Technology and administrative human resource - More HR functions are becoming available electronically or are being done using Web-based technology. Technology has changed most HR activities, from employment applications and employee benefits enrollments to e-learning. There will always be a record-keeping responsibility. It can, however, be done electronically or outsourced.
Outsourcing administrative human resource - Some HR administrative functions can be outsourced to vendors. This outsourcing of HR administrative activities has grown dramatically in HR areas such as employee assistance (counseling), retirement planning, benefits administration, payroll services, and outplacement services. The primary reasons why HR functions are outsourced are to save money on HR staffing, and to take advantage of specialized vendor expertise and technology. These activities are being outsourced to firms both in the United States and worldwide.
PTS: 1 DIF: Moderate OBJ: LO: 01-03 NAT: BUSPROG: Analytic
TOP: Roles for Human Resource Departments KEY: Bloom's: Knowledge
6. Describe the common challenges for global human resource.
ANS:
While countries do not all conduct human resource (HR) the same way, there is commonality in how successful companies handle global HR. Those successful approaches include increasing productivity, cutting costs, and investing in local talent while increasing retention rates. Although individual companies do not all necessarily respond to all HR challenges exactly the same way, research suggests that all must face and overcome a common set of difficulties when an organization has a global presence. The areas of difficulties are as follows:
(1) Strategy: Companies feel they do not communicate their strategy clearly to all markets and so find it difficult to be locally flexible as they expand.
(2) People: Executives feel their companies are not good at transferring lessons from one country to another and are not sufficiently effective at recruiting, retaining, training, and developing people in all geographic locations.
(3) Complexity: Complexity arises as standardization of processes clashes with local needs, and sharing the cost of distant centers increases the expense of local operations.
(4) Risk: Emerging market opportunities expose companies to unfamiliar risks that may be difficult to analyze, which results in sometimes rejecting approaches they perhaps should have done.
PTS: 1 DIF: Moderate OBJ: LO: 01-04 NAT: BUSPROG: Analytic
TOP: Human Resources Management Challenges KEY: Bloom's: Comprehension
7. What are the two major purposes of human resource technology in organizations?
ANS:
The rapid expansion of human resource (HR) technology serves two major purposes in organizations. One relates to administrative and operational efficiency and the other to effectiveness. The first purpose is to improve the efficiency with which data on employees and HR activities are compiled. The most basic example is the automation of payroll and benefits activities. Another common use of technology is tracking equal employment opportunity/affirmative action activities. Beyond those basic applications, the use of Web-based information systems has allowed the HR unit in organizations to become more administratively efficient and to communicate more quickly to employees.
The second purpose of the use of HR technology is related to strategic HR planning. Having accessible data enables HR planning and managerial decision making to be based to a greater degree on information rather than relying on managerial perceptions and intuition, thus making organizational management more effective.
PTS: 1 DIF: Moderate OBJ: LO: 01-04 NAT: BUSPROG: Analytic