PERSPECTIVES

Book review

The e-HR advantage: The complete handbook for technology-based human resources,by Deborah D. Waddill and Michael J. Marquardt, Boston, London, NicholasBrealey Publishing, 2011, 306 pp., $49.95 (paperback), ISBN 978-1904838340 (alsoavailable in Kindle format)

Technology has long been acknowledged as one of the core HRD research andpractice areas and will likely become more so in the future. Although three issues ofAdvances in Developing Human Resources (ADHR, one of four key HRD journalsthat is theme-based and sponsored by the Academy of Human ResourceDevelopment) have tackled the prominent role of technology in HRD, focusingon information technology, knowledge management, and virtual HRD (see ADHR4(4), 11(3), and 12(6) for each topic), few sources have attempted to engage HRprofessionals in integrating technologies for learning, administrative work, andsocial interactions. This cornerstone book, if supplemented by how-to materials, canradically change how HR professionals in organizations and academia applytechnology to their work and life.

Overview of the book

This book consists of 18 chapters organized into five sections: (1) Introduction, (2)Learning Systems, (3) Technologies for Managing Human Resources, (4) Commu-nication Technologies, and (5) Knowledge Management. At the very beginning,Waddill and Marquardt define technology as any innovation humans havedeveloped for problem solving. In section one, they review how major technologies,such as printing, computers, and the Internet, have profoundly shaped both the fieldof business and society. They also discuss how powerful new technologies willfurther change HR roles and opportunities. Although the division of the materialinto five sections seems to be based on different functional areas of HR work, thehidden logic is very compelling – namely, HR professionals must be knowledgeablenot only in traditional and more familiar domains of e-Learning (section two) andHuman Resource Information System (HRIS, section three), but also in areas ofgroupware and social media, which are essential for virtual communication andcollaboration (section four). Each of these domains of technologies has been led bydifferent work groups before, such as e-Learning by HRD, employment manage-ment by HRM, and business and intranet applications by IT. This informativebook maintains a good balance of breadth and depth by reviewing numerous

Human Resource Development International

Vol. 15, No. 2, April 2012, 259–263

ISSN 1367-8868 print/ISSN 1469-8374 online

http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13678868.2012.664694

http://www.tandfonline.com

work-affecting technologies for learning, information, and interaction in about 300pages. The authors also present many useful frameworks for analysing surroundingorganizational and environmental factors that critically affect the success or failureof technology-based solutions. Other helpful features of the book include eachchapter’s ‘Tips and Tools’ (for technology examples, advice, and resources) and‘Case Study’ boxes (for real-life selection/implementation/evaluation examples frommany contributors) as well as the ‘Digging Deeper’ section at the end of the book(for studying beyond the text).

Section one has two chapters. In chapter one, ‘Technology and Its Impact onHR,’ Waddill and Marquadt forcefully argue that HR’s core responsibilities cannotbe effectively performed without high-tech tools in modern organizations; those whoresist technology or take a passive stance will only fall behind. In chapter two,‘Technology in Workplaces around the World,’ the authors emphasize thatorganizational readiness, culture, and regulatory and legal issues must be examinedby HR professionals before new technologies are introduced because they greatlyaffect the adoption and use of technology. The size and location of an organization isbecoming less relevant as organizations today should tap into the best tangible andintangible resources of the world.

Section two focuses on workplace learning technologies with three chapters:‘Technologies that Enable Learning’ (chapter three), ‘e-Learning Selection/Design/Implementation’ (chapter four), and ‘Leaders and Mobile Learning’ (chapter five).Chapter three overviews major tools available for workplace learning (e.g. Learning[Content] Management Systems, simulations, virtual worlds and learning objects)and discusses each tool’s affordances for effective learning. This chapter also presentshow HR professionals should and can perform cost and benefit analyses andincorporate industry standards, copyright, and content reusability into e-learningdevelopment. Chapter four discusses two additional factors: applying proven adultlearning principles and balancing between in-house and vendor solutions (a veryuseful template is also provided to guide the selection and evaluation of vendors).Chapter five aptly captures the exploding use of mobile devices (web-enabled cellularphones, digital readers and tablet computers) and reviews their promises (easieraccess to information and business or personnel data) and challenges (accessibility,security and development/implementation costs). It also talks about how alternativetechnologies (CD-ROM/DVD) are still important for different regions and sectors ofthe workforce that do not have access to the Internet.

Section three focuses on using technologies for managing human resources andincludes five chapters: ‘The HR Portal’ (chapter six), ‘Human Resource InformationSystem’ (HRIS) ‘Selection and Implementation’ (chapter seven), ‘e-Recruiting’(chapter eight), ‘HR Functions via HRIS and Specialty Software’ (e.g. employee self-service, time-tracking, online assessment and performance management systems;chapter nine), and ‘Electronic Performance Support System’ (EPSS; chapter ten). Inthe instructional technology literature, EPSS and Knowledge Management (KM) areoften compared and contrasted with learning technologies to focus more on utilizingcontextual information and knowledge over formal learning; thus, the authors’inclusion of EPSS under the HRM technologies and placement of KM as a separatesection may seem strange. However, the core of EPSS is to provide the rightinformation to the right user at the right time, and all introduced technologies (HRportal, HRIS, and HR specialty software) have the exact same goal. Core elementsof success are the effective organization of information, easy-to-use interface,

260 Book review

personalization, powerful search features, the push and pull of subscriptions, socialcommunications and message-effective media. Waddill and Marquardt state that, inthese tool environments, HR professionals must actively identify organizational needsby surveying and interviewing people, mapping work processes and resources with the‘right’ people, capturing and sharing usage feedback, and evaluating the ROI of thetechnology. In chapter eight, the authors review two important trends for HRprofessionals to be aware of: an increase in outsourcing recruiting functions and theemergence of new sourcing services (e.g. service-oriented architecture and cloudcomputing). Handling employment and performance records makes the organizationaccountable for compliance; thus, chapter nine reviews exemplary corporate and ITgovernance and numerous (mostly US-based) HR-affecting legal and regulatory rules.

Section four focuses on communication technologies and has four chapters:‘Groupware for Collaboration’ (chapter eleven), ‘Social Networks and Organiza-tions’ (chapter twelve), ‘Technology-Enable Evaluation and Feedback’ (chapterthirteen), and ‘Social Media’ (chapter fourteen). Chapter thirteen might actually fitbetter in section five because the tools and data collection methods introduced in thischapter can be applied to evaluating all technology systems in sections two, three andfour. The use of groupware and teleconferencing tools has been growing forapparent reasons, such as saving costs, particularly in travel and lost workopportunity, leveraging distributed cognition, and lowering costs of software,hardware and network. Numerous features (e.g. instant messaging, chatting, pollingcapabilities, hotlinks for virtual tours, whiteboards, application sharing andenhanced visual presentations) have been added to make group communicationsand collaborations more media rich and interactive. Technologies presented underthe titles of social networks (chapter twelve) and social media (chapter fourteen) firstappeared as non-business applications, and their rapid and widespread adoptionpresents both negative and positive ramifications for organizations. In chaptertwelve, Waddill and Marquardt review various types of social networks (informa-tional, relational, professional, educational, academic and news related) and boldlyclaim that an organization’s use of social networks will become the very businessnetwork in the future because networks define how the organization relates toemployees, suppliers, the clients and the world. The authors explain that social mediapresented in chapter fourteen (blogging, photo/video sharing, podcast/vodcast, RSS[Really Simple Syndication], microblogging, wiki and widgets) refer more to tools forcommunication and collaboration; they further mention that the distinction betweencommunication technologies and social networks is becoming increasingly blurred.Both social networks and social media present great opportunities for organizationsto manage knowledge and people, but challenges will continue. Laws and regulationshave not caught up with such changes (again, exemplary US-based ones areintroduced in chapter fourteen); given the speed of technological innovations, thispattern will persist. To balance the power and threat of social networks and socialmedia, the authors recommend making the utmost efforts to build trust and createpolicies proactively and collaboratively.

Section five, Knowledge Management, includes four chapters: ‘OrganizationalLearning’ (chapter fifteen), ‘Managing Knowledge’ (chapter sixteen), ‘HR andTechnology: HR as Strategic Partner’ (chapter seventeen), and ‘Future Trends forTechnology and HR’ (chapter eighteen). Together, these chapters highlight HR’simportance in creating and enhancing organizations’ knowledge assets. No specifictechnologies or systems are introduced here. In fact, KM can and should selectively

Human Resource Development International 261

and purposefully use technologies reviewed in preceding chapters. Waddill andMarquardt present two frameworks: organizational learning and Nonaka andcolleagues’ organizational knowledge creation as guides for aligning organizationallearning, knowledge, and technology. In chapter seventeen, the authors emphasizethat, to make substantive contributions, HR professionals must understand financialmetrics, constantly communicate with business units, improve business processes,foster relationships, develop workforce, actively manage intangibles (e.g. socialresponsibility and business integrity) and consistently engage in professionaldevelopment. Their final premise of technology as a powerful HR and organizationaltool to be leveraged to the advantage of the organization and its employees, as wellas a call to become an active participant, is a logical ending.

The book has two primary strengths. First, it reviews many major technologiesthat affect HR professionals’ work and organizes them into manageable chunks oftechnologies for learning, common HR administrative functions, and virtualcommunication/collaboration. Second, it emphasizes the analysis of surroundingfactors that significantly impact any technology systems – namely, organizationalculture and environments, laws and regulations, technology standards andreusability, and cost and benefit analyses. Many technology books exist for HRprofessionals to consume, but few books synthesize domains of instructional,information and Internet technologies into one concise book. For those who plan touse this book for academic courses or to lead technology projects, I would like tomake four suggestions in hopes of making this valuable book even more helpful: (1)conceptualize e-learning beyond formal learning (a perspective taken by this book),(2) adopt co-creation views rather than static frameworks for various analyses, (3)learn Structured Query Language (SQL), and (4) acquire hands-on experiences bycompleting online tutorials for those many technologies introduced in the book.Marc Rosenberg’s view of e-Learning as the combination of online training,performance support, and knowledge management (consisting of informationrepositories, communities and networks, and experts and expertise) offers anotheruseful framework for integrating technologies of learning, information, knowledgeand interactions. The 4C/ID instructional design model by van Merrienboer isanother useful framework for designing the sequence and integration of informationand instruction/learning for complex skills. To adopt co-creating views, HRprofessionals may not have enough time or budget to conduct the various analysessuggested by Waddill and Marquardt; co-creation approaches (as well as HumanPerformance Technology frameworks, such as Allison Rossett’s performanceanalysis model) to system designing highlight the importance of evolving systemfeatures based on ongoing collaborative analyses of user needs, system feedback, andenvironmental changes. Business analytics is another useful concept that has its ownliterature, which can further complement suggestions made for analyses andevaluation presented in this book. Regarding SQL, it is a very simple language thatcomprises the core of many technologies presented in multiple chapters, such asHRIS, data mining, online assessment, and HR portals. SQL can be learned inseveral hours and can enable HR professionals to create meaningful queries andstored procedures; HR professionals’ knowledge in SQL will be invaluable ingenerating or brainstorming financial and performance metrics and organizationalknowledge assets (by examining how relations can be formed among people,information and resources). Ben Forta’s database- or SQL-related books nicelycomplement the e-HR Advantage book, particularly section three. Finally, another

262 Book review

reason for the growth of social media and many technologies reviewed in this book isthe ease of use. Waddill and Marquardt properly point out that without providingtraining and support new technologies will fail; thus, as designers, instructors orfacilitators of new technologies, HR professionals must be competent in the varioustechnologies to be implemented. The great news is that short, media-rich, and easy-to-follow tutorials abound on the Internet.

Implications for human resource development

As Waddill and Marquardt convincingly argue throughout the book, HRprofessionals who utilize major work-affecting technologies actively and collabora-tively to the advantage of the organization and the employees are in an advantagedposition to make positive contributions to the organization. Powerful technologiesreviewed in this book show that technologies, if planned and implemented well, canenable more effective and efficient distribution, access, and connection ofinformation, knowledge, and people. Core HR practices include training, mentor-ing/coaching, leadership development, organizational development, career develop-ment, succession planning, managing employment data, work process improvementand change management – the list can continue. Few areas exist where technologiescannot be used to evolve how one works, learns and interacts with others. Thepresence and importance of technologies will only grow.

Last but not least, this book is a clear testimony regarding how more researchand theory development efforts must occur related to technology in HR fields.Waddill and Marquardt review various conceptual frameworks and constructs thatcan help implement a new technology in positive directions – notably, organizationalculture, theories of social learning, communities of practice, organizational visionand social responsibilities, and organizational learning and knowledge creation.Greater affordances of technologies are only maximized when guided by soundbusiness strategies and human desires. In this sense, related constructs, such ascreativity and engagement (cognitive, emotional, and social or relational), might befurther examined in future studies on technology. For those who want to usetechnologies more effectively to change HR work, Waddill and Marquardt provide avery important and useful resource.

Seung Won YoonInstructional Design and Technology, Western Illinois University, USA

hrdswon@gmail.com� 2012, Seung Won Yoon

Human Resource Development International 263