| An information system (IS) avoids isolation among | | | | of record keeping and pay administration, rather than a |
| organizational units, provides a mechanism to | | | | forecasting, analytical and decision support system. |
| exchange information and ideas across organizational | | | | Reason for this low level usage of HRIS has stem |
| boundaries allowing the opportunity of taking multiple | | | | from various reasons such as organizational size, |
| perspectives into consideration during decision making | | | | culture, strategy, power and politics, and IT skills |
| and provides coherence and direction to the whole | | | | However, a fully utilized HRIS can result in managing |
| organization. An IS allows searching for shared | | | | human resources, especially for training and |
| information and then similar to any raw material, | | | | developmental purposes, planning, controlling, monitoring |
| information can be processed or refined according to | | | | personnel and skill inventory. |
| a certain plan or program and under certain conditions | | | | HRIS is used to acquire, store, manipulate, analyze, |
| to generate new information. Information is capable of | | | | retrieve, and distribute relevant information regarding an |
| paying back much more than what has been initially | | | | organization's human resources. Users, managers, and |
| paid to obtain it. The reusable nature of information | | | | employees who are unaware of the value-added |
| signifies another important attribute associated with | | | | potential of the HRIS system fail in development and |
| information system is the sharing of information over a | | | | implementation of HRIS and thus educating the users is |
| course of time without any reduction in its value and | | | | critical. A question arises here that with so much focus |
| effectiveness. The most valuable capability of an | | | | on having a technological-based HR system in an |
| information system is it enables information to be | | | | organization and the need for educating employees |
| available from multiple sources which leads to | | | | about it, does that justify the need by providing any |
| generation of knowledge. Added value as a result of | | | | significant output or in other words value to the |
| information sharing takes place when a specific | | | | organization and its users? One answer to that can be |
| investment, like the purchase of a database, an | | | | found in the reduction of workload of the HR |
| electronic journal or book, is made; then what is | | | | professionals from many routine paper handling tasks, |
| purchased is downloaded into a system and made | | | | thus relieving them to participate more in strategic |
| available to tens or even hundreds of end users. Until | | | | decision making. Providing access to information via |
| recently IS was only limited to sending emails, | | | | hierarchical structuring and networks is one of the |
| announcement, news letter, etc. and the concept of | | | | most distinct ways of adding to the value of |
| integrating IS in other disciplines of business operation | | | | information. Due to the nature of information systems, |
| was considered as unrealistic or unnecessary. | | | | information can be used and reused, i.e. its reusable |
| During the 1980's a key issue in the management | | | | unlike other assets in an organization. Another |
| information systems was the growing sophistication of | | | | distinctive feature of information system is that there is |
| specialized information systems within the traditional | | | | no extent to which shared information can be used as |
| functional areas of the organization. Human Resource | | | | compared to the investment made into it. In today's |
| Information System (HRIS) is one such system, which | | | | world, HR function needs to shift its focus from being |
| recently has become critical for the operations of | | | | more administrative and transactional towards using |
| personnel departments of large companies. During | | | | information technology to harness the development of |
| 1986, most organizations were using HRIS for | | | | personnel and improve their performance. |
| personnel function, to ease the administrative workload | | | | |