European Journal of Social Sciences – Volume 15, Number 1 (2010)

An Analysis of E-Human Resource Management Practices:

A Case Study of State Bank of Pakistan

Junaid Zafar
Adjunct Faculty Member, Institute of Management Sciences
Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan (Pakistan)
E-mail: jonaidzafar@googlemail.com

Muhammad Shaukat
Assistant Professor of Management & Human Resources
Institute of Management Sciences
Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan (Pakistan)
E-mail: shoukatmalik@bzu.edu.pk

Norazuwa Mat
Senior Lecturer, Management Studies (HRM)
College of Business, Universiti Utara Malaysia, Kedah
E-mail: norazuwa@uum.edu.my

Abstract
The knowledge-intensifying process of the economy and the correlated rise of
organizational networks, with their greater dependency on qualified and committed
employees, identify the need for a form of Human Resource Management that meets the
demands and needs of the management and the employees. So in IT based today economy
the need for e-HRM has become imperative to meet the HR challenges of 21st century. E-
Human Resource Management in Pakistan is in its initial stages. There are changes taking
place in the IT landscape of Pakistan. There are lots of hurdles that are to be met with. The
purpose of this paper is to know where Pakistan stands in terms of IT adoption especially
in the HR field and at what level e-HR is being implemented, at its major institutions like
State Bank of Pakistan.
The results of this research showed that as the latest advanced technologies offer the
potential to streamline many organizational functions, so is case with HR. The State Bank
of Pakistan is increasingly utilizing Information Technology (IT) to design and deliver their
HR practices. A lot has been done and much more is yet to be achieved in this regards

Keywords: E-Human resource management, Human Resource Information Management

Introduction
Human resource management (HRM) is the strategic and coherent approach to the management of an
organization's most valued assets - the people working there who individually and collectively
contribute to the achievement of the objectives of the business (Armstrong, 2006). One widely used
scheme to describe the role of HRM, developed by Dave Ulrich, defines 5 fields for the HRM function:
i) Strategic business partner ii) Change Agent iii) Employee champion iv) Company champion v)
Administrative expert.

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Bhatia(2008) also explain the same HR role Figure 1. However, many HR functions these days
struggle to get beyond the roles of administration and employee champion, and are seen rather more
reactive than strategically proactive partners for the top management. In addition, HR organizations
also have the difficulty in proving how their activities and processes add value to the company. In the
recent years HR scholars and HR professionals are focusing to develop HR models that can adds value
(Smit, 2006).
Classic HRM models such as those from Harvard (Beer at al., 1984) and Michigan (Fombrun et
al., 1984) assume that HRM can only be effective if it connected to an organization’s strategy.
Strategic HRM assumes a direct and interactive relationship between the management of employment
relationships and the organizational strategy. Ulrich (1997) tries to show that the e-component adds a
new dimension that ‘rocks the HR boat’. In order words, e-HRM forces ‘traditional’ HR professionals
to re-think and redefine polices and practices and, indeed, their own profession. Limburg et al (1998)
carried out a case study into the application of IT for HR purposes and found only one case in which an
e-component was used for HR purposes and that could really be labeled as e-HRM. The case
concerned Dow chemicals that launched a global HR intranet. This company remains a forerunner in
terms of e-HR. Ruel (2002) has also presented results of a case-study in which research is carried out
in Dutch companies. A quarter of the companies claim that e-HRM has a priority, and more than half at
least a moderate priority (Ruel, 2002). It means only attracting applicants, not using the support of the
back office processes, or the selection itself (Ruel, 2002).

Figure 1: HR-Tree. Bhatia (2008) PP 1-10

STRATEGIC PARTNER
PERSONAL DATA 
MANAGEMENT PERFORMANCE 
ORGANIZATION  MANAGEMENT,  
DESIGN   MANAGING TALENT,  
BUSINESS PARTNER SUCCESSION PLANNING

ADMINISTRATION 
BUSINESS FUNCTION  PORTAL, 
TRACKING APPLICATIONS, 
KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT
ATTENDANCE, 
SALARY, 
COMPENSATION 

Beer et al (1984) speaks about another aspect of HRM i.e. policy choices. According to him the
set of HRM policy choices within an organization can be categorized into one of the three types; 1)
The bureaucratic policy- Bureaucratic policies are especially found in organizations that operate
within a stable environment, both technologically as well as socio-economically. 2) The market
policy- A market policy is often seen in organizations that have to react rapidly to changes in their
environment, for example to strongly fluctuating markets. 3) The clan policy- Finally, the clan policy
can be found in organizations that quite heavily rely on de livering quality and innovation. According
to Snell (1998) HRM departments must be strategy-focused, flexible, efficient, and client oriented; and
all at the same time (Lepak & Snell, 1998; Ruël , 2002).
Human resource information system is much more than a computerized record of employee
information. It is an integral approach to acquiring, storing, analyzing and controlling the flow of

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human resources information throughout an organization. The primary purpose of human resource
information system is to assist both human resource manager and line managers in decisions making
using computers to systematically generated accurate, timely and related information to achieve
organizational strategic business objectives. If Human Resource information system is related to the
organizational strategic business and human resource objectives, it gives more strategic advantages
(Stone, 2002).
E-HRM is the planning, implementation and an application of IT for both networking and
supporting at least two individual or collective actors in their shared performing of HR activities
(Strohmeier, 2007).
Lepak and Snell (1998) make division of e-HRM as followings;
Operational e-HRM:- The first area, operational e-HRM, concerns the basic HR activities in
the administrative area.
Relational e-HRM:- The second area, relational e-HRM, concerns more advanced HRM
activities. The emphasis here is not on administering, but on HR tools
that support basic business processes such as recruiting and the
selection of new personnel, training, performance management and
rewards.
Transformational e-HRM:- Transformational e-HRM, the third area, concerns HRM
activities with a strategic character. Here we are talking about activities
regarding organizational change processes, strategic re-orientation,
strategic competence management, and strategic knowledge
management.
E- Usefulness is defined by Davis et al (1997) as a specific application system that will increase
his or her job performance within an organizational context. In relation to HR planning, e-HR,
particularly through the functions of employee and manager self-service applications, has brought
substantial progress in terms of employee data updates, personnel changes and job requisitions
(Adamson & Zampetti, 2001). Some of the advantages of e-HRM as identified by many researchers are
as follows:
i) e-HRM is online recruitment. It refers to posting vacancies on the corporate web site or on
an online recruitment vendor’s’ website, and allowing applicants to send their resumes
electronically via e-mail (Galanaki, 2002). It also includes the active search of the internet
and the location of resumes. However, there is always the danger of resume overload, as
well as low reputation and effectiveness of various web sites and databases, not to mention
its questionable effectiveness for senior executive positions (Ensher et al., 2002).
ii) E-HRM can also provide managers with information on how to conduct a Performance
Appraisal, the specific criteria and measurements of given positions and roles as well as
examples and models of effective appraisals (Adamson & Zampetti, 2001).
iii) The penetration rate of computer-mediated communication, mainly e-mail, is higher than
75 percent in corporate environments and e-mail has emerged as the communication
medium of choice (Bontis et al., 2003). The e-mail and electronic forms on the intranet of
the company or a restricted web site are used to gather information on training needs
assessment, inducing benefits in terms of less paperwork, lower administration cost,
shorter distribution and response time, and higher response rate (McClelland, 1994)
iv) E-learning can offer a solution to training in remote or disadvantaged locations
(Hirschman, 2001), as well as tailor-made learning that fits the particular needs of the
learner (Mumford, 2003), but it can also create barriers to learning, due to lack of
hardware, fear of technology and learner isolation (Sambrook, 2003).
v) Rampton et al (1997) think that by the use of IT for HRM purposes there will be more time
left for strategic decision-making. Fewer administrative tasks and a decrease in HR related
questions from employees and line management.

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vi) According to Trapp (2000) the HR function in the future will be the prime target for
outsourcing. Consequently organizational resistance to the new changes implied by the use
of the e-HRM application is minimized and customer satisfaction is increased (Lee & Lee,
2007).
The researchers and HR practitioners have developed many methods to make e-HRM
successful in the company. These include;
(i) When a company implements a new e-HRM system, some of the HR processes must be
reengineered in order for the e-HRM system to be more effective i.e., the inevitable
alignment of processes and activities with the new systems requirements (Remus, 2007);
(Bingi et al, 1999). Such reengineering mechanism is applied when transforming HR
manual processes to paperless forms. Reengineering should begin before choosing the
software system to make sure changes are accepted by the stakeholders and the process can
actually be aligned with the new system (Nah et al, 2001). Lee and Lee (2007) insist that
good planning consumes a considerable amount of time prior to implementation.
(ii) Training and education is a critical step in managing change itself, as employees must be
educated about the new system to understand how it changes business processes (Nah et al,
2001). Education is the catalyst that brings the knowledge of the users up to the point
where they can familiarize themselves with the new e-HRM system quickly and
sufficiently (Remus, 2007).
(iii) Managing change within the organization could be a full time job by itself as it requires the
management of people and their expectations, resistance to change confusion redundancies
and errors (Remus, 2007).
(iv) In order for e-HRM implementation to be successful, top managers have to approve and
continuously support the responsible parties during the implementation stage to make sure
no obstacles prevent or delay the progress.
(v) One of the most critical success factors for implanting an e-HR system is the support and
involvement of top managers in the project during its life cycle (Al-Sehali, 2000Also an
executive sponsor should be appointed to coordinate, communicate, and integrate all
aspects of the project between the development team and top management (Remus, 2007).
The executive sponsor should communicate, integrate and approve the shared vision of the
organization and the responsibilities and a structure of the new e-HRM system (Nah et al,
2001)
(vi) Alongside, interdepartmental communication as well as communication with customers
and business partners is a key element in the success of implementing the system (Remus,
2007). Employees should also be informed in advance the scope, objectives in order to
meet their expectations (Nah et al, 2001). Managing the implementing and development of
e-HRM system is a crucial step towards successful results. The scope of the project must
be clearly defined including aspects such as the amount of systems implemented,
involvement of business process reengineering needed (Nah et al, 2001). The project itself
must have clearly defined business and technical objectives and goals corresponding to the
project deliverables (Remus, 2007).
Like world IT is being applied aggressively in all Pakistani organizations. The most recent
systems like Siebel, Fidelity, SAP, Oracles etc. have become the common use now in Pakistani
companies(Shaukat & Zafarullah, 2009). Like other functions in HR too the use of IT is very common.
Keeping in view the increasing importance of e-HRM, companies are adopting it all over the world, so
is case in Pakistan. The SBP is established in 1948. Initially all work was done manually but in 1985
bank management to procure computers to convert its work on IT solutions. At present the bank has
latest IT system and a full fledge IT directorate. The Human Resource Division at the State Bank
manages issues related to the HR i.e personnel planning, transfer, compensation administration,

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recruitment and up to date incorporation of employee record in Oracle database. Following units/areas
of work mainly are included in this division:
(i) Compensation & Benefit Planning Unit is responsible to carry out all activities related to
developing best market strategies regarding compensation and benefits for our employees.
(ii) Employees Database Unit is responsible for maintaining & updating employee data and
HR Broadcast of various messages/ circulars/ orders etc. for prompt communication to
Bank’s employees.
(iii) Service Record & Compliance Unit maintains and updates employees’ personal files,
verify employees’ particulars, and ensure timely confirmation of eligible employees in the
Bank’s service.
(iv) HR Automation Unit focuses on Oracle Human Resource Information System and to solve
the issues in smooth implementation and management of HRIS. HR Automation unit
works for customization of Oracle HRMS with emerging needs of HR processes.

Methodology
A case study method is chosen for this research. A case study has five main components: Research
questions, theoretical propositions, units of analysis, the logic linking data to these theoretical
propositions, and the criteria for evaluating these propositions. By including these five components,
case study is seen as “proper”. This research is done at the HR department of State Bank of Pakistan in
its head office at Karachi. It has a total of 47 employees. Out of these, three were chosen that included
the senior personal from the department. A detailed questionnaire was prepared and distributed among
the respondents. The demographic detail of respondents is given in Table 1.
The researchers have tried to find out the reasons for adoption of e-HR practices and
Identifying critical success factors in e-HR adoption.

Table 1: Study Demographic

Gender Age Level of Education Job Duration Job Category

Male Female Below 29 Above 40 Master Bachelor 10Y or above Below 5y White Color Blue color
100% 0% 33% 66.6% 100% 0% 66.6% 33.3% 100% 0%

Results and Discussions

The unit analysis for this study was the organization. Therefore, researchers looked at the data which
was gathered individually from randomly selected employees through the survey being conducted. An
open-ended questionnaire was developed to gather information about E-HR practices in the
organization. The questionnaire consisted of 14 questions. The response of each department is recorded
separately and then all three responses are compiled together and made one. The question wise details
are given in Table 2.

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Table 2: Response from the Bank

Question 1 -Number of people in the HR department?
Question 2 -HRM strategy?
Question 3 -Main HRM problems?
Question 4 -Major HRM challenges?
Question 5-What e-HR systems do you use?
Questions 6-Areas of e-HR use?
Question 7- Frequency of use?
Question 8 - Reasons for e-HR adoption?
Question 9- What was the adoption process?
Question 10 -What were the employees’ reactions to e-
HR?
Question 11 -Factors enabling acceptance of e-HR?
Question 12 -Satisfaction from e-HR.
Question 13- Effect of e-HR on the role of the HR
department.
Question 14- Major challenges regarding e-HR adoption.
There are a total of 45-50 people in the HR department.
The HRM strategy is to be the “Employer of choice”.
According to the respondents there are many HR problems
like “data satisfaction”, “counting (of) particulars”, and
“verifications”.
One respondent said that the main challenge is employee
engagement while other says that more means for “data
abstraction” are needed.
The systems used are mainly of the Relational e-HRM with
recruitment and talent management.
The systems used are mainly for recruitment, talent
management and the administrative tasks.
Usage of e-HR according to the respondents is on daily
basis.
As said by the respondents, the reasons for e-HRM
adoption are to be more efficient and effective.
Awareness of IT is the prime concern when it comes to
adopting e-HRM in the Bank.
The reaction to the e-HRM linkage according to the
respondents was a blessing in disguise for the employees.
Downtime to process data is a key factor.
The respondents view is that the employees at the State
Bank are well satisfied with the e-HR implementation.
The HRM dept and the Bank are increasingly utilizing IT
for working transactions related to compensation,
recruitment, selection etc.
One of the challenges is to make IT easily accessible to
employees.

We can say that the State Bank is emphasizing on the employees and developing their potential
to the fullest. It wants to be recognized as the No.1 choice for people looking for employment. The
main area where HR problems seem to be coming is the administrative side. The company needs team
work on its ranks with decision making done all across the board; while at the same time more IT
systems should placed for integrating the data. The Bank needs to move its HR dept. to
Transformational e-HRM with more emphasis on strategy making and freeing time from administrative
chores. The company has an elaborate e-Recruitment infrastructure considering the size of the
company. Thousands of CV’s are received each time it wants to hire employees. The systems have
become part and parcel of the Bank and it would be impossible to go about business without them.
This is no surprise as companies who are in a global are actually getting better through streamlining
their processes so as to make them in line with the strategy, goals of the organization.
The researchers found that the employees of the Bank had to be taught how to transform data
(raw) into a meaningful lot. To analyze complex data structures and then make decision on a routine to
make it aligned with the company polices. The speed at which the employees could now process data
i.e. compensation, recruitment etc has come down. The Bank takes administrative tasks dearly
especially when it comes to data verifications. It is increasingly using relational e-HRM for recruitment
and talent management.

Conclusion & Recommendations

Based upon the literature review and our detail study of SBP, we can say that IT use in Pakistan is as
par with the world. All the organizations in Pakistan are using the latest IT hardware and software
systems. The dependence of organizations on IT based systems is increasing so is case with e-HRM

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function. The HRM department is having a strategic position in any organization and through e-HRM,
the companies are getting many strategic benefits.
The research showed that as the latest advanced technologies offer the potential to streamline
many HR functions, the SBP too, is increasingly utilizing information technology to design and deliver
their HR practices to have a greater opportunity for HR professionals to become a strategic partner i.e.
moving beyond administrative expertise and becoming an expert in areas such as strategic business
partnership, change management, and employee advocacy.
The significance of IT has grown considerably in the last years in all the fields and IT has been
identified as an impetus of HR’s transition to becoming a strategic business partner. HR executives at
the State Bank are looking to technology and the information it provides to help them drive decisions
that will lead to success of the organization as a whole. Based upon our findings we recommend that
for e-HRM implementation, the SBP and other organization must do followings: 1) A plan must be
agreed upon by the project manager or the responsible parties to follow during the project life cycle. ii)
Education and training be imparted to the uses to make them familiarizes themselves with the new e-
HRM system quickly and sufficiently. iii) The organization should realize the impact of this new
change on employees, managers, and HR staff and understand its dimensions in order to manage the
effects with a corporate strategy that is open to change. iv) Interdepartmental communication as well as
communication with customers and business partners is improved.

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