A Research Project on the Impact of Digital Technology on HR

This research project investigates the impact of digital technology on human resource (HR) activities, highlighting its growing importance in the corporate world. The study aims to understand the role of digital technology, analyze its benefits to the HR department, identify associated issues and challenges, and examine future technological trends in human resource management. It addresses key research questions regarding changes in business practices due to digital technology, how it assists HR departments, problems faced in its effective use, and its future potential. The literature review covers various perspectives on digital technology, its benefits, and its influence on HR functions like recruitment, training, and performance appraisal. It also discusses technological trends such as big data, mobile apps, social media, and cloud technology, along with challenges like poor organizational structure and the need for employee training. The research methodology employs Saunders' research onion, utilizing a positivism philosophical stance and a deductive approach. Desklib provides access to similar solved assignments and study resources.

RESEARCH PROJECT
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Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION................................................................................................................................3
AIM AND OBJECTIVES......................................................................................................................4
RESEARCH QUESTIONS....................................................................................................................4
RESEARCH RATIONALE.....................................................................................................................5
LITERATURE REVIEW........................................................................................................................6
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY...........................................................................................................10
DATA COLLECTION.........................................................................................................................13
DATA ANALYSIS..............................................................................................................................14
TIMELINE........................................................................................................................................15
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION.......................................................................................16
REFERENCES...................................................................................................................................17
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INTRODUCTION
Digital technology is one of the main elements which possess a great impact on the corporate
world. In modern scenario, digital technology plays an important role in every department of
the business including HR, marketing, sales, administration, logistics, operations, finance etc.
digital technology is playing a significant role in all the departments but it is influencing greatly
to different HR activities (Kane,, et al. 2015).
HR department is a crucial department of an organisation which plays an important role in
managing the workforce. It plays many vital roles such as requirement, selection, training and
development of the employees. Other than these there are other various important
responsibilities of HR department which includes performance appraisal, storing records of the
employees, managing legal issues, compensation, etc. (Bamberge, et al. 2014). Nowadays, HR
department of a company is utilising the digital technology in order to perform its roles and
responsibilities in an effective and efficient manner. Digital tools make the work of HR
department more efficient and effective. The appropriate utilisation of digital technology helps
the HR department as well as employees to perform their work ineffectively.
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AIM AND OBJECTIVES
This research project aims to assess the impact of the digital technology on the human resource
activities. This research also attempts to meet the different research objectives. Key objectives
of this research are:
 To understand the role of digital technology in the corporate world
 To analyse the benefits of the digital technology to HR department
 To identify the Issues and challenges associated with the digital technology
 To examine the technological trends that redefine human resource management
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RESEARCH QUESTIONS
This research project is an attempt to seek the answers of different research questions
associated with the digital technology and its impact on the Human department of a company.
Few research questions whose answers are covered in this research project are:
 What changes have been occurred in the way of doing business due to digital
technology?
 How digital technology help HR department in performing their duties?
 What problems are faced by with the HR department in making an effective use of the
digital technology?
 To what extent digital technology can be helpful for the HR department in future?
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RESEARCH RATIONALE
In modern scenario, the use of digital technology is the business world is increasing
significantly. On the other hand, it is becoming challenging for business organisations to
manage its workforce due to various reasons such as large size, high employee turnover rate
etc, therefore, the importance of digital technology in managing workforce is worth
researching. digital tools can be helpful for HR department in managing the workforce. The
application of digital technology in HRM is worth understating as it reflects significantly on the
success of a company. one of another reason behind the section of this research that it is
important for a student to possess knowledge about the techniques to manage employees as it
helps in avoiding different issues in professional life. The use of digital technology is interesting
and amazing would also be helpful in performing different tasks effectively and efficiently.
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LITERATURE REVIEW
According to Bharadwaj, et al. (2013), Digital technology is an umbrella term for the computer-
based products or solutions. It is the branch of engineering or scientific knowledge that deals
with the practical use of the computerized device, systems, methods etc. The use of digital
technology is increasing day to day life. The digital tools such as mobile phones, computers,
laptops and other such devices have become the part of daily life. The use of the binary
computational code is additionally extended to social media, cloud computing, multi-media,
productivity application and other similar electronic tools. Digital technology has enabled the
volume of data or information to be compressed on storage devices so that it can be shared
easily and quickly. It delivers operational and executable information in order to minimise the
efforts of people. Fitzgerald, et al. (2014) further added that Digital technology plays an
important role in a business world. There are different benefits of the digital technology which
can be enjoyed by a business organisation. one of the main benefits of digital technology is that
it is fast and efficient as compared to another traditional method of doing business operations.
It has changed the pattern of working of companies. Nowadays organisations have also
introduced digitalised paper process, e- signatures, electronic transfers and many other such
processes that have completely changed the corporate world.
According to Parry and Tyson (2014) In modern scenario, digital technology is playing each and
every department of the business world. Employees belong to different departments such as
HR, human resource, administration, operations, logistics, etc. HR department can utilise the
digital technology to perform its role and responsibilities in an effective manner. HR managers
are focusing on the making best of the digital tools to manage the workforce effectively. There
are various employee management software which can be used by the HR professionals in
order to manage the employees and other different activities. The digital tools and software
help HR department in different areas such as requirement, selection, training, development,
tracking progress etc.
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Bratton and Gold, (2017) state that Recruitment is a key responsibility of the HR department of
an organisation as it helps the company in getting employees with required education and skills.
A company use various platforms such as websites and social media to make people aware of
the vacancies in a company. A company share the information regarding designation, the
number of vacancies, roles and responsibilities, salary etc. It is important for HR department of
an organisation to select the employees with required knowledge and skills so that
organisational activities can be operated smoothly and efficiently. Digital technology such as
video chat helps in taking interview of the candidates from different locations of the world. It
also helps an organisation in tracking the performance of the employees. The software helps HR
managers in understating training needs of the employees so that required training can be
provided to them. Digital tools like Biometrics help in taking attendance of the employees and
to check the punctuality of the employees. There are numerous software which help a company
in making the decision regarding performance apparels of the employees.
According to (Nylén and Holmström, 2015) Digital technology also helps HR Department of a
company in operating different activities such as paperwork and orientation, evaluating the
performance of the employees etc. There are various software which reduces the paperwork of
the department and allows to feed the data online. The stored data can be shared by the HR
department through various platforms.
Digital technology has completely redefined the role of human resource in all over the world.
There are numerous technological trend that are changing the working of human resource
management. The main technologies which are responsible for changes in human resource
management are Big data, mobile apps, social media and cloud technology. Big data is one of
the key technological trend which help HR professionals to understand their target audience. It
is helpful in gaining a deep insight and allow HR professionals to make business decisions
powered by crucial information. Big data provides the fact-based view of the workforce and
help them to identify new trends. It also help recruiters to assess potential workers and let
develop better risk management strategies (McKelvey, et al. 2014)
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Smartphone is most likely to dominate the marketing HR landscape in future. The use of Mobile
Apps are increasing therefore companies are focusing on the development of the different apps
which can be used to manage the workforce. Social media is another powerful tool which helps
HR department in various activities such as recruitment, sharing information etc. Cloud
computing is proving game changer in the field of human resource management. It allows
department to store the data online and to access it from anywhere. The HR department of the
company shares the information with the employees through cloud computing (Brewster, et al.
2016).
There are various issues and challenges which restrict an organisation from undergoing the
digital transformation. One of the main issues which restrict the digital transformation of a
company is poor organisational structure. The poor organisational structure of a company
affects the communication system of a company which lead to many issues such as
misunderstanding and conflict of interest. It is imperative for a company to focus on the
development of an effective organisational structure in order to respond effectively to different
changes which can be occurred due to digital transformation.
According to Kane, et al. (2011) employees play an important role in the digital transformation
of a company. It is difficult for a company to undergo the digital transformation without the
support of employees. The top management of the company encourages the employees to
embrace the changes and to make appropriate utilisation of the digital technology to work in an
effective and efficient manner. It is the responsibility of the HR department to train the
employees according to the needs so that they can understand the new technology and can use
to perform their duty.
Westerman, et al. (2014), with regular advancement in the technology, the HR department of a
company are facing different issues and challenges. The most important workplace challenges
which are changing human resource department are evaluating early adoption, balancing high
tech and high touch, information curation, training for accountability and metrics and
measurement. HR is traditionally not known for the early adoption of the technology. HR
department needs to focus on the early adoption of the technology so that the workforce can
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be managed in an effective and efficient manner. It is important for HR department to
recognise the need for a technological solution to achieve a significant business advantage. HR
have to evaluate the different functions which can be automated to make the operations more
efficient. HR experiences the large volume of the information which can affect the productivity
of the company, therefore, it needs to focus on having effective means of relevant and
important information. It would be helpful for the department in saving time. It is important for
HR department to provide effective training to the employees so that they can perform their
assigned roles and responsibilities in an effective and efficient manner. HR also need to focus
on the creating data structure that can deliver the information on business goal and can help a
company in understanding their workforce and to optimize their talent related process.
Digital technologies have the potential to become a most crucial element in Human resource
management in future. The pace with which use of digital technology is increasing it may be
predicted that it can rule not only HRM but also the other business activities of a company.
Different emerging technologies such as cloud computing, software and other similar
technologies can help a company in managing its workforce effectively and can contribute
significantly to the success of an organisation (Westerman, et al. 2014).
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RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
SAUNDERS RESEARCH ONION
In this method, Saunders research onion would be used to conduct an effective research.
Research onion shows describe the different stages through which a researcher must pass to
formulate an effective methodology. From viewed from outside, each layer of onion depicts the
stages which have to follow to conduct the research. There are six different layer of onion
which includes philosophical stances, approaches, research strategies, research choices, time
horizons and techniques and procedures (Saunders, et al. 2009).
In this research, philosophical stances which would be used is positivism as it would be effective
in finding the quantitative data for the research. In this research, the deductive approach
would be used to investigate the work of different researchers and authors on the digital
technology. This approach would allow going through a large volume of the data to get the
more effective results (Saunders, et al. 2015). The research strategy which would be adopted in
this research surveys. In this research, the questionnaire would be distributed among the
employees of Vodafone to understand their views on the digital technology and its impact on
the HR activities.
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Figure1: Research Onion Framework
[Source: Saunder & Lewis, 2012]
There are many methods which can be used to collect the research. The primary and secondary
method can be used by a research in order to gather the data. Primary research involves the
collection of the data by a researcher himself through various methods such as observations,
interviews, surveys, questionnaire etc. The secondary method involves the collection of already
publish data from various data sources such as research papers, journal, articles, books etc. In
this research project, the Mixed method that is primary, as well as the secondary research
method, would be used. This method would be used in this project to understand and analyse
the qualitative as well as quantitative data to make a deep understanding of the topic. It would
provide a more complete and comprehensive understanding of the research problem than with
qualitative or quantitative method.
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Positivism
Deductive
Survey
Mixed method
Cross-sectional
Data collection
and data
analysis

SECONDARY RESEARCH
In this secondary data is collected to make an understating of the relationship between digital
technology and HR activities. Secondary research involves the collection of data from various
sources such as books, research papers, journals, articles etc. The Internet is also used to make
a fetch the online data on digital technology and its impact on the HR activities. The collected
data is presented in the form of the literature review to easily understand the perspective of
the different researchers, scholars and authors on the topic.
PRIMARY RESEARCH
After secondary research, primary research method would be used in this research to collect
the quantitative data. For the collection of quantitative data, the questionnaire would be used.
The questionnaire would incorporate 10 different questions on relevant with the digital
technology and HR activities. Their questionnaire would be distributed among the employees
of Vodafone. Vodafone is a telecommunication company whose business depends significantly
on the digital technology. It also has the large workforce, therefore, it would be better to select
this company to collect the data about digital technology and its impact on the HR activities.
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DATA COLLECTION
Qualitative as well as quantitative data would be collected in this research project through
various sources. In this research work of different authors, researchers and scholars are used in
order to make the deep understanding of the topic. This qualitative data would be used to
probe the answers to different research questions.
The questionnaire would be used in this research project to collect the quantitative data. The
main aim behind selecting questionnaire is that it would be effective in getting the answers of
the different questions associated with digital technology and HR activities. The response of 50
employees of Vodafone would be considered to draw a conclusion.
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DATA ANALYSIS
After the collection of the data, it would be analysed to reach a conclusion. The response of the
employees would be analysed in order to draw a conclusion. The response of the people would
be analysed through charts and graphs. The response table, as well as graph and charts, would
be helpful in understanding the perception of employees regarding digital technology and its
impact on the HR activities.
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TIMELINE
The timeline can be drawn in understand the sequence of different research activities and time
needed to complete them. Gantt chart is an effective tool which can be used to understand the
sequence of different research activities and time taken by them to be accomplished. It would
be helpful in getting different research activities done on time and to avoid any kind of
mismanagement.
Duration
Research
activities
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Defining aims and
objectives
Collection of
secondary data
Designing
Literature review
Collection of
primary data
Data analysis
Conclusion and
recommendation
Table1: Gantt Chart
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CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
It may be concluded that digital technology has revolutionised the corporate world to a great
extent. There are different benefits of the digital technology which can be enjoyed by a
business organisation. It is playing each and every department of the business world.
Employees belong to different departments such as HR, human resource, administration,
operations, logistics, etc. The one of the organisational department which gets benefited by
the digital technology is HR department. It can utilise the digital technology to perform its role
and responsibilities in an effective manner. HR managers are focusing on the making best of
the digital tools to manage the workforce effectively. The main technologies which are
responsible for changes in human resource management are Big data, mobile apps, social
media and cloud technology. Big data is one of the key technological trends which helps HR
professionals to understand their target audience. There are various issues and challenges
which restrict an organisation from undergoing the digital transformation. Poor organisational
structure, lack of employee support and ineffective leadership can restrict the digital
transformation of a company.
It may be recommended that a company should focus on making effective utilisation of the
digital technology as it can help the company in meeting different organisational objectives. A
company should analyse all the emerging trends in order to make their operations more
effective and efficient. HR department of the company should focus on making appropriate use
of the digital technology as it can help in managing workforce effectively. It may further suggest
that a company should develop effective strategies to overcome all the digital challenges which
can restrict it to go digital transformation.
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REFERENCES
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strategy: toward a next generation of insights
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Palgrave
 Brewster, C., Chung, C. and Sparrow, P., 2016. Globalizing human resource
management. Routledge
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technology: A new strategic imperative. MIT sloan management review, 55(2), p.
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technology, drives digital transformation. MIT Sloan Management Review and Deloitte
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 Nylén, D. and Holmström, J., 2015. Digital innovation strategy: A framework for
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business students, pp.136-162
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 Saunders, M.N., Lewis, P., Thornhill, A. and Bristow, A., 2015. Understanding research
philosophy and approaches to theory development
 Westerman, G., Bonnet, D. and McAfee, A., 2014. Leading digital: Turning technology
into business transformation. Harvard Business Press
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