Published in AUSTRALIAN JOURNAL OF BASIC AND APPLIED SCIENCES, Vol. 17, No.6, 2023
Study factors affect e-HRM success in Vietnam
Abstract:
Background: For different reasons, novel researches on electronic human resource management systems (e-HRM) are needed, especially, the success of an e-HRM depends on the environment factors which are varied from firm to another and from country to another (Subhi et al., 2019). The recent research on e-HRM in Vietnam is limited, so the further research is important.
Objective: This study aims to analyze the effect of the information system success factors among enterprises in Vietnam.
Results: The quantitative research found only success factors which are information quality and Service quality have significant effect on the e-HRM success indexes, and system quality had negative effect on the intention reuse. The qualitative research found that the e-HRM system of two enterprises from the case study are focused on information management, and workers have clear concern about service quality.
Conclusion: Overall, the research re-tested the information systems success model (IS Success Model) with a novel sample in Vietnam, so the research results let the readers look closer to the electronic human resource management in Vietnam. The quantitative study found novel affections, and the qualitative study results found evidence to support the quantitative research results.
Keywords: e-HRM, factors affect e-HRM, e-HRM in Vietnam, IS success model.
1 – Introduction
Electronic human resource management system is the information system which supports the human resource management process, and this system focuses on the data collection, data store, data analysis, and sharing information. An electronic human resource management system is important to modem organizations, it significantly enhances overall organizational efficiency and its sub-dimensions (Nikhal and Sanjana 2013). Implementation of e-HRM was urgent (Nurlina et al., 2020), however, some firms had experienced phenomenal success due to their technology investments, others continue to struggle (Yogesh et al., 2015). The studies from different period of time show that the e-HRM systems bring benefits to organization in different ways, for instance, Huub (2007) after studied on the contribution of e-HRM to human resources management (HRM) effectiveness found that actual use of the e-HRM application correlates with HR effectiveness, and Ahmad et al., (2022) found that electronic human resource management has a positive impact on organizational health.
Although e-HRM is not new, there are many different reasons to conduct new e-HRM research in Vietnam. First, Despite the growing research interest in digital transformation performance management, literature on digital transformation performance management is still in a beginning stage (Alaa 2021). Second, e-HRM research may point out surprising results, for instance, Huub (2007) had found two novel conclusions, which are “job relevance does not show to be a significant predictor for strategic HR effectiveness” and “easiness of use is not a significant explanatory factor for technical HR effectiveness”, Prince Vijai (2018) found a positive but moderate relationship between system quality, knowledge quality and user satisfaction in the success of knowledge management system, and Harlie et al., (2019) found information, system, and service quality make significant, positive impacts on performance expectancy leading to the intention to adopt the technology. It is necessary to review some of the models that have been developed by previous researchers because the form and quality of information technology are currently changing rapidly (Teuku et al., 2021). Third, the success of an e-HRM system is dependent on environmental factors, for instance Golam et al., (2016) found the most significant factors that are linked to managerial decisions for adapting HRIS. Finally, the research data from Google Scholar ( scholar.google.com ) shows that there are not so many e-HRM researchers in Vietnam.
From the reasons above, a new e-HRM research in Vietnam was invented, and it focused on the IS success model. The main objective of this research was re-tested the IS success model in Vietnam. The research uses both quantitative and qualitative research methods, which aim to look closer to the electronic human resource management in Vietnam.
2 – Literature review
2.1. Grounded theory
Scott and Norman (1981) have mentioned two schools of assessment information systems. The first school is “goal-centered view”, this school focused on the objective performance of information systems. The second school is “system resource view”, this school focused on qualification of information systems.
There are different research models that have applied to e-HRM research recently. The first model is the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), this model focuses on physiology (Davis et al., 1980), from this model, the usefulness and ease of use affect acceptance of technology (Surendran 2012). The second model is the information systems success model, from this model, six factors affect the success of the information technology system, and the six dimensions of success are proposed to be interrelated rather than independent (Delone and McLean, 2003). Technology Acceptance Model and IS success model are strongly connected, Dimah et al., (2020) developed the research model based on an intensive review of literature and analysis of four models, which include the information systems success model and the Technology Acceptance Model. The third model is the IT-Organization Fit Model, from this model, internal factors and external factors affect the information system of an organization (Frank et al., 1997).
2.2. Recent study and hypotheses
DeLone and McLean (2003), pointed out six factors affect information system success, which are quality of information system, information quality, information in use, user satisfaction, individual effect, and organizational effect. Recent studies continue to use the IS success model, some studies are reviewed in the following paragraphs.
Haitham (2011) found that the system quality, information quality of the information system, ease of use and usefulness of the information system, were positively and moderately correlated with the information system satisfaction and success. My and Ramayah (2012) studied the effect of clarifying e-HRM objectives, user satisfaction, perception of usefulness of e-HRM, ease of use of e-HRM, customer support, social environment, and facilities to the e-HRM system. From the research of Harlie et al., (2019), information, system, and service quality make significant, positive impacts on performance expectancy leading to the intention to adopt the technology. Iskandar et al., (2018) examine the effect of system quality and information quality on User satisfaction. From the study of Duangta (2020), the specific factors (especially system quality and information quality) affected perceived IHRM process success, and the research also indicated HRIS system characteristics including information quality, system quality and service quality on the IHRM strategies of the firm.
Recent study user intention to reuse and user satisfaction as dependent variables. From the research of Iskandar et al., (2018) and Muhammad et al., (2019), user satisfaction was a dependent variable. From the study of Adnan et al., (2021), user satisfaction showed a direct and positive influence on Continuance Usage Intention, and enhancing user satisfaction toward e-HRM can result in a high level of Continuance Usage Intention. Based on the dependent variables of references above, this study uses two dependent variables which are intention to reuse and user satisfaction. From the literature review, this study created eight hypotheses. The hypotheses were the combination of four independent variables and two dependent variables. The study have the following hypotheses.
From the literature review, this study created eight hypotheses. The hypotheses were the combination of four independent variables and two dependent variables. The study has the following hypotheses.
H 0 : Information quality positively affects intention to reuse.
H 1 : System quality positively affects intention to reuse.
H 2 : Service quality positively affects intention to reuse.
H 3 : Perceived value positively affects intention to reuse.
H 4 : Information quality positively affects user satisfaction.
H 5 : System quality positively affects user satisfaction.
H 6 : Service quality positively affects user satisfaction.
H 7 : Perceived value positively affects user satisfaction.
3 – Research method
Quantitative research method has been applied to analyze the effects of four independent variables which are information quality (IQ), system quality (SQ), service quality (SV), and perceived value (PV) on two dependent variables which are intention reuse (IR) and user satisfaction (US). The research question collected and slyly modified form the research of Yi-Shun Wang (2008). The data has been collected from former students of Thuongmai University. Thuongmai University is a well known government university in Vietnam. We gave a small gift to each participant (approximately 2 USD). Any participant stopped immediately, if this person worked for a company which did not have an e-HRM system, or if this person did not want to be involved in the research. Multiple regression models have been applied to analyze the data, and the data was analyzed by IBM SPSS statistics version 29.0.0 on Mac.
Qualitative research method used to find evidence to support qualitative research results. Participants included two workers from two different companies which had e-HRM systems. For the confidential, the company names are absent from the research results. From the qualitative study, the online interview method was used to collect. Information collected from the interview aimed to clarify two factors of TAM model (usefulness and ease of use), six factors of IS success model (information quality, system quality, service quality, and perceived value on intention reuse and user satisfaction), and some environmental factors of IT-Organization Fit Model.
4 – Research results
4.1. Quantitative research
The data collected from 80 participants, 16 participants (20%) stopped immediately after they received the questionnaire because the current companies did not have e-HRM systems, 64 participants continued to answer the questionnaire because their company had e-HRM systems. Among participants, 12 respondents were male (15%), 62 respondents were female (77%), some respondents did not answer about their gender, 2 respondents had master degree (0.25%), and 78 respondents had bachelor degree (more than 99%). The descriptive statistics show in table 1.
Table 1: Cronbach’s Alpha Coefficient and Descriptive Statistics
Cronbach’s Alpha Coefficient was used to test the reliability of the questionnaire. All scales have Cronbach’s Alpha greater than 0.7. The table 1 below shows the Cronbach’s Alpha of all scales.
a) Regression analysis of the first model – relationship between independent variables and intention to reuse (the results show in Table 2).
The r value is .685, which means the relationship between independent variables and the dependent variable were strong. The value r square is .470, which means our model can predict 47% of variations.
From the ANOVA table, the F value is 13.047 and significant is below 0.001.
When the research focused on the effect of each independent variable in dependent variable, the result showed System Quality has negative effect on the intention reuse. However, the significance is low.
The factors affecting the intention resume can be described with the equation below.
y = 1.268 + 0.485IQ – 0.059SQ + 0.248SV + 0.76PV
When the research focused on the correlation results of individual factors, only Information quality (IQ) was positively correlated with intention to reuse (r = 0.64, P <0.01).
b) Regression analysis of the second model – relationship between independent variables and user satisfaction (the results show in Table 3).
The r value is .736, which means the relationship between independent variables and the dependent variable were strong. r square is .542, which mean our model can predict 54.2% of variations.
From the ANOVA table, the F value is 17.457 and significant is below .001. The factors that affect user satisfaction can be described with the equation below.
y = -0.247 + 0.42IQ + 0.108SQ + 0.293SV + 0.408PV
When the research focused on the correlation result of individual factors, only Service quality (SV)
was positively correlated with user satisfaction (r = 0.624, P <0.01).
4.2. Case study
Case 1.
The study company was founded in 2013 in Hanoi, Vietnam. This company’s business focuses on developing and distributing management softwares. In 2022, this company had 1667 workers, among them, 307 workers had polytechnic certificates, 1291 workers had bachelor degrees, 69 workers had post graduate degrees. The workers were young, 392 workers were under 25 years old, 1065 workers were from 25 to 35 years old, and only 210 workers were over 35 years old. Among workers, there were 1123 male, and 544 female. The total annual revenue in 2022 was 39.3 million US Dollars. The labour expense in 2022 was 8.13 million US Dollars. The culture of the company focused on creativeness, differentiation, empowerment, and individual development. The company used two different e-HRM software. The first software was “Breezy”, this software supports the recruitment process. The second software was “Rubato”, this software focuses on documentation information of other human resource management functions. The main applications of two e-HRM software are explained below.
The Breezy focused on candidates data management, the main information included candidates personal information, candidates assessed result, supporting update candidates information, and the software also supported sending and receiving emails. In general, this software focused on information management.
The Rubato focused on individual workers data management. The software managed workers’ information, the main information included workers’ performance, workers’ compensation, and turn away workers’ information (for example, workers’ perception).
The input information of the e-HRM system included personal information (name, phone number, date of birth…), recruitment test results, department, salary and benefits, reason to quit the job (if any), and so on.
The output information of the e-HRM system included the workforce overall, working experience of individual worker, some simple indexes (percentage of new workers, percentage of turn away workers), total labour expense.
Information about the system quality, service quality, and perceived value of the e-HRM included three issues. First, the user interface was complicated. Second, the user alway had problems with fonts. Third, the service was ready, however the supporters were not quite good all the time. Information about user satisfaction includes two issues. First, the softwares fulfills the essential need of the organization, the e-HRM system helped the users manage information, the information was useful and up to date. Second, the e-HRM helped the users to save time. The respondent also thought that the e-HRM helps to increase fairness.
Case 2:
The study company was founded in 2012 in Hanoi, Vietnam. This company focused on developing and distributing high-tech products.
In 2022, this company had 184 workers, among them, 45 workers had polytechnic certificates, 136 workers had bachelor degrees, 3 workers had post graduate degrees. The workers were not quite young like in the first case, 39 workers were under 25 years old, 112 workers were from 25 to 35 years old, and 30 workers were over 35 years old. Among workers, there were 142 male, and 39 female. The total annual revenue in 2022 was 5 million US Dollars (approximately). The labour expense in 2022 was 700 thousand US Dollars (approximately). The e-HRM expense in 2022 was 5 thousand US Dollars (approximately). The culture of the company focused on fairness, and openness. The open culture explained that people could work at the peak, and they focused on their own strength and interests. The culture also aimed to accelerate group work, sharing, information exchange, discovering personal abilities, promoting personal responsiveness, and professionalism. The company used one e-HRM software, which was “1Office” (a well known e-HRM software in Vietnam). Although the software also focused on information management, it was better than the softwares from case 1. In general, the software managed information, and supported communication among workers. The software helped users to manage recruitment documents, manage attendant, calculate salary and benefits automatically, provide assessment forms, manage assets, and it also provided some recruitment suggestions.
The input information of the e-HRM system included personal information like name, phone number, date of birth, recruitment test results, department, salary and benefits, reasons to quit the job (if any), and so on. The output information included the workforce, organizational structure, working experience, some simple indexes (percentage of new workers, percentage of existing workers), total labour expense.
Information about the system quality, service quality, and perceived value of the e-HRM included the following issues. First, some functions were rarely used, for instance the group discussion function. Some functions did not meet the requirement, for instance, the system could not make a summary of the quit reasons, the assessment function did not fit the engineers, however, the software was friendly, the data function was good, especially the descriptive analysis function. Second, the service was good, users got all the support they needed. Overall, the system was useful, it helped to reduce working time, especially paperwork, the system also managed data, and supported sharing information.
Discussion
From the quantitative study, only two factors had a significant effect on the e-HRM results, which were Information quality (IQ) and Service quality (SV). The study results different from another research result, for instance, Iskandar Muda et al., (2018) found that the quality of system and information had a significant positive effect on the User satisfaction. The quantitative study results are unique, and which have strong connection with qualitative study results, the e-HRM systems of two enterprises from the case studies focused on information management. From the quantitative study, System Quality had a negative effect on the intention to reuse. Although the significance is low, the connection between results of quantitative study and qualitative study results were clear. From the qualitative study, there was three pieces of evidence to support the quantitative result. First, the user was concerned about the user interface. Second, users are satisfied with the simple application of the e-HRM system. Third, users do not use all functions of the e-HRM system, although the unused functions are quite popular.
Qualitative study showed that the e-HRM system of enterprises from the case studies had fulfilled the companies needs. First, the systems manage human resource information. Second, the system supported the daily activities of human resource managers. From the research of Rand et al., (2014), the benefits of e-HRM include quicker response time, more accurate HR information, reduction of paperwork and manpower, and more efficient tracking and controlling.
Qualitative study showed that the e-HRM systems of enterprises from the case studies had some problems. First, the training function was missing, although it was an important function of the e-HRM system (Christian, 2020). Second, the systems had some technical problems, for instance, the user interface was complicated , the user alway had problems with fonts. Third, the system lacked automated functions. From the research of Manivannan et al., (2014), the automation has contributed to the employee effectiveness and the model of user acceptability of eHRM that predicts the ease with which the system can be made usable and thereby ensure project success. From the study of Sarbaini et al., (2019), the influence adoption factors include Performance expectancy, Effort expectancy, Social influence, Facilitating conditions, The level of Individualism-collectivism.
7 – Conclusion
The research had re-tested the IS success model in Vietnam. The overall model showed that the research results were not quite different from other research results. However, the data analysis of individual factors showed that only two factors had significantly affected the dependent variables, and the system quality had a negative effect on the intention reuse. Although the sample size is small, the clear connection between the qualitative research results and qualitative research results is an interesting part. The research provides suggestions for other research in the future.
Although this research has some limitations, it provided some novel results. The limitations of this research included the sample side was small, and it was collected from Hanoi province only. Beside, the data was limited, so the study could not apply sophisticated quantitative analysis, for instance, the differences between workers who perform different functions of human resource management(Recruitment, selection, performance appraisal, and so on) which was not analyzed, and the
differences of e-HRM among business categories which was not analyzed. The categorical research with a bigger data set may bring a more novel version of e-HRM, for instance, Nasar et al., (2023) found that the acceptability of e-HRM systems by the end users in IT firms is much higher than in other service organizations. Although the research has some limitations, it has significant contributions to social science, the software developers, HR managers, vendors.
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