Just a few years ago, computer technology offered a revolutionary change in human resource management. Organizations experimented with computerized skills inventories, pay and benefits administration, and applicant tracking systems. Today, the revolution continues but is undergoing fundamental changes as computer technology and the Internet grow at unprecedented rates. Human resource management is moving away from a mainframe technology to the world of virtual reality, with the Internet at its core.
Although many forces drive this change, one of the most important is the globalization of business. As organizations spread their operations and personnel worldwide, the need for a truly global, integrated human resource information system has reached critical levels. The most obvious answer-virtual human resource management on the World Wide Web.
A 2006 survey of HR decision makers across 325 major organizations in North America indicates that 9 out of 10 firms use the Web for HR-related activities such as benefit enrollment. This is in contrast to survey findings from 1977 which suggested that only 27 percent of surveyed organizations reported using the Web for its HR systems. Over past 10 years, the number of U.S. companies using the Web for its HR system has more than tripled.

Questions

1. How has the emergence of the Internet changed the way that organizations plan and manage their human resource needs?
2. What kinds of future human resource activities might we see developed over the next several years?
3. What are the legal and ethical issues surrounding the use of the Internet by individual employees for human resource activities? Are you concerned about violations of your own privacy because of these kinds of Web applications?
4. What specialized skills will the future HRIS professional need in order to effectively manage an organization’s virtual human resource function?