Digitalization in Human Resource Management

Abstract

The concept of digital human resource  management and related concepts such as the  digitization of human resource management, the  digitalization of human resource management, the  digital transformation of human resource management,  and the digital disruption of human resource  management are gaining prominence in scholarly  discussion. Frequently, however, the use of these  concepts is implicit, heterogeneous, and proliferating.  These concepts, thus, lack the “conceptual clarity”  necessary in research. Therefore, this article aims at  a conceptual clarification of digital human resource  management and of related concepts of the digitization of human resource management, the digitalization of  human resource management, the digital transformation  of human resource management, and the digital  disruption of human resource management. To  do so, the article references general literature on  digital organizations to develop a terminology and  typology of digital human resource management.  The terminology offers precise and parsimonious definitions of the concepts and relationships between  them, offering a basic understanding. The typology  offers precise and parsimonious ideal-types, which  order and classify phenomena related to digital human  resource management, in turn expanding knowledge  about these phenomena. Together, the terminology  and typology clarify the concept of digital human  resource management and related concepts, uncover  digital human resource management as an evolutionary advancement of previous conceptualizations of technology-based human resource management, and provide a conceptual basis for future work on digital  human resource management.