution

� Communication, union, employee council meeting

� conducting safety programs

� Providing uniforms.

Recruitment Policy: Till 1996, the company had been actively recruiting both

from internal & external sources on their own, after that they have not recruited any persons

laterally but believe in getting and training graduates from engineering diploma or degree

institutions. Some of the management staff are filled thorough consultancies. They are yet to

start using the E-HRM tool for recruitment.

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Selection Policy: They employ variety of methods including that of video

conferencing. HR and the concerned department manager are direct stakeholders in the

selection program.

Training & Development: In this company training is conducted by Institute Of

Industry Interaction Centre (IIIC). Both on the Job & off the job training are given by IIIC

based on the work schedule of the company. All types of training, including painting and

welding are provided by IIIC besides management training. There are no standard training

periods. Depending on the need the training can be varying from 2 weeks to a month.

On the job training involves learning by doing. It is considered to be an effective

approach for making employees more competent. The trainee is motivated to learn because

the training takes place in the actual Job situation.

In case of Off The Job Training an in-class environment based training is given,

which might require adjustments to the actual work situation after the training.

Key Result Area Program: This Company ��$��-for-��

��-��'��"�Once every six months, key result areas are

fixed on between management and staffs. For the employees, once a year the

performances are evaluated and the increase in compensation is decided based on same.

But the HR ensures that at least every 4 years employees are promoted on the average by

a rigorous performance management system. The E-HRM system is used in this area.

Social Security Measures: As per legal requirements, all types of labor

legislations are applicable to this industry are taken care of by the HR department. The

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Social security measures include Employee State Insurance, Employee Provident Fund,

Bonus, Gratuity, Employee Loans, Medical Benefits including free medical checkups for

workers and their families, Employee Insurance, Housing rent allowances, Daily Allowance

for some of the jobs, Nigh shift allowance where applicable, Overtime allowances,

Production Incentives, Sick leave wages, Earned leave wages, Paid holidays wages, Lay off

compensation., Maternity benefit as per ESI Act.

Welfare Measures: The objectives are to provide better life and health to the

workers, To make the workers happy and satisfied and To relieve workers from industrial

fatigue and to improve intellectual, cultural and material conditions of living of the workers.

These are in addition to regular wages and other economic benefits available to

workers due to both legal provisions and collective bargaining. Labor welfare schemes are

flexible and ever-changing as new welfare measures are added to the existing ones from time

to time. The measures will provide better physical and mental health to workers promoting

healthy work environment, increase the productivity of organization and promote healthy

industrial relation, thereby maintaining industrial peace. E-HRM tool are yet to incorporate

addition of these welfare measures as part of their offering but will be done soon.

3.3.1 E-HRM Implementation at TI Cycles

There are three goals that TI Cycles wishes to attain with use of HR. Firstly; it is used

to control the performance of employees in a year. Secondly, it allows the organization to

draw conclusions about development possibilities for the workforce and for individual

employees. Lastly, it forms a basis to determine salary increases and bonuses, which fortifies

the effects of HR and is therefore related to the first two goals.

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The HR process of TI Cycles has four phases which are integrated in a yearly HR

activity cycle. The cycle starts with a planning of performance and individual development

goals for the coming year. This is discussed in a conversation between manager (manager)

and employee between October and December and is based on the performance appraisal of

last year, agreements made before and expectations or ambitions for the following year. This

results in a performance plan (usually set by the organization and based on measurable

criteria like turnover or sales) and a personal development plan. During the year, between

January and October, manager and employee evaluate the proceedings in at least one formal

conversation. This is the moment to evaluate whether the employee is on the right track and

whether goals need to be adjusted. The manager facilitates the employee in attaining the

goals. The performance year is finished with the performance appraisal. The manager writes

the performance appraisal with use of a number of inputs: the attainment of quantitative and

measurable goals (like amount of sales or turnover), the feedback of significant others with

whom the employee has worked often (360 degree feedback), the year report written by the

employee about his own performance, development and goals attainment, and the

observations of the manager based on a number of preset criteria. The performance appraisal

is then checked by an appraisal committee, consisting of the top-management of TI Cycles.

This appraisal committee has a verifying (not an appraising) function to check

whether the performance appraisal is recognizable, well-founded and consistent, also in

relation with other performance appraisals. This is done to gain consistency in quality and

foundation between appraisals, to keep the managers sharp, to track the performance and

development of the workforce and to show the organization that TI Cycles is serious about

HR. The verified performance appraisal is then discussed between the manager and the

appraisee and signed by both parties when agreed upon. While the planning phases start over

again, the HR department uses the performance appraisal to assess the consequences for the

employee. A good appraisal can lead to salary increases, bonuses and development

possibilities like training and promotion.

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HR policies: We think that TI Cycles uses both the market as well as the clan HR

policies. The market in which TI Cycles operates is quite fluctuating, with medium to high

turnover, which is a characteristic of context in which a market approach is appropriate.

Indeed, there is a strong focus on maximizing output by using E-HRM to communicate

performance goals (billable hours made by the consultants). Employees have limited

influence on the setting performance goals, but can greatly influence the input of their

performance appraisal, with use of the year report and with feedback of colleagues and

because they have to come to an agreement with the manager about the appraisal. Horizontal

as well as vertical promotions are possible, which is also in line with the market approach.

On the other hand, when it comes to the development part of HR, the policy is more

similar to the clan policy than the market policy. Here, the goals are to increase the

competencies of employees and employees have much influence on this, since they can set

their own development plans. E-HRM goals TI Cycles used a traditional HR system to

support the HR process for a number of years. In this system, feedback of colleagues was sent

by e-mail and discussed orally in an informal way. Performance and development plans,

evaluations and performance appraisals were written in a text editor and sent to the HR

department. The HR department put these documents in a spreadsheet program to generate

management information, to determine rewarding consequences, etcetera. According to the

HR professional and HR director, this process was inefficient and time consuming.

A large number of �%� �� ex-employees are consultants and some saw the

possibilities of E-HRM systems at their clients and thought that an E-HRM system would

help TI Cycles in executing the HR cycle as well. In 2010 the HR department took this

initiative a level further and started to search for an electronic support system for the HR

process. There were three main reasons to do this.

Firstly, E-HRM was thought to increase the efficiency of the HR process, as an

electronic tool was assumed to shorten the administrative processes and the total time to

finish the HR-cycle. Secondly, it was assumed that E-HRM made it possible to better monitor

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and control the performance and development of employees, as the performance and

development history would be clearer. Thirdly, an online system was thought to provide more

and better management information than the traditional system, and this information was to

be used for strategic decisions. In addition, TI Cycles thought that E-HRM would make the

performance appraisals more well-founded and the experiences with E-HRM would help TI

Cycles to advise their own clients in improving HR. Reflecting to the analysis model, the E-

HRM goals of TI Cycles can be summarized as HR efficiency related and control and

change-related goals.

E-HRM type(s): To keep costs low, it was decided that TI Cycles would buy

standard E-HRM software instead of having it custom-built. The most important search

criterion was the flexibility of the system, so it could be adjusted to the existing HR process.

The HR module system of SAP was selected and updated to the situation of TI Cycles by

software supplier TCS.

SAP supports the all aspects of HR requirements. Employees are able to write their

own performance appraisal in the tool (internally called �� .��

colleagues to provide feedback and provide feedback to others in return. The planning and

evaluation phases are not supported yet.

SAP is mainly an operational E-HRM application that supports the reporting and

preparing of performance appraisals, and which is an online dossier about performance

history of employees. In addition, SAP has some features of relational E-HRM: feedback can

be provided and communicated with use of E-HRM instead of conversations. In practice, the

conversations still take place, in which the feedback in SAP is mostly used as extra support.

Hence, parts of the HR process (planning, recruitment, performance appraisal etc.) are fully

supported by operational and somewhat by relational E-HRM while others (planning and

evaluation) are not that well supported by E-HRM.

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The E-HRM implementation conditions: To select an E-HRM system that would fit

in the HR-cycle of TI Cycles, a workgroup was formed that consisted of members of the

internal e-tools department and a number of enthusiastic employees. This group listed the

conditions that the E-HRM system should have, like the functionalities of the system, the

roles of users, etcetera. Based on these conditions, SAP module was selected as it was

thought to be the most flexible and user friendly E-HRM system available. After the system

had been adjusted to the situation and demands of TI Cycles, a group of users were involved

to test the system and evaluate their findings. Team leaders were introduced to the system and

received instructions how to use SAP. Successively, the team leaders instructed their team in

the system. The managing director informed the employees by e-mail about the SAP system

and the importance to use it.

According to the interviewees, this part of the implementation was passed without

problems. The story changed when actual use of SAP started in 2011. According to the HR-

director of TI Cycles, this part of the implementation of SAP was not a classic example of

how an implementation should go. The system had quite some technical bugs that were not

fixed by the software supplier in short time. In addition, SAP did not support the HR process

as well as it should and a large number of employees ��

well.

Usefulness: SAP was thought to have many benefits for users when it was introduced.

For employees it should be an easy-to-use tool to write year reports about goals attainment

and to review performance appraisals of previous years. Team leaders were offered an online

dossier of their team members that made it possible to quickly review the appraisal history of

each member. Top-management should be allowed to check the quality of performance

appraisals more easily. For HR-department the assumed usefulness of SAP was the improved

monitoring of the proceedings of the HR-cycle, the easiness to attain management

information from the system and the possibility to automatically calculate the consequences

for rewards and bonuses.

In short, SAP was thought to be useful, since it should offer easier registration,

monitoring and review of the appraisal process, more and better management information and

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the HR-cycle should be less time-consuming. However, most of these promises were not met.

/SAP offers absolutely no added value for the employees to carry out the requirements. I

��0�as one user put it. The interviewees thought that

the system did not make it quicker or easier to record information with respect to the

performance appraisal, because the same actions had to be taken as before (though only in an

online tool instead of a word processor) and because SAP was not thought to be easy to use.

The same complaints were made about the ease of operations: it takes about the same amount

of time to find the needed data in SAP as with the traditional system. Even more, the data is

not instantly presented as management information, but has to be analyzed in another

computer system, like a spreadsheet, as was the case before SAP was implemented.

Therefore, the same quality of management information is provided with SAP as before. In

addition, the E-HRM system does not provide more information than the previous system

did. The amount of work to generate management information has not changed either, only

the type of work is different: before data had to be collected by manually counting from

performance appraisals; now data is derived from the database and has to be edited before it

can be used in a spreadsheet. Finally, SAP supports only a part of the HR-cycle, being the

appraisal phase and to some extent the collection of 360 degree feedback. At this point it

seems too expensive and too time-consuming to upgrade the system to support the complete

HR-cycle. The interviewees saw this as a problem, since they thought that an E-HRM system

only improves HR when the system supports the complete HR-cycle. To summarize, SAP is

thought to be not valuable for the job of the user, to have no influence on the quickness of

accomplishments of tasks and to have no influence on the productivity of users. According to

the analysis model, the usefulness of SAP is low.

Social influence: The social influence within the organization to use SAP was

perceived to be high. Top management put pressure on users to use it, even though there were

quite some complaints and resistance when people started to use the system. These

complaints considered mostly the uneasiness of use and not the importance of the system,

since the demand for an E-HRM system came from the employees themselves.

Use of the system is mandatory for both managers and employees. Still, it might be

possible for employees not to use the system. In the first year of use there were indeed people

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that made use of the traditional HR system, due to technical problems with the E-HRM

system.

Communications: The goals that TI Cycles wished to attain with the introduction of

SAP and the benefits that might be provided to the users, have been communicated within the

company. There was not something �� -off �� $�� -management did

inform the team leaders about the expectations it had with respect to the E-HRM system. The

team leaders communicated this information to their teams. In addition, the managing

director has sent an e-mail with information about SAP. Still, most of the communications

about the E-HRM system was done informally, as TI Cycles is seen as an organization with

an informal culture and with a structure with few hierarchical lines.

The interviewees were unanimous in their opinion that implementation and use of

SAP had not changed the HR process. As the HR-director put it they had a very good HR

process and there was no need to change this, only to have it supported with an electronic tool

to make the process more efficient and to follow the proceedings of HR conversations better.

The E-HRM system needed to be adapted to HR process and not the other way around.

Therefore, there was no need to pay attention to what effect it would have on the roles of

employees and managers in delivering the performance appraisals, because the roles would

not change with the implementation of SAP. In addition, as the HR process stayed the same

and this process was very clear to the employees, it was thought that no extra

communications or trainings needed to be spent on the way HR is done.

Concluding, the goals that TI Cycles had with the implementation of E-HRM were

clarified by communications and therefore the communications are perceived to have been

high.

Top-management commitment: The initiative for the introduction of E-HRM came

�$��-��$��-director. In return, the rest of the top-management

approved the plans for the implementation of E-HRM and showed its commitment with the

needed resources. Although the management team did not actively promote the system, it was

very much in favor of the system. The supportive attitude and behavior of the HR director by

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pointing to the importance of using the system seems to be a critical factor in the fact that the

system is still widely used in the organization despite of all the technical problems.

Concluding, as top-management supported SAP in both the behavior as the attitude,

the top management commitment is perceived to be high.

User participation: As mentioned before, the initiative for the digitalization of the

appraisal process at TI Cycles came from the employees of the organization. When the top-

management took over the initiative, some employees were still involved in the E-HRM

implementation. A work group of HR-professionals, managers and non-managing employees

investigated what the organization demanded of an E-HRM system and what functionalities it

should have. Based on this information, the work group selected the SAP system. A number

of users also participated in testing the system. Despite this, it was felt that user participation

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experienced what advantages SAP could offer. In addition, one manager thought it would

have been better when the testing phase had been extended to a pilot implementation. A pilot

would have shown the inflexibility and subsequent problems of the system at an earlier stage,

making it possible to change the system or cancel the implementation at all. Nevertheless, the

participation of users in the implementation of SAP may be classified as �� $��

��3� �� $�� ntation process and had quite a

large influence on both the E-HRM system that was selected as well as the way it was

implemented. Therefore, the user participation is thought to have been high.

Usage : As use is mandatory, users need to use the system in order to get their

performance appraised. Therefore, users do use SAP when needed to provide feedback to

colleagues, to write personal year reports and performance appraisals. This is in line with the

intention TI Cycles had with the system: to have the appraisal and feedback process

supported with an E-HRM system. This shows that the system is used for the intended

purpose and within the possibilities E-HRM provides, it is used frequently (i.e. once a year).

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apart from the moments that people have to provide feedback or write personal year reports ,

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employees have never used SAP. Nobody is looking back in the system to see how one was

appraised in the previous years as one manager made clear. Nevertheless, based on the

criteria in the analysis model, usage of SAP can be stated as high.

User satisfaction with the E-HRM system: Overall, the interviewees held a quite

negative opinion about SAP and made it clear that they were not satisfied with the system.

The main cause of this is its inflexibility to support the existing HR process. An E-HRM

system should be adjusted to the HR process of an organization and not the other way around

as the HR-��"�1��

HR process would be changed or extra steps were taken. For example, managers appraise the

performance of employees that have consequences for two kinds of performance related

rewards: salary increases and bonuses. It seemed not possible to integrate both appraisals into

one document and as a result, managers have to use two appraisal forms in the system. Many

people find this inconvenient and print the documents, resulting in extra work and time spent

on the appraisals. As mentioned before, generating management information reports is not

supported in a flexible way either. Spreadsheets have to be used to analyze and graphically

present management data. This shows that the accuracy and relevancy of the management

information that SAP provides is not optimal, for it has to be edited first. For managers and

employees, the information accuracy and relevancy depends on their own input. The

reliability of the system and timeliness of the information is thought to be good, since the

system is always online and information is immediately accessible. Connected to the

perceived inflexibility of SAP, users seem to have little confidence in that the system does

what it needs to do. Based on the criteria in the analyses model and the opinions of the

interviewees, the user satisfaction with SAP is thought to be low.

Conclusions: TI Cycles is thought to use a combination of market and clan HR

policies. The organization implemented SAP to achieve HR efficiency-related and control

and change-related E-HRM goals. The control and change-related E-HRM goals are

understandable since these apply to market policies according to our model. However, we

would expect HR-quality related goals instead of HR-efficiency related goals to be used,

since clan policies are in use as well. TI Cycles implemented an operational type of E-HRM

in line with its HR-efficiency related E-HRM goals, which had also some characteristics of

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relational E-HRM. The relational elements are logic within the HR policy but are not in line

with the E-HRM goals.

3.3 CASE STUDY OF WIPRO

Wipro Enterprises Limited is in the Consulting and System Integration services

industry and the company is headquartered in Bangalore, Karnataka. As of 2014, the

company has 146,000 employees servicing IT requirements of nearly a 1000 corporations

having its presence in 61 countries. The Chennai branch of the company has about 1300

employees spread over 3 premises.

To focus on core IT Business, the parent company Wipro Limited demerged its non-

IT businesses into a separate company named Wipro Enterprises Limited with effect from

2013.

The parent company was incorporated in 1945, in Mumbai by Mohamed Premji as

'Western India Vegetable Products Limited' which was later abbreviated to 'Wipro'. The

company was set up as a manufacturer of vegetable and refined oils. The company logo even

now contains a sunflower to reflect products of the original business. The company is

currently headed by Mr.Azim Premji.

In 1994, Wipro set up the first overseas design centre, Odyssey 21, for undertaking

projects and product developments in advanced technologies for clients overseas. Wipro

Infotech and Wipro Systems were amalgamated with Wipro in same year. With the

acquisition of Wipro Acer in 1999, Wipro became a more profitable, diversified corporation

with new products such as the Wipro SuperGenius personal computers (PCs). The PC

product was the first Indian PC range to obtain US-based National Software Testing

Laboratory (NSTL) certification for the Year 2000 (Y2K) compliance in hardware for all

models.

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Wipro Limited collaborated with a global telecom major KPN (Royal Dutch telecom)

��2��/!��1�� 0�� internet services in India. In

2000 was the year Wipro launched solutions for convergent networks targeted at Internet and

telecom solution providers in the names of Wipro OSS Smart and Wipro WAP Smart. In the

same year, Wipro got listed on New York Stock Exchange.

In 2002, Wipro became the first software technology and services company in India to

be certified for ISO 14001 certification. Besides ISO 9000 certification Wipro was the first

software company to get SEI CMM Level 5 in 2002. A market study revealed that Wipro was

the fastest wealth creator for 5 years (1997,2002). Year 2002 also witnessed the launch of

!��%��4s Centrino mobile processor. It also partnered with Intel for i-

shiksha in 2004. In 2006 Wipro acquired cMango Inc., a US-based technology infrastructure

Consulting firm Enabler, and a Europe based retail solutions provider. In 2012 Wipro made

its 17th acquisition in IT business when it acquired Australian analytics product firm Promax

Applications Group (PAG) for $35 million. Wipro is also the No. 1 employer of H-1B visa

professionals in the United States in 2012.

Wipro is also a value added reseller of desktops, servers, notebooks, storage products,

networking solutions and packaged software for international brands. And has its revenues at

$6.2 billion for the year ended 31 March 2013, getting over 95% of its revenue from repeated

customers. The business model at Wipro Technologies Ltd is an industry aligned customer

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specific solutions.

3.3.1 E-HRM Implementation at WIPRO Chennai

WIPRO appears to use two types of HR policies. Firstly, as the production division

are operating in the technologically stable environment of continuous production of IT

products, efficiency, strict tasks and strict hierarchies are central. Here, HR is used to control

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and manage the performance and development of employees in order to achieve maximum

efficiency, which is in line with the �$�� "� �� this

bureaucratic approach may have become more important, since WIPRO Int. demands more

control of their global workforce and influence on its performance.

Employees have little if any influence neither on their performance goals - since these

are set top-down , nor on the performance appraisal. Secondly, there are the Research &

Development divisions, which are focused on innovating new IT products and improving the

quality of existing products. Here it is thought that HR helps WIPRO in achieving the high

quality standards that are demanded by the IT sector in which the company is operating. With

HR the organization makes sure that employees possess the needed competencies and deliver

the right quality of work by focusing on development, suggesting that ��

applies. Nevertheless, the influence of employees is limited, as opposed to the consensus

based influence which was suggested before. We therefore see the bureaucratic HR policy as

the central HR approach of WIPRO.

Traditionally, managers were free to fill out the way conversations were held, while

employees also had some influence on the conversation. To standardize and make the

administrative processes easier and to monitor the proceedings of communications, WIPRO

decided to automate the HR forms. This started with forms in a word processor, later in a

spreadsheet program, which were all located locally on computers of managers. Soon the

system became too complex due to additional features that were needed to make the system

more complete, integrate it with other systems and to decrease the workload of the users. As a

result of this complexity, user friendliness decreased and conflicts between different versions

of the forms increased, resulting in the unavailability of the system at some moments.

Overall, the spreadsheet-based HR system got a bad image, as well as the IT and HRM

department who were responsible for the system.

To overcome the problems of the spreadsheet-based HR system, the management of

WIPRO decided to redesign the system in 2003. The new system, named WERA (acronym

for WIPRO Employee Relationship Application), was seen as a logical next step in the

implementation of HR. It was based on Internet-technology and had a central database, so it

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would be accessible for all users and make the administrative matters that were related to HR

more efficient. The goals WIPRO had with WERA were similar to that of the spread-sheet

based system, i.e. to standardize and make the administrative processes easier and to monitor

the proceedings of communications.

WIPRO Int. decided in 2004 to develop a new e-HR system. WIPRO Int. started the

implementation of the E-ESS ( short for Electronic Employee Self Service ) system for the

higher management functions and later line-management. WIPRO also introduced E-ESS to

the operational level in 2006. E-ESS should serve the same efficiency goals as WERA, and

additionally offer a tool to standardized HR for all international subsidiaries. This HR

standardization was needed to anchor WIPRO values into performance plans and appraisals,

to get a global view of the results of performance evaluations and to use this information for

strategic decisions with respect to career and succession planning, global development

programs and so on. This shows that in addition to the HR efficiency-related e-HR goal that

was central in the WERA implementation, WIPRO used E-ESS to control performance at the

strategic organizational level.

e-HR types: The WERA system supported most of the basic administrative HR

activities. Managers used WERA for the basic HR activities: writing and founding

performance appraisals and development plans and reporting on the conversations that had

been held with employees. This information was not purposefully used for strategic

decisions, since it was a local (Chennai) e-HR application. WERA has therefore the

characteristics of operational e-HR.

As with the WERA system, managers use E-ESS to prepare and report on the yearly

HR conversation. The difference is that the subordinates may also make use of E-ESS. In

addition, HR professionals at WIPRO use E-ESS to generate management information in

order to compare the performance of !%5�6�� $�� -ready and

mobile workforce as described before. E-ESS is therefore is therefore characterized as both

operational and transformational e-HR.

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The e-HR implementation conditions

The project group responsible for the implementation of the WERA that was

developed at WIPRO was led by an R&D manager and consisted further of an HR

application specialist, the builder of the spreadsheet-based HR system and a salary

administrator.

The implementation of WERA was complicated. The system had a lot of start-up

problems and appeared to be unstable. Delays in the delivery of the WERA system followed,

resulting in a large part of the organization falling back on the old spreadsheet-based system.

The trust in the system largely declined and the whole HR-project got a bad name; WERA

�� $�� t. The attitude towards WERA got more

positive when use increased, but opinions remained to be mixed.

Usefulness : 7��!+�'��2��

saw the usefulness of the system after having explored its possibilities. The skeptics were not

convinced of the value of WERA for their jobs and thought that it took extra time to finish

the yearly HR conversations, since it took extra effort to fill out the online form and the

system sometimes crashed resulting in the loss of data. Other users thought WERA to be a

supportive tool once they had become used to it and used the functionalities to make their

own work more productive and to enhance the efficiency of HR. On the whole, the perceived

usefulness of the WERA system was low to moderate.

Ease of use: Both users and developers perceived WERA to be quite complex, due to

the large amount of functionalities. This was because WIPRO wanted the same

functionalities in WERA as the previous system. At first use, the interaction was thought to

be insufficiently clear, not logical and unintuitive. Users had to use multiple screens, which

were experienced as not logical. It took most users quite some time to learn to operate the

system and to understand how to use it and for that reason some users gave up. No formal

trainings had been provided to the users, since the system should be user friendly so no

training would be needed. Managers were able to follow optional trainings during lunch-

breaks, which were typically only visited by enthusiasts or skeptics. The trainings were not

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seen as important and the thinking was using the system is all about getting used to it as one

manager put it. Another problem was that people forgot their passwords, because use was not

regular. Thus, for the short time, the complexity of WERA made the interaction unclear and

the use difficult. It took most users some time and practice to easily use the system and

understand the interaction, but in the long term ease of use was acceptable. The perceived

ease of use is therefore low to medium.

Social influence: Use of WERA was not mandatory: the system was offered as a tool

that could be helpful for managers, but there was no pressure to send digital appraisal forms

to HR instead of paper-based forms. In addition, managers felt neither pressure from higher

management nor from colleagues to use WERA. Therefore, social influence is thought to

have been low.

Communications: The team that implemented WERA used a number of ways to

communicate the benefits of the system. 8��!%5�6��

information magazine and information sessions to draw attention to the advantages of the

��"� %�� the use of WERA, so no

communication has been focused at this subject. Because the implementation of WERA had

been some years ago, it was difficult to evaluate the perceived effects of communications on

the clarity of benefits for users, as interviewees had difficulties remembering this. In addition,

the line manager that was interviewed was not employed at the moment of introduction and

could for this reason not provide information about the effect of communications. However,

the fact that at the moment of writing user opinions about usefulness are mixed, may indicate

that the communications had at the most a modest effect on the perceived benefits of WERA.

Therefore, we think that benefits clarifying communications have been low to medium.

Top management commitment: Top management of WIPRO was not convinced of

the importance of the WERA system. Some members of the management team were

extremely skeptical towards the system and wanted to break off the implementation. This

non-supportive attitude kept top m�� !+�'� �� of the

organization.

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The effects of the lack of top management commitment also became clear in the way

users were trained. The initiators from the HR-department thought that the introduction of

WERA was more than the technical implementation of a system and wanted to train

employees about the principles of HR, how WERA could contribute to this and how this

would affect the way of working. Top management however thought this was not necessary,

because line managers should already know this information. In addition, there were so many

other projects that had a higher priority. Mandatory trainings were replaced by optional

information sessions, which did not have the intended effect. In addition, use of WERA was

not mandatory and alternatives for the e-HR system still existed. Thus, as top management

showed neither a supportive attitude nor a supportive behavior, top management commitment

for WERA is classified as low.

User participation: Users had hardly been involved in the implementation of WERA.

Its predecessor, the spread-sheet based system, had been developed by a group of employees.

The WERA system was an automated version of the previous system, but developed by a

specialized internal project group. Users were not asked to participate in the development and

implementation process and were all of a sudden confronted with the system, causing quite

some resistance. User participation in the WERA implementation is therefore perceived as

low.

The E-HRM implementation success for WERA: The opinions about the

�� !+�'� ��*�� "� '� the start,

usage was limited to once-a-year and a number of managers still used paper-based forms for

the administration of performance appraisals. User satisfaction was low due to the

implementation problems. At the moment of writing, the WERA system is not actively used

anymore, since E-ESS took this place over. Referring back to the last years of usage, users

reported few problems with the system as people became used to the system. Retrospectively,

WERA is seen as a quite useful support for HR and a good way of keeping an online dossier.

Still, people do remember the problematic start of the WERA system, but the effect on usage

and user satisfaction appeared to have diminished over time.

Usage: WERA was exclusively used by line managers to report on the performance

evaluations of their subordinates. Use was not mandatory and it is thought that the bad image

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�� !%5�6��rt the use of WERA

only slowly. There appeared to be two groups of users, optimists and skeptics. On the one

hand there were the optimists, line-managers that put effort in understanding and taking

advantage of the possibilities of WERA. The optimists used the e-HR system not only to

prepare and report on the yearly HR conversations, but for example also to construct

development plans. Though use may not have been very frequent, it can be stated that these

users were using the WERA system for the intended purpose, namely to write the

performance appraisals in a uniform way.

On the other hand there was a group of users (and non-users) that was labeled as the

skeptics, which consisted mostly of people that had less affinity with computer systems or

had no time to invest in understanding WERA. Unfortunately, little information has been

gathered in the interviews on this group of users and it is therefore difficult to describe their

satisfaction with the WERA tool and HR in detail. In short, the skeptics were criticizing the

system to be difficult to understand, too complex and to have too many screens. A large part

of this group hardly used the system and still used paper-based appraisal forms. Hence usage

of this group was low, as WERA was used neither frequently nor for its intended purpose.

Overall, usage of WERA is indicated as low to medium.

User satisfaction with WERA:The satisfaction with the e-HR system in the group of

positive users was thought to be low. The optimists thought the information provided by

WERA to be accurate and timeliness, since data was put in by the users themselves and was

accessible at any time. However and more importantly for e-HR satisfaction, the system was

not seen as reliable, since some users experienced data loss when using the system and this

had a negative effect on the confidence in the system as well. Relevance of the information

WERA provided was perceived to be medium, because relevant appraisal history was

provided but at the same time not all information needs were thought to be fulfilled. For

example, one manager missed information about the education his subordinates had followed.

In addition, he felt that feedback of employees about managers that was put in the e-HR

system was not used at higher management levels, so he questioned the relevance of

recording this information.

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As expected, the user satisfaction with WERA among the skeptics was low, mostly

due to very low confidence in the system and its low reliability. The overall satisfaction of

users with the WERA system is thought to have been low. User satisfaction with HR

The satisfaction of the optimists with HR supported by WERA is medium. The

quantity or amount of HR conversations between manager and employee was thought to be

little affected by WERA. As one manager put it, /��

electronic system changes the way you act as a manager, �� "0� In

addition, the manager held a similar opinion about the effect of WERA on the quality of

conversations: /�� of HR depends on the formal and informal conversations, not on

the �� 0"�Still, the manager thought that WERA did offer a better foundation for

performance appraisal and performance planning, as it forces one to consider why you give

your subordinate a certain score and to think about the right and SMART goals to be set. /%��

makes the planning and appraisal process ��$��$2��0"�For this reason WERA was

also thought to increase the clarity of expectations to employees, since a clear and formal

foundation was offered. Lastly, as employees had to formally accept the electronic

performance appraisal, the interviewees experienced a higher influence of employees on HR

than with the traditional HR system.

According to the interviewees, the skeptics were not satisfied with the new way of

doing HR and saw no need to have HR supported by an e-HR system. /��

��$�� were not obligatory, some managers stuck to the paper-

$�� 0� as on HR-manager put it. It may for these reasons be concluded that the

satisfaction with HR after the implementation of WERA was low to medium.

Overview of E-ESS: The implementation conditions of E-ESS (electronic

Performance & Development Assessment) is a case of top down approach. The software had

been developed at WIPRO in Bengaluru. A team was formed consisting of different HR

responsibilities of the company. First the project group made an analysis of what should be in

a new appraisal form, taken into account the (legal) requirements of different countries.

Secondly, this analysis resulted in a vision of the ideal situation of HR at WIPRO. This made

clear that there was a strong need to replace the traditional paper-based HR forms with one

uniform electronic HR form. Thirdly, the project group discussed the possibilities to develop

a tool with the IT department. In addition, the possibility to link the new tool to the existing

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ERP system (SAP) was taken into account in these conversations. It was decided not to use a

standard e-HR tool built by SAP, because it was thought that such a system would not be user

friendly. Instead, E-ESS was developed internally, which was based on and connected to the

SAP system. In this way, E-ESS would be a mix between a SAP-solution and a user-friendly

solution.

E-ESS was implemented into WIPRO in phases, starting from top management in

2003 to operational levels in 2006. This brought some advantages as WIPRO could gain

some experience, before implementing it organization-wide. Another advantage is that this

approach created top management commitment to the system, something that was lacking in

the implementation of WERA.

Usefulness: /�� $�� %��

system, the question is whether it is useful and whether I can use it properly. The answers are

��"�)��9�1�:�%�� with that as a manager, I

want to spend as little time as possible on administrative issues that are related to HR

��"0� These remarks of a line manager suggest that he perceives E-ESS to be

valuable in his job and to be making the accomplishments of his HR related tasks quicker.

Although this manager found E-ESS a useful tool, he thought that adding additional

functionalities like support for writing development plans would further increase its

usefulness and would increase his productivity, since the development plans are still time

consuming. Indeed, E-ESS was seen as useful for, since it became possible to see all the

evaluation forms of the subordinates. Still, the conversations between managers and

employees are time consuming, and the ��

form. Another interviewee thought that the implementation of E-ESS was even a step back

for large departments that used WERA actively. For this departments, WERA offered

functionalities that supported more time to fill out the form due to their limited computer

capabilities and technical problems. On the whole, E-ESS is thought to be moderately useful.

Ease of use:Users thought E-ESS to be less complex than WERA and easier to learn

and use. This is mostly because E-ESS has less functionalities than WERA. At first, it took

some users HR more than E-ESS does now, since it is a very simple system. Even more, for

some managers it takes quite some time to understand the clarity and logic of interaction. The

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purpose of some buttons and the steps that had to be taken were not clear, which was updated

later. No training had been given due to lack of time, and although there was a user guide,

few users used this before they started using E-ESS. Users found the system to be easily

accessible via the internet and perceived E-ESS as a reliable tool to support HR.

For higher management, E-ESS was more difficult to use. Firstly, for management

and HR is the difficulty of generating reports for management information. This can only be

done by experts of SAP systems, as it is directly linked to this ERP system. In addition, there

are no direct linkages to other information systems, which increase the difficulty of

generating management information. Secondly, the administration of hierarchical relations

was not up to date in E-ESS, resulting in managers receiving the wrong subordinates in their

E-ESS system. It can be concluded that E-ESS is easier to use than WERA and that based on

the analysis model, E-ESS is moderately easy to use.

Social influence: Use of E-ESS is obligatory. Managers are held responsible for

filling in the E-ESS forms. If an employee does not want to cooperate with the E-ESS, the

form is still put in the dossier with the remark ��"�1��

reports were made of managers that circumvent E-ESS. Apart from the fact that use of E-ESS

is mandatory, users are socially influenced to use E-ESS. Firstly, on the intranet of WIPRO

there is a overview of how many colleagues have completed their E-ESS forms, which may

be seen as horizontal influence from employees to use E-ESS. Secondly, top management

puts pressure on line managers by communicating the importance of filling in the E-ESS.

Lastly, WIPRO puts pressure on all WIPRO subsidiaries to use the system. Reports and

graphs concerning the amount of E-ESS forms completed per country are provided to the

subsidiaries and this information is also used to benchmark the performance of the

subsidiaries. In addition, /�� shame when WIPRO lags behind other subsidiaries

�� !%5�6��"�!�� $�� 0� as the E-ESS project leader put it. The

social pressure on users to use E-ESS is medium to high, since use is mandatory and there is

quite some pressure both horizontally as well as vertically to use the system.

Communications: As E-ESS was implemented top down from the company

headquarters, it was not possible to involve users early on. For this reason, extra attention was

paid to communicating the reasons of the implementation of the E-ESS system. The goals

and use of the tool were first introduced in management meetings for top management.

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During trainings regarding the WIPRO values and HR, line management was introduced into

the system. The operational levels got informed about the system in a large meeting.

In this meeting, first the HR approach of WIPRO and its goals were explained and

how the HR approach could be translated to the individual functions. Next, the rationale of

the implementation of E-ESS was clarified: WIPRO is a global company and E-ESS is a

global system to help the organization to perform better. In addition, it helps people to think

about their career and development. The meetings concluded with an explanation of the

technical functionalities of the tool and how to use it. It appeared to be difficult to explain this

in a meeting, so the practical consequences were discussed in small team meetings. In

addition, the managers played an important role in the communication about E-ESS

implementation. Therefore, the managers received extra support and information. Although

much effort was put into communicating the benefits of E-ESS to users, few interviewees

remembered that these had taken place. Surprisingly, the e-HR benefits that were discussed in

the information meetings were also mentioned in the interviews. This may suggest that the

communications had at least some effect. Although it is difficult to draw sound conclusions

about the extent to which benefits clarifying communications have taken place and had effect,

it is thought that these were medium.

Top management commitment: Before the E-ESS system was developed, the top

management of WIPRO was quite skeptical towards the need to develop an e-HR system and

its advantages. The HR-director acted as an ambassador of E-ESS for the top management

and little by little top management gained a more positive attitude towards the development

and implementation of E-ESS and showed this commitment actively to the employees. In

��!%5�6��+-ESS system to other subsidiaries as well.

!%5�6�� ave a positive attitude towards E-ESS. At

least the attitude towards E-ESS was more positive than towards the WERA system. The fact

that top management was the first to use E-ESS may have contributed to the positive attitude

towards the system. Accordin��!%5�6�� management stressed

the importance of the system. Still, the interviewees could not mention examples of top

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�� supportive behavior towards E-ESS. Top

�� the E-ESS implementation is concluded to be medium,

as in the perceptions of ��!%5�6��

attitude but did not show supportive behavior towards E-ESS.

User participation: As mentioned before, the fact that E-ESS was developed at the

headquarters and imposed on the Chennai WIPRO subsidiary did not make it possible to have

!%5�6�� +-ESS. According to the analysis model,

user participation was therefore low.

The E-HRM implementation success for E-ESS: The usage wise there were no

major problems in the use of E-ESS for the operational job levels. The system was imposed

from the international headquarters and was accepted as such. In addition, users had gained

quite some experience with the WERA system, making the start of E-ESS less difficult. Still,

users saw the ��!+�'��

��" From this discussion it is concluded that usage of E-ESS is medium.

User satisfaction with E-ESS: The users that were interviewed were quite satisfied

with the E-ESS system and were much more positive about E-ESS than the WERA system,

as E-ESS did not face the implementation and technical problems WERA had. It is thought

of as a reliable and simple tool, which is easy to use. People are confident about the system

that it has a good uptime and provides the right information. As with the WERA system, the

accuracy of the information depends on the input. A drawback of this system is that there are

many text field and now predefined answer possibilities, which make it difficult to get a high

consistency between appraisals. Generally, the information that is in the E-ESS system is

relevant for most of the users: managers and their subsidiaries can easily access the

information about previous and current appraisals that they may need and this information is

directly available online. However, for HR professionals it is not so easy to get relevant

information from the E-ESS quickly. To generate the necessary management information

from the tool, one has to export data from the system to a spread sheet program to analyze the

data and generate reports. These expert-users would need extra functionalities of the system

to easily generate management information. Nevertheless, the user satisfaction with E-ESS is

thought to be high.

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User satisfaction with HR: It appeared quite difficult to assess the satisfaction of E-

ESS users with HR, because it had been implemented in a relatively short period after

WERA, so users could not remember the difference between their satisfaction with HR

before and after the E-ESS implementation. At WIPRO one is not clear about the user

satisfaction with HR. Three years ago, a survey amongst E-ESS users at WIPRO Int. showed

very bad results considering the satisfaction with HR. Respondents gave many remarks and

tips of improvement considering E-ESS, which was used to update E-ESS to a newer

version. These improvements may have helped in the user satisfaction with HR, since

opinions at WIPRO were quite modest. Overall, E-ESS was seen as �2��

�� that was similar to its predecessor and �� "�

And /��$��and development is central in HR,

not an e-��0, according to a manager. It was felt that there was no difference in the

influence employees had on the conversations. The quality of the yearly conversations was

only slightly affected by the use of E-ESS, since it forces managers to think about it more

consciously. The number of formal HR conversations remained to be one per year and it was

thought that the amount of informal conversations had changed. However, incidents have

been reported of managers using the E-ESS to replace the face-to-face performance appraisal

with a report in the tool, so no conversation happened at all. Considering this as exceptions,

the number of conversations is thought to have not been changed with the implementation of

E-ESS. What did change in the perceptions of employees was the clarity of expectations

about performance and development that was provided with use of E-ESS, which was

thought to be better than with the WERA.

For some of the enthusiastic users of WERA, using E-ESS was felt as a step back.

/#��+-ESS is only a digital appraisal form, whereas WERA contained a full range of

supportive elements for HR. Though WERA was far more complex than E-ESS, it offered

��0�as a manager put it. One example is that WERA had a functionality that

made it possible to prepare personal development plans in the tool, which was left out in the

E-ESS tool.

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The general opinion with respect to both e-HR systems is that e-HR tools are merely

administrative suppo��"��

capability to communicate and provide feedback; WERA or E-ESS can only assist managers

in the administrative processes. As one HR-professional put it: ��

you ��. The implementation of E-ESS has neither positively nor

�� with HR and therefore HR satisfaction is

concluded as medium.

Conclusions: WIPRO uses HR policies that have similar characteristics as the

bureaucratic policy. With the implementation of WERA, the organization intended to

improve the efficiency of HR. An operational E-HRM system was implemented to achieve

this E-HRM goal, which is in line with the expectations made. Overall, the implementation is

not perceived as successful. This implementation result seems to be consistent with our

expectations when considering the implementation conditions to which attention has been

paid and put this in light with the implementation context. To start with, none of the

implementation conditions were scored as medium or high so changes of implementation

success would be deemed as low. More specifically, since use of WERA was perceived as

difficult, many employees did not use the WERA system. Use was not mandatory and there

was hardly any social influence from managers to use the system.

Top-management was not committed to the WERA system at all and it was thought

that this indifference was passed on to the users. Due to the low usage of WERA, the possible

effects of WERA on HR efficiency were diminished, while this was the main goal of the

implementation. These findings offer some confirmation of our expectation that special

attention should be paid to easiness of use and social influence when implementing

operational E-HRM into a context with bureaucratic HR policies. In addition, it was thought

that top-management commitment is crucial to convince line managers and employees to use

the E-HRM system. The importance of the context when considering E-HRM implementation

conditions may be further confirmed by the implementation of E-ESS. The ease of use was

perceived to be much higher than with the WERA system and users felt considerate social

pressure from local management as well as top management to use E-HRM. In effect,

implementation success was perceived to be much higher and as virtually all employees were

using E-ESS, the company indeed benefited , at least at the international level , from

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efficiency gains as intended. Additionally, WIPRO had control and change related E-HRM

goals with the E-ESS implementation, since the head office wanted to gain control of the

performance and development of its personnel globally and aimed to create a change-ready

and mobile workforce. This goal is not in line with our expectations, since control and

change-related E-HRM goals were expected to be found in market HR policies instead of in

the bureaucratic policies which WIPRO uses.

Nevertheless, in line with the control and change related E-HRM goals, E-ESS indeed

had characteristics of transformational E-HRM. The system contained features to generate

management information on a continuous basis. WIPRO Int. used this information as a basis

for organizational goal setting and to control its workforce. The fact that HR was not just an

operational activity, but one on which strategic decisions depended, became clear in the

analysis of implementation conditions. Social influence and the commitment of top

management towards E-ESS appeared to be higher than with the WERA implementation. A

possible explanation is that the strategic importance of HR might have moved the

��+-ESS to the top-management, since transformational E-HRM became in use.

The increase of importance to top-management may have increased their commitment to E-

HRM. In return, the top management commitment might have affected the influence of line

managers on employees to use the system. As we concluded before, the implementation

success of E-ESS was medium to high and it seems that the social pressure and top-

management commitment may have contributed to this success. It can be concluded from the

WIPRO case that paying little attention to the implementation conditions may decrease the

changes of success of E-HRM implementations, as was shown by the WERA

implementation. Furthermore, changes of implementation success may increase when

specific attention is paid to ease of use, social influence and top management commitment

when operational E-HRM is implemented to improve HR efficiency in organizations with HR

policies of the bureaucratic type. The same implementation conditions seem to be critical

when transformational E-HRM is implemented into a bureaucratic HR policy.

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3.4 RESULTS OF CASE ANALYSIS We had analyzed the interview comments using the categorization technique on the

following parameters, namely the initiation of E-HRM, Types of E-HRM used and Outcome

of E-HRM as below.

3.4.1 Initiation of E-HRM at these companies

Starting to work with E-HRM seems to be connected with the process and

globalization aims of the companies. Both the companies we had selected operated

internationally, and they linked their E-HRM plans with their aim of becoming a global

company rather than an internationally dispersed one. A manager in Wipro stated that the

goal was to establish a common HR information infrastructure across the company. At TI

Cycles the HR manager informed that the company wanted to present itself more and more as

a global player, also internally, and tries to align and make clear procedures, to harmonize

and standardize HR processes, across country borders using, technology as technology offers

more and more possibilities.

These companies chose to standardize and harmonize HR policies and practices as a

precondition for becoming a global company and also to create a sound basis for E-HRM, or

because they saw no other option but to achieve globally standardized and harmonized HR

policies and practices. Also, �� $��;��

centralize HR policy responsibilities, while responsibilities for applying HR responsibilities

were actually decentralized, in the hands of line managers and employees. This last aspect, it

may ��+-HRM, the responsibility for carrying out HR policies is

actually becoming a line responsibility - something that HRM theory has been wanting since

the mid-1980s! On the whole, it is necessary to recognize that a fourth goal should be added

to the ��&��3��

global orientation.

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Further, what we see is that the companies involved have ambitious aims with HR and

in implementing E-HRM. For example, in TI Cycles the HR manager described that all the

processes they have are on-line: performance evaluation, job goals, etc. All the forms are on-

��"� &�� -based forms anymore. The three types of E-HRM goals

that we saw in the literature, namely to improve administration and efficiency, to improve

client orientation and ��$��

the companies involved in this study. But, they all seem to have been selected without any

clear priority or, in other words, the three seem to be almost equally important. Or like one

HR project manager put it that with e-HR we want to improve customer satisfaction, decrease

costs, and improve efficiency. This is strange, as it is questionable whether an improvement

in HR service to employees and line management can coexist with an improved efficiency

(for which read decreasing costs).

Further, one company had a clearly defined HRM strategy on which the E-HRM tools

were based; the other had ideas about where they wanted to go with E-HRM, but the links

between the E-HRM content and the overall HRM strategy were less clear. The return

therefore cannot be seen as quick, it will need several year��/��0��"�In our

view, the cost reduction goal is more of a hope than a short term expectation, and perhaps a

��E-HRM plans to the top management. The complex set of chosen goals in

starting out with E-HRM is also surprising because it goes against the general belief that

clearly defined goals are a very important precondition for successful project management. In

the companies involved in our study it seems to be the case that goals are used pragmatically:

if one is not achieved, then at least one of the others might be.

Below, in Table 3.1, we have placed the companies and the E-HRM goals in a matrix,

and made a judgment about the emphasis placed by the companies on the selected goals

based on the interview outcomes.

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Table 3.1 The level of emphasis on E-HRM goals (source: Research Data)

E-HRM GOALS TI Cycles Wipro To globalize the company (standardize/ harmonize HR policies and processes) Strong Strong

�� orientation Not Emphasized Moderate To improve internal client orientation and service delivery

Moderate Moderate

To improve administrative efficiency/ achieve a cost reduction

Moderate Moderate

3.4.2 E-HRM types

This comparison overview is not intended to classify the E-HRM experiences as

��$��$�� differences between what is available in the technical sense

for employees and management, and how it was being used in practice at the time of our

study. These companies were, and still are, working on further developments and further

improvements, and therefore this overview has somewhat of a transitory value. But, the goal

of Table 5.6 is not so much the labeling of the type of E-HRM in use, but to compare

between the technical state of the E-��7��age-��"� It is clear is that there is a

��$��+-HRM in a technical sense (i.e. the available functionality) and the use and

adoption of it by employees and line managers. The actual usage/ adoption lags behind what

is possible. One response to this observation could be that this is natural: real use always

follows behind technical implementation. %��2��

phenomenon. The key explanation for this, in our view, is that starting with E-HRM does not

mean that users simply have to learn to work with a new version of a familiar system, but

rather that employees and line managers have to be ready, able and willing to pick up

responsibilities that were previously ��"��s a change in mindset!

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Table 3.2: E-HRM available functionality and usage E-HRM technical sense E-HRM in practice TI Cycles Operational/Relational Operational Wipro Transformational Relational

(source: Research Data)

3.4.3 E-HRM outcomes

Reduction of cost and administrative burden are in most cases mentioned as an effect

of E-HRM. But, no exact figures exist regarding the size of these reductions. The obvious is

the reduction in HR staff level, but to give the whole picture we have to calculate the extra

time that is needed by middle-manager and employees to keep up their own HR-

administration. For instance at TI Cycles we saw the development of a new function, namely

an assistant for management and employees to help them with the use of E-HRM. Also there

is a danger of information overkill through the HR intranet. A line manager described the

following observation:/%��work in depth of the system. Even

easy and simple ��$��<=>"�� time

��"0

Unless the system is clear with easy structure employees and line management can be

afraid of spending time web-based HR tools. For example, at Wipro employees and line

managers felt that the HR intranet site contained too much info in a non-easy way. Therefore

they called to the HR call center (ask HR) to get answers to their immediate HR related

questions instead of searching the HR site, even though, the HR call center assistants used the

same source, the HR intranet site, to give the answers! Though Wipro reported a convincing

reduction of costs, the above causes mentioned might have reduced costs. Most important E-

HRM effect, however, seems to be the strategic integration of HRM with the (revised)

company strategy, structure and culture. In all cases E-HRM is mainly seen as an

indispensable instrument to help to realize this integration by on the hand centralizing and

standardizing HR-policies and practices and on the other decentralizing their execution. An

HRM manager put it like this:/The key meaning in E-HRM for us is HR for the employees. It

means re-designing of HR processes , from HR-department to the employees themselves. If

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earlier most of the HR activities were done by the HR department, now employees can and

��"0

The same effect we also see with IT-applications on other fields, like production,

logistics, finance, etc. IT makes it possible to combine centralization and standardization on

the one hand and decentralization in the execution and operations at the other. Against this

background we may expect companies to continue with E-HRM, more or less regardless the

costs. For the employees, the introduction of E-HRM brings changes in the way experience

HRM in a company and in the HR tools and instruments they get offered. They get the

opportunity to be up-dated in the organizational developments, take part in the on-line

discussions, chose their career path. However, not all employees are willing to pick up the

full responsibility for their personal career development through the available web based HR

tools. Some find that their managers have to come up with career development initiatives. At

TI Cycles the philosophy was that through the availability of HR online tools employees

would become the initiators of their own career development. However, employees in the

plants or factory (instead of in those in offices) did not even have access to online HR-tools

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important requisites for the success of E-HRM.

Though E-HRM creates new opportunities for line management and employees, the

organizational practice in usage of these opportunities can be limited because of a lack of

time and the willingness to pick them up. We need to remember however that E-HRM is not

primarily technical, but it is first and foremost a change in the mindsets and behaviors of HR

personnel, line managers, and employees. As an HR manager said: /HR is going to be de-

centralized. To do that , to re-design our HR processes and to ��

�� "0 Only then E-HRM is about facilitating the above through IT. In the

companies studied it seemed to be the case that IT played a very large role: selection of the

right package, ��

attention. The fact that the philosophy underpinning the usefulness of the technology had to

be �� -to-day working routines was, in the first instance,

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forgotten. An example of this occurred in the Wipro case where the line managers and the

employees did not have a clear idea about the reasoning behind the online HR tools that were

being made available. Also, the employees and line managers felt that they hardly had any

time to explore the tools. Hence, the HRM department did a good job by starting ��

��$��" To

make local HRM professionals change their way of working is difficult. When implementing

E-HRM globally it can be difficult to get the support of relatively small components of the

company. Implementing E-HRM on a global scale is not easy to make E-HRM advantageous

on a local scale. That makes it harder to get local HRM professional enthusiastic for it. Wipro

is the best example of this point in our study. Good and clear goals and a good plan how to

achieve them cannot be missed in order to convince users of the usefulness of online HRM.

Table 3.3 : E-HRM outcomes TI Cycles

HR-intranet site (HR online) became global internal brand for HR services. 80% considers HR-online as primary source for HR. High client satisfaction with E-HR service. HR site most visited internal website. ROI in the long term, not in short term.

Wipro Cost reduction (57%), organizational climate change: more flexibility, better balance work/private life. Communication improved. Support risk-taking and innovation. Emphasizing flexibility over bureaucracy. Client-satisfaction strongly improved

(source: Research Data)

3.4.4 Findings and Discussion

Besides the above findings, we observed a number of additional aspects. Firstly, E-

��7��$��3��$�� hands of the

�� "� '�� ?<� �� of HR is now

becoming a task for the line management. Introduction of E-HRM is accompanied by the

decentralization of HR tasks and by the standardization of HR processes. T��$��

global company, HR policies �� $��

gl�$�� present. Differences in cultures and languages between continents

and countries are a hurdle in the acceptance of newly introduced web-based HR facilities. For

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the HR department, introduction of E-��7�� $�� -�� changing

HRM within an organization: from a bureaucratic approach towards a market/clan approach.

Introducing E-HRM will be accompanied by a reduction in HR staff levels, especially in

terms of administrative staff. If well implemented, it provides an opportunity for an HR

department to get a clearer profile and a better image. One HR professional described the

following experience:/The responsibilities were shifted from HR department to the

managers. The HR department changed the role , we became as a consultancy instead of the

police office.. It was a smooth transition. To accept it, the whole system it took time , to get

used to a new situation. In the compensation part [of the HR department] there were 5-6

people [HR staff]. Now , only 2-@��"0

For the employees, the introduction of E-HRM brings changes in the way they

experience HRM in their company and in the HR tools and instruments they get offered. /We

have some statistics after E-HRM introduction: the source of info are 70% from Intranet,

following by the colleagues. While earlier the first source of information was the direct

��"�A�� have the relationships what we had in the past: manager-employee. You

can work at home and still be connected with HR information. It is not needed any more to

come to the office to get information. We support the flexibility and interplay between the

private ��$��"�%��$��"�!��

time, but only outputs. If we support flexible way of working, we have to provide different

ways of communicating. In our case it is Intranet, so people need to use it. Otherwise they are

��"�'�� "0�B'��7��.. Interestingly, in TI

Cycles ��5 ��$��

PC skills of employees was found to be a crucial element in successful switching to E-HRM.

Employees in the plants or factory (unlike those in offices) tended not have access, or at best

only limited access, to online HR tools because of a lack of PCs or because of cost

considerations. Perhaps one can speak of a cyber-division at the organizational level?

Further, a good E-HRM strategy is important. Good and clear goals, with a good plan

to achieve them, has to be in place if one is to convince users of the usefulness of online

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HRM. The �� $�� $�

changed: they have to realize and accept the usefulness of web-based HR tools. They usually

feel that they lack the time and space needed to work quietly and thoughtfully with web-

based HR tools and so, if there is no real need, they will not do it. Though E-HRM is a

movement that will not fade off, so far it seems to be more suited and attractive to large

companies than to small and medium-sized ones.

3.5 SUMMARY E-HRM is an innovation in terms of HRM because of the opportunities it creates to

put employee-management relationships in the hands of the employees and line managers and

also because information technology creates possibilities to design HRM tools and

instruments that would not be possible without this information technology. A very good

example is advanced personal assessment and measurement tools that can be used at any

moment of the day, and in any location. Empowered employees really can begin to steer their

careers with a click of a mouse.

We need to recognize that a fourth goal should be added to the three we distinguished

earlier in the first chapter that is ��$��" The complex set

of chosen goals in starting out with E-HRM goes against the general belief that clearly

defined goals are a very important precondition for successful project management. In the

companies involved in our study it seems to be the case many goals are set so that if one is

not achieved, then at least one of the others might be. Starting with E-HRM does not mean

that users simply have to learn to work with a new version of a familiar system, but rather

that employees and line managers have to be ready, able and willing to pick up

��$�� "� 8�� he system is clear with easy

structure employees and line management can be afraid of spending time web-based HR

tools.

The cost reduction as a goal due to manpower power reduction needs to be re-looked

more carefully since the employees and managers might have to spend comparatively more

time to look up the HR portal to access their services. The incremental cost across the

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organization has to be studied more carefully before setting such a cost reduction goal.

Similarly t��$��5 ��5 ��

management and employees are important requisites for the success of E-HRM. Also the

��$��

into the day-to-day working routines, preferably by the management.

chapter 3 - case study analysis -...

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