Title: Facing e-HRM: the consequences on employee attitude towards the organisation and the HR department in Italian SMEs

Authors: Rita Bissola; Barbara Imperatori

Addresses: Department of Economic Sciences and Business Management, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Largo Gemelli 1, 20123 Milan, Italy ' Department of Economic Sciences and Business Management, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Largo Gemelli 1, 20123 Milan, Italy

Abstract: Adopting the employee-organisation relationship framework, our paper explores the consequences of e-HRM systems on employee attitude towards both the organisation and the HR department in Italian SMEs. Through a large-scale survey of 494 employees, data confirm that the consequences of e-HRM are not always entirely positive or negative. In detail, with reference to Italian SMEs, operational e-HRM practices seem to enhance the perceived internal efficiency of the HR department but have no impact on employee organisational commitment. On the other hand, relational and transformational e-HRM practices positively influence employee commitment as well as their perceptions of the competence of HR departments. Our evidence suggests several theoretical and managerial implications and would serve as a prelude to the growing body of theory and research seeking to explain the emergence of the e-HRM challenge in shaping the employee-organisation relationship and in influencing the role of the HR department in SMEs.

Keywords: e-HRM; Italy; SMEs; small and medium-sized enterprises; electronic HRM; human resource management; employee-organisation relationship; HR departments; affective commitment; employee attitudes; people strategy; HR architecture; human resources; employee commitment; employee perceptions.

DOI: 10.1504/EJIM.2013.055282

European Journal of International Management, 2013 Vol.7 No.4, pp.450 - 468

Published online: 10 Sep 2014 *

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