Case Study – HRIS Case Study -

Description

Read the SHRM case study Integrating a Human Resource Information System PDF and answer the presented questions to the best of your ability using the case study and information provided for context. You may use information from the lectures and readings to supplement your answers if necessary.What are the major issues presented that affected the time and scope of the projectWhat are the minor problems that affected the integrationWhat to submit: Case study analysis assignments must follow these formatting guidelines: double spacing, 12-point Times New Roman font, one-inch margins, and discipline-appropriate citations (APA format). Page length requirements: 2–4 pages. These case studies will also require that you research information systems technology, understand how to conduct a needs assessment of the organization, select an appropriate HR information system (HRIS), and outline how to integrate the system effectively. Additionally, a large focus of the course is on the analysis, use, and protection of data in an HRIS.

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Strategic HR Management
instructor’s Manual
Integrating a Human Resource
Information System: A Module with Case
By James E. Bartlett, II, Ph.D., and Michelle E. Bartlett, M.S.
Edited by Myrna Gusdorf, MBA, SPHR
Project Team
Author:
James E. Bartlett, II, Ph.D., and Michelle E. Bartlett, M.S.
SHRM project contributors:
Bill Schaefer, SPHR
Nancy A. Woolever, SPHR
External contributor:
Sharon H. Leonard
Editor:
Katya Scanlan, copy editor
Design:
Terry Biddle, graphic designer
© 2008 Society for Human Resource Management. James E. Bartlett, II, Ph.D., and Michelle E. Bartlett, M.S.
Note to HR faculty and instructors: SHRM cases and modules are intended for use in HR classrooms at
universities. Teaching notes are included with each. While our current intent is to make the materials available
without charge, we reserve the right to impose charges should we deem it necessary to support the program. However,
currently, these resources are available free of charge to all. Please duplicate only the number of copies needed,
one for each student in the class.
For more information, please contact:
SHRM Academic Initiatives
1800 Duke Street, Alexandria, VA 22314, USA
Phone: (800) 283-7476 Fax: (703) 535-6432
Web: www.shrm.org/hreducation
08-0882
Integrating a Human Resource
Information System: A Module with Case
table of Contents
Syllabus �� 2
Module Outline�� 5
Notes to the Instructor�� 8
Possible Discussion Board Questions �� 9
HRIS Case Study�� 12
References for Learning Module and Case�� 17
Teaching Notes for Course Module Slides �� 19
© 2008 Society for Human Resource Management. James E. Bartlett, II, Ph.D., and Michelle E. Bartlett, M.S. 1
Syllabus
Integrating a Human Resource Management Information System (HRIS):
A Learning Module and Case Study
INSTRUCTOR
Name
Title
Office
Hours
Phone
E-mail
Instant Messenger
Classroom
OVERVIEW
This module introduces HR students and professionals to human resource
management systems (HRIS) and project management and demonstrates the
integration of these areas.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
At the end of this module, students will be able to:
nn
Describe the historical development of HRIS.
nn
Describe project management concepts as related to an HRIS integration project.
nn
Apply project management techniques to an HRIS integration process.
nn
Understand the business decisions that can be used with HRIS.
nn
Describe global issues such as laws and cultures that affect HRIS.
nn
Refine skills of analysis, synthesis and communication concerning issues and ideas
related to HRIS systems integration and project management.
MODULE DURATION
This module is designed to be taught over four 50-minute classes. It can be adjusted
as needed for classes of a different duration.
2 © 2008 Society for Human Resource Management. James E. Bartlett, II, Ph.D., and Michelle E. Bartlett, M.S.
COURSE EXPECTATIONS
Attendance and participation are essential to a successful learning experience.
You are expected to actively participate in all parts of this course. A classroom is
an environment to discuss and present new and creative ideas. Please extend the
classroom etiquette to our virtual online environment.
All written assignments are expected to be in APA style unless otherwise noted by
the instructor. Papers should be typed, double-spaced, using a 12-point font and
one-inch margins. Make sure to place your last name, the name of the course and
assignment name in the title when you submit your work.
For information on APA style, please see:
Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (5th ed.). (2001).
Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
ACADEMIC INTEGRITY
Place comments here that are appropriate to your institution.
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
All materials in this course are copyrighted, including the course web site, syllabus,
assignments, handouts and examinations. Copying course materials without the
permission of the professor is prohibited.
SUGGESTED READINGS FOR STUDENTS
Ball, K. S. (2001). The use of human resource information systems: A survey.
Personnel Review, 30(6), 677-693.
Bedell, M. D., Floyd, B. D., Nicols, K. M., & Ellis, R. (2007). Enterprise resource
planning software in the human resource classroom. Journal of Management
Education, 31(1), 43-63.
Haines, V.Y., & Petit, A. (1997). Conditions for successful human resource
information systems. Human Resource Management, 36(2), 261-275.
Hendrickson, A. R. (2003). Human resource information systems: Backbone
technology of contemporary human resources. Journal of Labor Research, 24(3),
381-394.
Hosie, P. (1995). Promoting quality in higher education using human resource
information systems. Quality Assurance in Education, 3(1), 30-45.
Lengnick-Hall, M. L., & Moritz, S. (2003). The impact of e-HR on the human
resource management function. Journal of Labor Research, 24(3), 365-379.
© 2008 Society for Human Resource Management. James E. Bartlett, II, Ph.D., and Michelle E. Bartlett, M.S. 3
Luthans, F., Marsnik, P. A., & Luthans, K. W. (1997). A contingency matrix
approach to IHRM. Human Resource Management, 36(2), 183-199.
Mayfield, M., Mayfield, J., & Lunce, S. (2003). Human resource information
systems: A review and model development. Advances in Competitiveness Research,
11(1), 139-151.
Panayotopoulou, L., Vakola, M., & Galanaki, E. (2005). E-HR adoption and the
role of HRM: Evidence from Greece. Personnel Review, 36(2), 277-294.
Ruel, H. J. M., Bondarouk, T. V., & Van der Velde, M. (2007). The contributions
of e-HRM to HRM effectiveness: Results from a quantitative study in a Dutch
ministry. Employee Relations, 29(3), 280-291.
Stroh, L. K., & Caligiuri, P. M. (1998). Strategic human resources: A new source for
competitive advantage in the global arena. The International Journal of Human
Resource Management, 9(1), 1-13.
Strohmeier, S. (2007). Research in e-HRM: Review and implications. Human
Resource Management Review, 17, 19-37.
Tansley, C., Newell, S., & Williams, H. (2001). Effecting HRM-style practices
through an integrated human resource information system: An e-greenfield site?
Personnel Review, 30(3), 351-370.
Tansley, C., & Watson, T. (2000). Strategic exchange in the development of human
resource information systems (HRIS). New Technology, Work and Employment,
15(2), 108-122.
Teo, T. S. H., Lim, G. S., & Fedric, S.A. (2007). The adoption and diffusion of
human resources information systems in Singapore. Asia Pacific Journal of Human
Resources, 45(1), 44-62.
4 © 2008 Society for Human Resource Management. James E. Bartlett, II, Ph.D., and Michelle E. Bartlett, M.S.
Module Outline
Class 1: Introduction to the class and overview of learning objectives.
HRIS – Human Resource Information Systems
1. HRIS defined.
2. History of HRIS.
3. Who uses HRIS? How is it used?
4. Benefits of HRIS.
5. Terminology:
a. HRIS.
b. ERB.
c. SAP.
Class 2: Project Management
1. Project management:
a. Definition.
b. Characteristics.
2. Process of project management:
3. Linear process:
a. Waterfall model.
b. Examples.
4. Cyclical project management process:
a. Preferred for software development.
5. DANS Software development method:
a. Blend of linear and cyclical.
b. DANS process.
6. Project management tools:
a. Charts: Gantt, PERT, Fishbone, Event Chain, Run Chart.
© 2008 Society for Human Resource Management. James E. Bartlett, II, Ph.D., and Michelle E. Bartlett, M.S. 5
7. Project Management Software:
a. Desktop.
b. Web-based.
c. Open source.
Class 3: Managing Projects and HRIS
1. Managing a project.
2. Project team members and tasks:
a. Project sponsor.
b. Organizational management.
c. Project manager.
d. Team members.
3. Communication.
4. Project managers and leadership:
a. Initiation.
b. Project planning.
c. Project execution.
d. Project control.
e. Closure and evaluation.
5. Issues of project management for integrating an HRIS.
Class 4: HRIS Implementation
1. Uses of HRIS:
a. Traditional/administrative.
b. Analytical.
c. HRIS in business decision-making.
2. Application of HRIS in HR functional areas:
a. Strategic management.
b. Workforce planning and employment.
c. HR development.
d. Total rewards.
e. Employee and labor relations.
6 © 2008 Society for Human Resource Management. James E. Bartlett, II, Ph.D., and Michelle E. Bartlett, M.S.
f. Risk management.
3. Legal issues:
a. Employee information.
b. Privacy.
c. Security of data.
4. U.S. laws:
a. Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCR A).
b. Electronic Communications Privacy Act.
c. Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).
d. Sarbanes-Oxley Act.
5. Globalization:
a. European Union Protection Directive.
b. Canadian Privacy Laws.
6. Conflicts in globalization.
7. HR’s role in change management.
Organizations in the Press (OIP) Discussion Board
The discussion board is intended to promote student engagement, peer interaction
and understanding of the materials. There is no prescribed length for postings;
however, the quality of your thoughts is critical. It is expected that students
will monitor and post on the board throughout the week. This is an ongoing,
asynchronous conversation, not a one-time stating of your thoughts. Students
offering substandard or limited responses will be prompted to offer additional
thoughts or risk losing points.
Students will enrich their understanding of organizations by frequently making
connections between principles discussed in class and actual situations in the
working environment. In addition to relating class issues to their own work
situation, students can make connections by noting articles in the press about project
management and HRIS issues.
The instructor will assign one topic to each student, and the student will choose an
article from the press relating to his or her assigned topic. Students should post the
article for the entire class. The post should include a one-paragraph abstract of the
article. In addition to the abstract, three discussion questions should be provided
for class members to respond to generate discussion. Each student will be challenged
to facilitate one online discussion on his or her assigned topic. Each class member
must also participate in the online discussion every week. Consistent and substantial
participation is expected (I expect more than just ‘good job,’ ‘nice post’ or ‘great
© 2008 Society for Human Resource Management. James E. Bartlett, II, Ph.D., and Michelle E. Bartlett, M.S. 7
points’). Discussions in the initial post can include, but are not limited to the
following:
Briefly state the key issues in the article.
What additional information can you add?
What connections can be made to the course information?
What information is missing that would help better describe, explain or predict the
situation?
How can this relate to practice?
HRIS Case Study/Case Analysis
Cases are representations of reality that place the student in the role of a participant
in the situation. Case analysis is a task common to many forms of professional
education in which students are asked to examine life-like situations and suggest
solutions to business dilemmas. Cases may include a problem, a set of events or a
particular situation in which something is clearly wrong. In this HRIS case study,
students are asked to identify the basic problem and support the diagnosis with
material from the case and the course. Many cases have no clearly defined problem.
In the analysis of such cases, the major task is explaining what is occurring and why.
Students should read the case and answer the questions at the end. Answers should
be between five and 10 pages. Papers should by typed, double-spaced, using a
12-point font and one-inch margins. Make sure you place your last name, the
name of the course and assignment name in the title when you submit your work.
Appropriately reference your paper in APA style.
Evaluation
Students will be evaluated on:
Discussion boards.
HRIS case analysis paper.
Involvement (class and online).
note
NOTE
Notes to the Instructor
Please note: A student workbook does not exist for this integrated learning
note
module/case
study. You may create a student workbook by extracting those
items students will need in order to complete the case.
NOTE
Discussion Board Assignment. The discussion board assignment is designed to
be an ongoing activity throughout the course. However, if you prefer not to use an
online discussion board, the same assignment could be adapted to the classroom by
requiring students to provide an article that addresses the same issues that would
be identified on the discussion board. Students would then lead a short in-class
discussion on the article.
8 © 2008 Society for Human Resource Management. James E. Bartlett, II, Ph.D., and Michelle E. Bartlett, M.S.
Some possible topics:
Privacy Issues
1. What are U.S. organizations doing to ensure the security of employee information
in HRIS data bases?
2. Further discussion of U.S. laws regarding the protection of employee data.
3. How do other countries regulate the protection of employee information?
4. Research privacy laws in other countries and discuss what organizations are doing
internationally with regard to protection of employee data.
Project Management
1. Find examples of project management systems used in organizations. Who uses
what and why?
2. What factors would be involved in an organization’s choice of a project
management system?
HRIS
1. Research available HRIS and discuss advantages and disadvantages of the different
systems.
2. How is HRIS different in small organizations from those used in large
organizations?
HRIS Case Study – This assignment is intended to be a written paper. As time
allows, it would be helpful to use the case as a class discussion either before or after
students turn in their written analysis.
Possible Discussion Board Questions
1. What are your perceptions of an HRIS? In your own words, describe why an
organization might want to implement an HRIS.
The answer to this question will vary based on the type of organization and
experiences of the students. Brainstorming is encouraged. This activity will give
the instructor an idea of where the students stand in terms of knowledge and
background.
2. List an HRIS you have heard about and describe the functions it offers.
This question will generate a list of HRIS. Functions might include core
administration, training and recruitment.
© 2008 Society for Human Resource Management. James E. Bartlett, II, Ph.D., and Michelle E. Bartlett, M.S. 9
3. What can an HRIS do for an organization?
Student responses to this question will vary but students should note the ways an
HRIS system would affect HR. Students will most likely address administrative
issues, training and recruitment.
4. List why your organization would want to use or does use an HRIS (if you
have limited work experience, interview HR business professionals to help you).
The answers to this question are integrated in the lecture topics.
5. What is the difference between a stand-alone and an enterprise resource
planning (ERP) system?
6. Provide specific examples of HRIS systems and provide the details (costs,
system requirements and web site resources, etc.). What are the strengths? What
are the weaknesses? Respond to other students’ posts.
The answers to this question will be found from online research and will be based
on the specific systems students find. This could range from SAP to open source
systems.
7. What are the desired skills for a person to have in order to effectively lead the
implementation of an HRIS?
See lecture notes and have students provide information based on their knowledge.
8. As a group, decide which HRIS is a good choice for a large organization and
which one is best for a small organization.
Responses will range from a large system like SAP to a small, open source system.
9. What is the hardest for the HR professional to control: time, cost or scope?
Time might be the hardest because payroll and administrative issues must occur in
a timely manner. Other issues that affect time may include reporting to state and
federal agencies.
10 © 2008 Society for Human Resource Management. James E. Bartlett, II, Ph.D., and Michelle E. Bartlett, M.S.
10. What can the HR professional do to ensure success in time, cost and scope?
Making sure they are involved in the decisions with their IT professionals to
understand the context of decisions.
11. There are many project management tools. This discussion board will
help you explore resources available to support a project manager. Provide an
example of a project management tool and how it could be used. Provide one
software resource and list the strengths and weaknesses.
Answers are available from online research.
12. Create a list of critical risks and contingencies for an HRIS implementation.
As a virtual team or individually, create an outline of how each phase of project
management is affected.
Risks are based on the phases. Each phase may generate different risks; however, you
will notice that they typically relate to time, cost and scope.
© 2008 Society for Human Resource Management. James E. Bartlett, II, Ph.D., and Michelle E. Bartlett, M.S. 11
HRIS Case Study
Learning Objectives
By the end of this case, students will:
nn
Understand how time, cost and scope affect the project management of an HRIS
integration.
nn
Identify potential problems in a global integration of an HRIS.
nn
Identify cultural issues present in a global integration of an HRIS.
nn
nn
nn
Describe why evaluation is important and how it could be done when integrating
an HRIS.
Identify the skills needed by employees when participating in a global HRIS
integration.
Analyze the case and identify lessons learned from the global integration of an
HRIS.
Background
A global energy company incorporated in the United States has approximately
54,000 employees in more than 180 countries. The U.S.-based human resource
information system (HRIS) currently houses approximately 20,000 employee records
and tracks both bi-monthly and bi-weekly payrolls. The system also tracks employees
who are represented by a variety of unions. The U.S.-based HRIS is owned and
operated by the HR functional group but supported by a different HR group
within the information technology (IT) department. The IT support group has
approximately 140 employees and contractors. The HR IT support manager reports
to the IT support manager with a dotted line to the global HR manager.
There are plans to integrate the European division’s HRIS into the U.S.-based
HRIS. The European division’s HRIS houses approximately 1,000 employee
records and one union representing a small percentage of the 1,000 employees. The
European HRIS is owned and supported by the HR group whose manager reports
to the global HR manager.
At the same time of the HRIS integration, a merger has caused changes to the
existing U.S.-based HRIS. In addition, another part of the company is about to
bring in 88 countries into the U.S.-based enterprise resource planning (ERP) system,
including the HR portion. The integrations have different timelines for completion,
and coordination is critical so that changes that affect each of the integrations do not
create problems that affect the current production system.
12 © 2008 Society for Human Resource Management. James E. Bartlett, II, Ph.D., and Michelle E. Bartlett, M.S.
Description of Project Team
The HR department in London owns and supports the European HRIS for the
portion of the company that will be integrated into the U.S. HRIS. Their current
system lacks proper controls and received an unsatisfactory internal audit. It was
determined that the system would require extensive changes and that it would be
more cost effective to replace the system than to make the changes.
The London-based HR office selected an HRIS implementation partner, Limited
Experience, Inc., to facilitate the integration. The firm has no knowledge of the
U.S.-based system and has relatively little experience with integrating part of an
HRIS into an already existing system.
The London-based HR office has provided the project manager for the integration,
Frankie. Frankie has knowledge of the European HRIS but no experience with IT
projects and the current U.S.-based HRIS. Limited Experience, Inc. has provided
a co-project manager, Pat. Pat has never led a project of this size nor does Pat have
knowledge of the U.S. system or how current HR projects would affect their project.
In the end, Frankie and Pat ended up being co-project managers, though Frankie
was more of the lead.
Lyn was also hired by the London office to be the technical team lead. Lyn has no
experience as a technical team lead on an IT project that uses this HRIS software
and does not know the culture of the London-based group or the U.S.-based group.
Lyn comes from an organization where it is acceptable to yell at employees who do
not meet expectations. This is not the culture for the HR organization in either
London or the United States. Lyn also has no experience with the U.S. software or
the U.S. technical team’s processes.
A U.S.-based senior design analyst, Jamie, was added to the team on a consultation
basis. Jamie travels between London and the United States, spending approximately
50 percent of the time in each location. Jamie has led similar projects, is familiar
with other concurrent HR projects and is knowledgeable about the production
support processes. Jamie has no knowledge of the London-based HRIS. Jamie’s
responsibility is to inform the project and HR leadership of any design issues that
may cause concerns with the current production system or the concurrent projects.
The project team consists of people from various HR groups within Europe. None of
these team members have previous HR IT project experience. There are also people
from the project implementation partner company on the team.
Challenges of Integration
For one of the first steps of the project, the team documented the current HR
processes and systems. As the team went through each process, the team member
assigned to that particular area would describe and chart the current processes and
the differences between the European and U.S. processes. After this documentation
was completed, the project team invited subject matter experts (SMEs) to meetings
lasting from half a day to three days to discuss the current processes and the effects
of changing from the European processes to the U.S. processes. The U.S. senior
© 2008 Society for Human Resource Management. James E. Bartlett, II, Ph.D., and Michelle E. Bartlett, M.S. 13
design analyst attended as many of these meetings as possible to ensure that the
project team understood the current processes. However, the design analyst would
often need to ask someone from the U.S. support team to clarify specific details.
Because of the time difference between the London and U.S. teams, this often
involved at least a one-day delay.
When certain processes—such as reporting, payroll and interfaces—were analyzed
or discussed, the senior design analyst encouraged that these areas be reviewed.
These areas were not reviewed in an appropriate manner because the project team
manager (Frankie) and co-manager (Pat) were adamant that these areas didn’t need
to be reviewed at the time. They said that reporting would be reviewed at each of the
various SMEs meetings and that payroll was being outsourced and did not need to
be reviewed at the project-team level.
It was discovered much later in the project that reporting should have been
analyzed earlier; much of the reporting is based on management needs and does not
necessarily need to be created for a particular area. Also, many of the codes that were
used for reporting were not appropriate or consistent. For example, the U.S. Equal
Employment Opportunity report with the designation of African American was not
relevant for European employees. Also, employees on family leave are designated as
“on leave” for U.S. reporting, while European reporting requires they be designated
as “active,” per HR Revenue and Customs (previously called the Inland Revenue
Office).
It was also later discovered that the payroll process should have been analyzed.
Master data was collected in the HRIS, and certain fields had to be sent to an
outsourced company. The data needed to be interfaced back to the financial system
for reporting requirements. In addition, audit and control requirements necessitated
that additional payroll data be interfaced back to the new integrated HRIS. Also, the
confidentiality of the payroll data required that specific encryption software be used.
The outsourced company had never used the encryption software used in the U.S.
system. At the end of the project, the outsourced company realized it had to obtain
the encryption software, train their technical team to use it and design a process that
would meet the U.S. technical team’s standards. This required some project team
members to travel to the United States to work with the U.S. network support team.
As the project team progressed from documenting current processes and the effect
of using U.S. processes, a methodology was created to determine what new coding
would be acceptable for the global integration. If the project team leaders, the senior
design analyst (with agreement from concurrent project team leaders) and the HR
production support manager agreed on the new process, the coding or technical
decision was implemented. If there was no consensus, project team leaders and the
senior design analyst would present options to the global HR manager and the
HR IT support manager. The issues were often technical and complex. The project
team would schedule meetings at times when the senior design analyst was unable
to attend and then present the issue in a way that their preferred outcome would
14 © 2008 Society for Human Resource Management. James E. Bartlett, II, Ph.D., and Michelle E. Bartlett, M.S.
be approved. In many cases, the decisions turned out to be unworkable and were
reversed, causing additional delays.
One of the most difficult decisions during the integration was determining if a
change was a legal requirement. SMEs would often say that the current process was
required by law, but when they were asked to provide the actual law, it turned out
that it was not a legal requirement but a preferred solution by current managers or
employees. Some U.S. processes also thought to be legal requirements turned out
not to be the case.
When the online interface for the HRIS was being designed, various issues arose.
One issue was language. At the start of the project, it was thought that language
would not be an issue because both groups spoke and wrote English. However, the
spelling of many words was different, such as “center” or “centre” and sometimes
different terms were used for the same meaning. It was decided to use U.S. English,
a decision that was not popular with the project team.
Another challenge of the online interface for the HRIS was to decide which data
could be changed online by employees. When a U.S. employee wanted to change an
address, he or she could not change that information online because it may involve
benefits changes. For example, if an employee moved from California to Texas, her
current health care provider may not be available in Texas, requiring the employee
to coordinate the address change with a medical plan choice. In addition, some
address changes needed to allow for a new home address for tax purposes (versus a
work address for a tax location) in the system. For example, if an Atlanta, Georgia,
employee moved to Aiken, South Carolina, so that his home address was in South
Carolina and his work address was in Georgia, this tax combination may not be in
the system, requiring a system change that would need to be created, tested and
moved to production before the address change could be made. In Europe, however,
address changes did not affect benefits or tax data.
As the project team moved to the coding and testing phases of the project, it became
apparent that having only one U.S. representative on the team was not sufficient.
Many decisions required involving multiple members of the current production
support team. After various members met together, one person or a few people
created the changes in the test system and tested the procedure. It would often take
many tries before a successful test. By the end of the project, most of the London
team spent two to four weeks in the United States to resolve issues that couldn’t
be resolved with team members “across the pond.” When the system went live, the
current U.S. production support team sent a team to London to help resolve issues
that arose during the first two weeks of implementation. They had not met the entire
project team or most of the SMEs located in London. During the time they spent
in London, members of the U.S. production support team tried to quickly resolve
production issues from the implementation, worked with new people and adjusted to
the time difference. They also had to coordinate times to meet with their U.S.-based
counterparts. Because of the time difference, these meetings often occurred during
the U.S.-based team’s off hours.
© 2008 Society for Human Resource Management. James E. Bartlett, II, Ph.D., and Michelle E. Bartlett, M.S. 15
What hours support would be available and who would provide what level of support
was a lively discussion. In the first couple of weeks after going live, the U.S. support
teams had representatives in Europe and were able to provide support during their
work day. Once that time had passed, adequate support had to be provided for a
much longer time than had previously been required.
Conclusions
The project was about three months late, over budget, and many items had to be
fixed when the system went live. Despite this, the London-based team had a party
to celebrate their success, which included a dinner at an expensive restaurant and
a limo ride home if necessary. They also received a handsome bonus. The U.S.
team members and the global HR manager were not invited to the celebration or
given bonuses. After the senior design analyst found out about the celebration, a
U.S. celebration (consisting of a lunch) was held and a similar bonus awarded. The
London project managers were invited but were unable to travel at the time. The hot
topic at the celebration lunch was how future project teams should be formed when
other HR areas wanted to integrate their current system.
The length of the answers to the questions should be between 5-10 pages. Please use
the instruction from the syllabus for style and format.
If time allows, have students discuss these questions in small groups prior to the
writing assignment.
Questions
1. What are the major issues presented that affected the time, cost and scope of the
project?
2. What are the minor problems presented that affected the integration?
3. What are the cultural issues that are interwoven in this project that affected HR
or IT?
4. What type of evaluation/closure would help in this project?
5. Who should be involved in future global integration projects? What skills should
team members have and how should they be selected?
6. If you were to create some of your own “lessons learned,” what might they be
and how would they affect future projects?
16 © 2008 Society for Human Resource Management. James E. Bartlett, II, Ph.D., and Michelle E. Bartlett, M.S.
References for Learning
Module and Case
Ambler, S. W. (2008). A manager’s introduction to the rational unified process
(RUP). Retrieved from www.ambysoft.com/onlineWritings.html.
Arnold, J. T. (June 2007). Moving to a New HRIS. HRMagazine, 52, 6, 125-132.
Baars, W. (July 2006). Project Management Handbook: Version 1.1. DANS – Data
Archiving and Networked Services, The Hague, http://www.dans.knaw.nl/en/
dans_publicaties/wb_0/naam_15/C%3A%5CDocuments+and+Settings%5Cjetske
sc%5CWerkplaats_1%5CAttachments%5Chandbook_def_english.pdf.
Ball, K. S. (2001). The use of human resource information systems: a survey.
Personnel Review, 30(6), 677-693.
Bedell, M. D., Floyd, B. D., Nicols, K

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