Strategic Human Resource Management and Technology 379Knowledge - Level Systems
Knowledge - level systems support knowledge and data workers in an orga-
nization. The purpose of these systems is to help the organization inte-
grate new knowledge into the agency and control the fl ow of paperwork.
Reporting systems support knowledge - level systems. Generating reports is
a basic function of most information systems. For example, demographic
data can be used to complete required government forms, or a time and
attendance system could be used to generate reports on sick time used by
different departments to identify those with high absenteeism. In the case
of a direct service nonprofi t receiving public funds, the hours of services
delivered can be reported to receive reimbursements.Management - Level Systems
Management - level systems are designed to serve the monitoring,
controlling, decision - making, and administrative activities of middle man-
agers. Decision-support systems support management - level systems. They
go beyond simply reporting information, typically incorporating rules,
formulas, or specialized displays that are designed to help end users make
decisions. Scheduling and staffi ng are areas where decision support can
be useful. In scheduling, a routine question is how many people should be
scheduled for a given time period or particular event. If there are changes
in workload or seasonal variations due to increasing or decreasing need
for services or attendance at events, it may be helpful to have a model that
recommends the number of people in each job category who should be
scheduled. Similar questions emerge over the longer term with respect
to recruitment and staffi ng. If increased retirements are expected, what
are the knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics (KSAOCs) of
people who need to be hired, and how many people should be hired?
Other HRM topics such as benefi ts planning and analysis are good candi-
dates for decision support.Strategic - Level Systems
Strategic - level systems help senior management address strategic issues
and long - term trends in both the agency and the external environment.
Executive-support systems support strategic - level systems. Whereas tra-
ditional decision-support systems are directed at well - defi ned, narrowly
focused problems, executive-support systems bring together data from