Chapter 10: What about Agency in e-HRM Research?

This chapter addresses a lack of theory building in electronic-HRM (e-HRM) research and attempts to contribute with a (re-)conceptualisation of e-HRM as a nexus of practices and their material arrangements.

The work draws on theories from information systems research, science and technology studies, and sociology and organisation studies.

The (re-)conceptualisation indicates that future research should make further enquiries into the role of human agency and political processes in e-HRM.

As a methodological pathway a combination of ethnography and philosophical hermeneutics is proposed, enabling the achievement of a required pertinent sensibility in the study of social practices and human intentionality. Action research is also considered to be relevant for an engaged e-HRM scholarship.

The social implication of this research is the advancement of theories that emphasise the importance of human agency, morality and materiality in organisational processes.

The conceptualisation may thus facilitate research that reveal insights about involvement, reciprocity and power in e-HRM projects – knowledge that can direct the development of e-HRM project teams and thus facilitate strategic HRM.