THE APPLICATION OF CHANGE MANAGEMENT THEORY TO HR PORTAL IMPLEMENTATION IN SUBSIDIARIES OF MULTINATIONAL CORPORATIONS

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HR portals are complex information technology (IT) applications that can be accessed by all employees of a given organization. By placing more applications and information online, HR portals reduce the reliance employees have on HR personnel. Given this relational change, from human to computer, the HR portal implementation process must take into account the challenges of both change management and technology acceptance. By integrating change management theories with IT user acceptance models, this article adds to HR’s collective knowledge of ways to effectively implement HR portals. In addition, this article describes the cross-national challenges that exist when a global firm attempts to implement an HR portal around the world. Thus, this article will present a model that (1) integrates change management theories and IT user acceptance models and (2) illustrates the ways in which change management plans may need to be adapted to be effective in various subsidiaries. A case study of Hewlett-Packard’s (HP’s) worldwide implementation of their @HP Employee Portal in the Italian subsidiary of HP illustrates the key issues of these theories. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Introduction Human Resources Portal Applications In recent years, the World Wide Web has revolutionized the way individuals in organizations access information. In addition to channels such as business-to-business and business-to-consumer, the Web has permitted human resources management to implement HR processes where business-to-employee (B2E) solutions are possible (Harris, Phifer, & Berg, 2002). Organizations with strategic human resources have implemented an increasing number of electronic HR (e-HR) solutions for redesigning HR

processes and reducing