| Abstract: | Accounts of human resource information systems (HRISs) range from predominantly technical accounts, which assume that the data contained and the way it is organised are straightforward reflections of reality, to accounts which see such systems as a way of exercising disciplinary power through the creation of a new view of the organisation. These different conceptions are explored through an investigation of three organisations which were developing information systems relating to workforce skills and workplace requirements. The article focuses on different conceptualisations of skill and their significance for approaches to HR strategy. It is also concerned with the way in which managers develop and refine such information systems, and the analogy of mapping is examined as a way of understanding this process. |
