The Importance of the Interface between Humans and Computers on the Effectiveness of eHRM

Technology has had a dramatic impact on the practice of human resources, and its impact is rapidly increasing. Even so, little research has examined how to apply information systems and human-computer interaction principles to designing human resource information systems. In this paper, we focus more closely on the role that the interface between the computer and human play in the success of electronic human resource management. Specifically, we a) briefly review the individual requirements of several eHRM functions (e.g., e-recruiting, e-selection, e-learning, e- compensation/benefits), b) consider how an understanding of human computer interaction can facilitate the success of these systems, c) reviews research on technical issues associated with eHRM, and d) highlight how applying HCI principles can increase their effectiveness. In addition, we introduce the remaining seven papers in the special issue

Introduction to the Special Issue on Human Resource Information Systems and Human Computer Interaction

In this special issue, we focus on the role that human-computer interaction (HCI) can play in the development and successful use of human resource information systems (HRIS) in organizations. There is no doubt that information systems have transformed the practice of human resources. From online/e-recruiting to e-learning and the growing interest in data analytics, the practice of human resources has become technology centric. Given the overlap of human resource practice and information systems, both fields need to work together to develop models and theories that advance the practice of HRIS in organizations. Therefore, this special issue a) briefly reviews the history of the HRIS field, b) advances theory and research that stands at the intersection of HRIS and HCI, and c) suggest new directions for research at the intersection of HRIS and HCI

The Evolution of the Field of Human Resource Information Systems: Co-Evolution of Technology and HR Processes

In this paper, we review the professional and academic development of the human resource information systems (HRIS) field to assess its progress and suggest ways for moving research forward. To do so, we examine the interplay between the evolution of technology and the HR field through four key eras of technology: 1) mainframe, 2) client server, 3) ERP and Web-based systems, and 4) cloud-based systems. In each era, we discuss how HR practices and requirements drove the need for the use of these systems and how these systems allowed the HR field to evolve. In addition, we trace the HRIS subfield and its relation to the technological evolutions occurring in the HR field. Somewhat surprisingly, we found that much of the research on the use of technology to support HR has occurred only in the last 15-20 years as a response to the use of the Web as a medium for delivering HRIS. We conclude by discussing how scholars from the information systems and human resources fields can come together to help advance HRIS

Individual Factors Affecting Entrepreneurship in Hispanics

A model of entrepreneurship (Baron & Henry, 2011) is used to understand and explain the factors related to the behaviors of Hispanic entrepreneurs. Testable hypotheses to guide future research are presented

Rising rural body-mass index is the main driver of the global obesity epidemic in adults

Body-mass index (BMI) has increased steadily in most countries in parallel with a rise in the proportion of the population who live in cities(.)(1,2) This has led to a widely reported view that urbanization is one of the most important drivers of the global rise in obesity(3-6). Here we use 2,009 population-based studies, with measurements of height and weight in more than 112 million adults, to report national, regional and global trends in mean BMI segregated by place of residence (a rural or urban area) from 1985 to 2017. We show that, contrary to the dominant paradigm, more than 55% of the global rise in mean BMI from 1985 to 2017-and more than 80% in some low- and middle-income regions-was due to increases in BMI in rural areas. This large contribution stems from the fact that, with the exception of women in sub-Saharan Africa, BMI is increasing at the same rate or faster in rural areas than in cities in low- and middle-income regions. These trends have in turn resulted in a closing-and in some countries reversal-of the gap in BMI between urban and rural areas in low- and middle-income countries, especially for women. In high-income and industrialized countries, we noted a persistently higher rural BMI, especially for women. There is an urgent need for an integrated approach to rural nutrition that enhances financial and physical access to healthy foods, to avoid replacing the rural undernutrition disadvantage in poor countries with a more general malnutrition disadvantage that entails excessive consumption of low-quality calories.Peer reviewe

Height and body-mass index trajectories of school-aged children and adolescents from 1985 to 2019 in 200 countries and territories: a pooled analysis of 2181 population-based studies with 65 million participants

Summary Background Comparable global data on health and nutrition of school-aged children and adolescents are scarce. We aimed to estimate age trajectories and time trends in mean height and mean body-mass index (BMI), which measures weight gain beyond what is expected from height gain, for school-aged children and adolescents. Methods For this pooled analysis, we used a database of cardiometabolic risk factors collated by the Non-Communicable Disease Risk Factor Collaboration. We applied a Bayesian hierarchical model to estimate trends from 1985 to 2019 in mean height and mean BMI in 1-year age groups for ages 5–19 years. The model allowed for non-linear changes over time in mean height and mean BMI and for non-linear changes with age of children and adolescents, including periods of rapid growth during adolescence. Findings We pooled data from 2181 population-based studies, with measurements of height and weight in 65 million participants in 200 countries and territories. In 2019, we estimated a difference of 20 cm or higher in mean height of 19-year-old adolescents between countries with the tallest populations (the Netherlands, Montenegro, Estonia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina for boys; and the Netherlands, Montenegro, Denmark, and Iceland for girls) and those with the shortest populations (Timor-Leste, Laos, Solomon Islands, and Papua New Guinea for boys; and Guatemala, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Timor-Leste for girls). In the same year, the difference between the highest mean BMI (in Pacific island countries, Kuwait, Bahrain, The Bahamas, Chile, the USA, and New Zealand for both boys and girls and in South Africa for girls) and lowest mean BMI (in India, Bangladesh, Timor-Leste, Ethiopia, and Chad for boys and girls; and in Japan and Romania for girls) was approximately 9–10 kg/m2. In some countries, children aged 5 years started with healthier height or BMI than the global median and, in some cases, as healthy as the best performing countries, but they became progressively less healthy compared with their comparators as they grew older by not growing as tall (eg, boys in Austria and Barbados, and girls in Belgium and Puerto Rico) or gaining too much weight for their height (eg, girls and boys in Kuwait, Bahrain, Fiji, Jamaica, and Mexico; and girls in South Africa and New Zealand). In other countries, growing children overtook the height of their comparators (eg, Latvia, Czech Republic, Morocco, and Iran) or curbed their weight gain (eg, Italy, France, and Croatia) in late childhood and adolescence. When changes in both height and BMI were considered, girls in South Korea, Vietnam, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and some central Asian countries (eg, Armenia and Azerbaijan), and boys in central and western Europe (eg, Portugal, Denmark, Poland, and Montenegro) had the healthiest changes in anthropometric status over the past 3·5 decades because, compared with children and adolescents in other countries, they had a much larger gain in height than they did in BMI. The unhealthiest changes—gaining too little height, too much weight for their height compared with children in other countries, or both—occurred in many countries in sub-Saharan Africa, New Zealand, and the USA for boys and girls; in Malaysia and some Pacific island nations for boys; and in Mexico for girls. Interpretation The height and BMI trajectories over age and time of school-aged children and adolescents are highly variable across countries, which indicates heterogeneous nutritional quality and lifelong health advantages and risks