Human Resources Information Systems (HRIS) for military domain - a conceptual framework

Abstract

Human Resources Information Systems (HRIS) plays an important role for any organisation to effectively manage its human assets. In military domain, HRIS is particularly crucial as the organisation comprises a huge number of personnel who not only possess various skill sets but also are physically scattered at remote locations. Military operations in essence require the selection of right personnel for right tasks during troop deployment in the battlefield. Right selection is very critical as in war there is no second prize for the runner up. As the selection is normally based on the information in HRIS, the system must incorporate the necessary elements of military operations in order to suit the needs and goals of the organisation. This paper discusses the factors that contribute to the success of HRIS implementation for military domain. The factors form a HRIS framework that integrates three important elements in military, namely people, process, product. The framework was proposed based on literature review as well as field study that used interviews and observations techniques as the instruments. The sampling frame consisted of fifteen members of HRIS users from military domain. The data were analysed by using qualitative method. The framework can guide future military HRIS implementation that support armed forces' work processes and needs.