Information Technology (IT) is a critical resource for today’s businesses (Pearlson, 2009). It supports and consumes a significant amount of an organization’s resources just like other resources such as people, money and machines. Technology facilitates the work that people do. Incorporating Human Resource Information System (HRIS) correctly into the organizations enables people to focus on their time and resources. The main purpose of this study is to explore the extent to which various universities and their affiliated colleges situated in Hyderabad have adopted HRIS, and also to examine the applications, benefits and barriers thereof. The findings from the study clearly revealed that there is no significant association between perception of respondents regarding the applications, benefits and barriers of HRIS. The present study provides some insights into the performance and application of HRIS in universities and their affiliated colleges and helps HRM practitioners to get better understanding of the uses, benefits and problems in its adoption.

Human Resource Information System (HRIS) is defined as interrelated components working together to collect, process, store and disseminate information to support decision making, coordination, control, analysis and utilization of an organization’s human resources management activities (Laudon and Laudon, 1998). The concept has three stages of development: the first stage is automatic processing of the routine information relating to the routine paper work at the operational levels in the organization; the second stage of Management Information System (MIS) involves detailed inquiry and report generation flexibility; the third stage is Decision Support System which facilitates decisions at higher levels in the organization. Hence, HRIS is considered as a systematic procedure for collecting, storing, maintaining and recovering data required by the organizations about their human resources, personal activities and organizational characteristics (Kovach et al., 2002). HRIS has different uses and benefits; it helps recording and analyzing the information related to the employees and the organization, and it helps in maintaining documents, such as employee handbooks, emergency evacuation procedures and safety procedure (Fletcher, 2005; and Lee, 2008). In many organizations, HRIS has been used to support their daily HRM operations (Ball, 2001; Hussain et al., 2007; and Delorme and Archand, 2010). However, HRIS should be used not only for administrative purposes but also for strategic decision-making purposes.

Many institutions, for lack of realization, pay scant attention to a basic issue like HRIS and talk of cutting-edge human strategies. In the absence of a proper flow of information and data, many HR decisions are taken in a subjective and ad hoc manner. Due to this, organizations not only fail to realize their human potential but also demotivate their employees with their subjective and unsystematic decisions, derived from either unsystematic data or no data. In this context, the present study helps professionals to design and implement a robust HRIS practice.

Organizational Behavior Journal, Status of Human Resource Information Systems (HRIS), Information Technology (IT), Management Information System (MIS), All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE).