Johnson, Human Resource Information Systems, 5e
SAGE Publishing, 2021
Answers to Questions in the Text
Chapter 2: Systems Considerations in the Design of an HRIS
1. Identify the various types of users or customers of an HRIS.
Individuals who will be using the HRIS can be split into two general groups:
employees and nonemployees. The employee category includes the following:
• Managers who rely on the HRIS and the data analyzed by the
analyst/power user to make decisions
• Analysts or power users who use the HRIS to evaluate potential decision
choices and opportunities
2. What are the three broad categories of data that an HRIS manages?
Specific data from the HRIS database fit into three categories:
• Information about people, such as biographical information and competencies
(knowledge, skills, abilities, and other factors)
Johnson, Human Resource Information Systems, 5e
SAGE Publishing, 2021
3. How does network bandwidth affect a two-tier (client–server) architecture?
In a two-tier client–server architecture, a large amount of information has to
move from the client computer across the network to the server to execute
the ability to move lots of data quickly between computers.
4. How does an N-tier architecture simplify the IT department’s task of maintaining
client software?
N-tier architecture simplifies the IT department’s task of maintaining software
for the following reasons:
• It is expandable to multiple Web servers and application servers to handle
load balancing.
• Web servers can be geographically dispersed to provide worldwide access.
5. Research various middleware products from IBM, BEA, or Oracle, and discuss how
these products can be leveraged in an HRIS.
6. Research https://hropenstandards.org/. How many software vendors are involved
with the organization? What are the benefits of open standards?
This may be a good question to use as a homework assignment.
Johnson, Human Resource Information Systems, 5e
SAGE Publishing, 2021
7. Take a specific industry, say the K–12 education industry. How might HireRight’s
integration with Oracle’s PeopleSoft assist the process of hiring employees such as bus
drivers, janitors, or campus security?
8. When might BOB not be “best” solution for an organization?
BOB solutions introduce additional complexity into the software architecture.
This complexity adds IT expense in the form of new software licensing and/or