Human resources are usually the most expensive resource in any organization. They thus need careful management. The aim of human resources management (HRM) is to Ensure that a firm has the right number of people with the required knowledge, skills, abilities and competencies, in the right place, at the right time, at an affordable cost and who are motivated and committed to achieving the current and strategic need of a firm. (Macky & Johnson, 2000, p. 3) Information communication technologies (ICT) have changed the way organizations conduct their business. The use of ICT in HRM is often referred to as e-HRM, Web-based HR, or virtual HR, which Lepak and Snell (1998) define as “a network-based structure built on partnership and typically mediated by information technology to help organizations acquire, develop and deploy intellectual capital” (p. 216). ICT has made e-HRM applications not only possible, but also economically viable (Watson Wyatt, 2002). However, the adoption of e-HRM in New Zealand does not appear to have progressed as speedily as the adoption of technology in many other functional areas of the organization. Although most organizations utilized basic ICT applications such as e-mail and the Internet in the HR department, the majority do not appear to have moved far enough into actual e-HRM development, such as e-recruitment and e-benefits (Watson Wyatt, 2002).
Strategic management of human resources with the application of information-communication technologies
