From traditional to smart human resources management

• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/IJM-10-2021-0622
• Published date: 08 September 2022
• Date: 08 September 2022
• Pages: 422-452
• Subject Matter: Economics,Labour economics
• Author: Emine Kambur,Tulay Yildirim

From traditional to smart human

resources management

Emine Kambur

Department of Business Management, Istanbul Aydın University,

Istanbul, Turkey, and

Tulay Yildirim

Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering,

Yıldız Technical University, Istanbul, Turkey

Abstract

Purpose –The purpose of this article is to examine all the studies carried out within the scope of e-HRM and

smart HRM, grouped according to the sub-functions of technical and HRM. The use of technology in HRM has

started since the mid-1990s. However, thisstudy focused on the articles published after 2014 in order to keep up

to date. Any search strategy should allow for the completeness of the search to be evaluated. The terms

“electronic-HRM”,“AI and HRM”,“Industry 4.0 and HRM”,“Society 5.0 and HRM”,“Human Resource

Information Systems”and “Digital Technologies and HRM”“Human-robot interaction”has been questioned in

IEEE Xplore, ALM digital library, Emerald Insight, SpringerLink, and Science Direct. The Web of Science and

Scopus were also queried to double-check the findings and find other relevant articles in lesser-known libraries.

Google Scholar was also used for forward and backward searches. These online databases have been chosen

because they present the most important peer-reviewed full-text journals, conference proceedings, book

chapters. Then, the references of each article were reviewed for additional articles on digital technologies and

HRM. Each subsequent article is then reviewed for additional reference.

Design/methodology/approach –A total of 5,580 articles have been reviewed. Duplicate items have been

removed. The titles and abstracts of 3,500 articles have been scanned to identify potential articles. The full-text

evaluation of 2,554 was based on compliance with the inclusion criteria. In addition, 2,458 studies have been

excluded. In total, 96 studies have been selected for data extraction. Additionally, questionnaires and reviews

have been used to provide comprehensive research on e-HRM and smart HRM. The search terms used are

expected to cover most, if not all, of the studies involving e-HRM and smart HRM.

Findings –The study carried out in this article is qualitative research. In the article, which methods are used

and what has changed in e-HRM and smart HRM are examined. In particular, it has been thought about what

can happen with the inclusion of human-machine interaction, AI, chatbots, industry 4.0 and information

systems in HRM. Unlike previous studies, this review takes HRM from a broader perspective and groups it by

topic, both by technical and HR functions. In addition, the reviewed articles provide brief information about the

AI technologies used. In particular, criteria were taken into account according to the field, type and subject of

the articles.

Originality/value –This study has the distinction of being the first in the literature in terms of examining all

the studies carried out within the scope of e-HRM and smart HRM and grouped according to the sub-functions

of technical and HRM in line with its purpose. The article focuses specifically on research published after 2014.

It is expected to contribute to the literature in terms of collecting all studies in a single article. Other

contributions of this article can be summarized in four main articles: 1) it presents a summary of previous

research by grouping the studies on e-HRMand smart HRM according to the interests of researchers. 2) It saves

time for the reader as it provides a brief explanation of the studies on the subject. 3) Instead of explaining in

detail the general details analyzed in other articles, it offers a practical perspective by focusing on the type,

subject and field of the article. 4) With the digitalization of HRM, new, up-to-date research and techniques are

introduced.

Keywords New technology, Careers, Performance management, Human resource management

Paper type Literature review

1. Introduction

The concept of human resource management (HRM) was first used by a famous economist,

Springer (1817). It is accepted that the integration of the concept as content is realized with the

ideas put forward by Taylor (1895) in the field of management. Taylor (1895) made some

IJM

44,3

422

The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:

https://www.emerald.com/insight/0143-7720.htm

Received 30 October 2021

Revised 13 May 2022

20 July 2022

Accepted 22 August 2022

International Journal of Manpower

Vol. 44 No. 3, 2023

pp. 422-452

© Emerald Publishing Limited

0143-7720

DOI 10.1108/IJM-10-2021-0622

researches due to the establishment of very large production enterprises as a result of the

industrial revolution, the replacement of manual production by machine power, and the

emergence of rapid growth with mechanization. As a result of these researches, the Scientific

Management Approach, also known as Taylorism, emerged. This approach aimed to find

solutions to the management problems experienced in practice and to increase efficiency.

Thanks to Taylor (1895), scientific methods and harmony have been brought into working

life. The concepts of motion and time in the workplace have been developed. It was ensured

that the work was completed in a shorter time. While these techniques help increase

production; ignored the human factor, especially job satisfaction. Taylorism sees man as a

machine. The only factor that was seen as a motivator was the salary. It is accepted that this

trend contributes to the development of HRM as it brings the salary to the fore. In the late

1920s, however, productivity and motivation decreased, and employees began to object to the

existing system. This entire bad situation has led management scientists to new studies.

Mayo (1924) conducted research in Hawthorne to correct the bad course. In these studies, the

relationship between improvement of physical conditions and productivity, as well as the

relationship between rest time, heating, noises and other physical working conditions and

productivity were examined. As a result of the researches, it has been concluded that the

physical factors affecting productivity are important and the person affecting productivity is

also human. Since these researches bring people to the fore in business life, they are

considered the beginning of HRM in the modern sense (Bayraktaro

glu, 2015).

First World War also affected the development process of HRM. The search for efficiency

during the war, the use of some scientific methods in the selection of soldiers for the armies,

the formation of trade union movements, the emergence of discipline has been influential on

the development of HRM. In parallel with these developments, personnel management units

were established in organizations in the 1920s, first in England and then in America (Adli and

Saleki, 2014). In the years after the Second World War, records regarding the personnel at the

lowest level of the organization began to be kept in personnel management, and a structure

that performed routine tasks such as filing, data storage, and payroll emerged. In the 1960s,

the issues of union and collective bargaining began to come to the fore in personnel

management. Institutionalization on these issues has increased. Lower-level personnel

managers have made an effort to solve the daily problems of the organizational personnel. In

addition, towards the end of the 1960s, HRM was used for the first time in textbooks (Ero

glu,

2016). The inadequacy of the term personnel management and the need for a deeper term on

human-related issues in organizations have led to the emergence of the concept of HRM. HRM

has emerged as a part of a long-term business system that combines the expectations of

HRM

Recruitment

and selection

Training and

development

Performance

assessment

Career

management

Salary

management

Figure 1.

Functions of HRM

Smart human

resources

management

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