Human resource management professionals: their perspective on successful information systems implementation

Abstract

Information systems (IS) that are poorly planned, developed or implemented can retard individual, group, and organisational effectiveness. IS implementation failure is increasingly recognised as a result of human as opposed to technical factors. Consequently, it is advocated that HRM professionals should have a significant strategic role in IS implementation. However, to date, HRM professionals have been assuming a reactive, passive approach to IS, being involved in the process too late and left to deal with post-implementation issues and associated employee resistance. This situation often results in systems that are under-utilised, produce inadequate benefits, and are ultimately costly and unsuccessful. In defining system success, the IS literature is dominated by management, users and IS professionals' view of successful implementation. This study addressed this problem by obtaining HRM professionals' perspectives in relation to how they define IS implementation success through an exploratory qualitative research design. The results add new insights to the body of knowledge on the IS implementation process and success measures.