Impact of Technology on HRM: Ethical and Legal Frameworks

This essay examines the transformative influence of technology on Human Resource Management (HRM) practices within the modern workplace. It begins by highlighting the shift into the digital age and its effect on HRM, emphasizing the role of technology in streamlining operations and facilitating globalization. The essay then delves into the specific impacts of technology, such as cloud-based services and their benefits like reduced IT costs and improved data accessibility, and the rise of HR analytics to improve performance management. Furthermore, it addresses the ethical implications of technology in HRM, particularly concerning data privacy and the legal frameworks like GDPR. The conclusion summarizes the key takeaways, emphasizing the importance of technology adoption and ethical considerations for effective HRM in a globalized environment.

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Foundation of Human Resources Management
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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Influence of technology in human resource.....................................................................................3
Facilitation of cloud-based services.............................................................................................4
Increase in production through the analytic drive...................................................................................5
Ethics and technology..................................................................................................................................5
Conclusion...................................................................................................................................................6
Bibliography................................................................................................................................................7

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Introduction
The change in technological shift has reshaped the working environment of many
organizations entirely, making the business operations to be more streamlined and integrated.
Technology has enabled businesses to perform well and run smoothly. Technology has also
played a critical role in facilitating globalization by collaborating stakeholders of multinational
companies with resources from all around the world. Technology in the business environment is
a facilitator that enables a process or an action to be performed easily and smoothly.
Additionally, it is helping businesses to increase their profit margins through enterprise systems
such as the invoice management system that keeps track of the product. Technology has also
shifted the businesses from the traditional brick and mortar enterprise to more online-based sales
platforms. Multinational companies such as Amazon are purely selling their merchandise on
online platforms. Other companies including Apple relies on both physical stores and online
platforms. In the past, many companies had to face various business hurdles in their operations.
The businesses were manually run with a lot of paperwork, travel expenses, and hampered
communications. All these hurdles have now been streamlined due to the advent of technology.
The barriers that existed including, outsourcing, task performing barriers, management and
communication barriers have been addressed by technology. The internet and various software
and web-based applications have made it possible for businesses to incur more profits and carry
out their daily activities seamlessly.
Influence of technology in human resource
The shift into the digital age has significantly transformed the working of the Human
resource department in many organizations. Human resource practitioners are no longer using
the cumbersome hiring techniques that involves overwhelming data. Technology has enabled a
smooth and seamless hiring process while also automating data of companies and increase the

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productivity of human personnel (Johnson, 2015, pp.712). Technology is providing the human
resource department with new and improved digital solutions that are improving the management
and development of human capital. Below are some of the notable impact that technology has on
the human resource departments and the organization as a whole.
Facilitation of cloud-based services
New technology has introduced the concept of cloud services, where companies can save
data and information on online storage. The cloud-based services have significantly improved
the functioning of the human resource department. This is through the reduction of information
technology costs and easy accessibility of crucial data from cloud-based managed storage. The
cloud is also secure against common technology threats such as hacking, with companies relying
on services from reputable firms such a Google, which encrypts all the stored data. Cloud-based
services have enabled the HR department to go paperless, thus protecting the data from disasters
such as fire outbreaks while also reducing paper waste and freeing up office space that was
initially occupied by rows of file cabinets (Jackson, Schuler and Jiang, 2014, pp.55). Cloud
storage has additionally increased transparency, as anyone with the required credentials can
access the data anytime and from any location. Further, the cloud-based HR system enables the
employees to update their information while also submitting requests such as application for
leave and give access to other pertinent information. Examples of cloud-based services used all
around the world include Google Docs, which allows the sharing of information across
businesses. It also plays a critical function in the evaluation of HR performance. LinkedIn is
another cloud-based recruiting service that enables the HR recruiter to easily scout for relevant
candidates by going through their updated profiles.

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Increase in production through the analytic drive
Performance management is one of the core functions of the HR department in many
businesses. Technology has streamlined the process of performance evaluation, performance
monitoring, collection of employee feedback and regular reviews from the employees.
According to Betterworks CEO, Doug Dennerline, technology has enabled the HR department to
experience a new level of competency due to the rapid spread and adoption of personnel
analytics that enables the managers to make important decisions concerning the workforce
(Paillé, Chen, Boiral and Jin, 2014, pp.458). The raw data obtained from the analytics enable
data-driven solutions based on promotions, compensation, development, and planning across the
staff. The change occasioned by technology has additionally evolved labor laws, with companies
now relying on technology to navigate complex and politically instigated issues. For example,
major cities like New York are passing laws that limit unpredictable working hours, that has
been found to lower employee morale in organizations. Such laws enable the business to
maintain talent by reducing employee turnover rate. The analytics system is complementing
human efforts in the companies to increase performance and productivity.
Ethics and technology
Ethics in technology seeks to understand and address the moral issues that surround the
application of technology. It is based on the relationship between technology and humans’ moral
values and wellbeing. It also looks into the condition of advancement in technology and the
moral and social repercussions tied to it (Mian, Lamine and Fayolle, 2016, pp.10). One of the
major concerns surrounding the application of technology in the business setting is the issue of
customer data on social media platforms. Some of the companies have been selling customer
data to advertising companies. This was witnessed in 2018 when it was revealed that a consulting
firm, Cambridge Analytica was mining data of about 50 million Facebook users and selling it to

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politicians. The European Union in 2018 enacted a directive known as the General Data
Protection Regulation (GDPR), aimed at keeping transparency on the rights of privacy of data
for the EU citizens (Brusoni and Vaccaro, 2017, pp.225). This regulation requires all the
organizations working in the EU market to comply. Some of the data policy rights in the GDPR
include the right to the erasure of data on request, right to the accessibility of the user data, right
to deny a company request to utilize personal data and allowing users to edit information.
Conclusion
Technology has enabled the human resource manager to effectively recruit and retain
quality employees. The managers have more resources at their disposal to make the human
resource department more efficient. In the era of globalization, businesses have to make
technology a priority in their daily operations especially in the human resource department to
maintain talent. Governments all around the world are also reshaping the laws and regulations,
especially with regards to privacy to protect consumers from unscrupulous and unethical
businesses.

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Bibliography
Brusoni, S. and Vaccaro, A., 2017. Ethics, technology and organizational innovation. Journal of
Business Ethics, 143(2), pp.223-226.
Jackson, S.E., Schuler, R.S. and Jiang, K., 2014. An aspirational framework for strategic human
resource management. The Academy of Management Annals, 8(1), pp.1-56.
Johnson, D.G., 2015. Technology with no human responsibility?. Journal of Business
Ethics, 127(4), pp.707-715.
Mian, S., Lamine, W. and Fayolle, A., 2016. Technology Business Incubation: An overview of
the state of knowledge. Technovation, 50(3), pp.1-12.
Paillé, P., Chen, Y., Boiral, O. and Jin, J., 2014. The impact of human resource management on
environmental performance: An employee-level study. Journal of Business Ethics, 121(3),
pp.451-466.