Do we expect too much from new technologies? A comparison of Expected versus Realized Benefits for a national Human Resource Information System (HRIS).

This paper reports on a study of the development and implementation of HRIS in national health organization of one European country. Drawing on the results of documentary analysis and stakeholder interviews, it compares the expected benefits driving implementation of the system with those that were actually achieved right after the system implementation, as well as the unintended consequences and aspects of the development and implementation process that led to the current project outcomes. Our analysis suggests that HRIS implementation in health organizations is driven by similar expected benefits to those driving implementation in other types of organization. However, they are also driven by organizational practices to benchmark themselves to the sector leaders and by particular requirements of the health sector. Finally, building on the previous research we identified a wide range of sociotechnical factors that shaped the implementation of the new system and affected the realization of its envisaged benefits.