Effects of electronic commerce on human resource in banking industry : a case of standard chartered bank Ltd. Kenya

Abstract

Electronic Commerce (e-Commerce) technologies are changing the way that work tasks are conducted and thus have significant implications for the way organizations manage their human resource (HR) functions (Hunter1998). Although the impact of information technology (IT) on work and employment has been the subject of research, little attention has been paid to e-Commerce and its effect on work organization and HR management. The implementation of IT has shown to change the way that jobs are designed. These changes can have positive and negative outcomes for workers. This study was specifically set out to achieve the broad objective of establishing the effects of implementing e-Commerce on human resource in the banking industry. The study entailed answering the following research questions: i) what are the effects of eCommerce on workforce structure? ii) What are the effects of e-Commerce on employee skills?. To achieve this, data was collected using the following instruments; questionnaires and interview schedules which were administered among members of Standard Chartered Bank Limited, Kenya. A sample size of 100 respondents was drawn from a total of 252 employees using simple random sampling method and purposively sampling. Secondary data was used in getting the required information from Standard Chartered Bank employees. Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics with aid Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) Software Package. In the light of these findings, the research records that there is a need to develop human resource management strategies (HRM) that prepare employees to work with new technologies effectively. This impacts on how organizations recruit and retain their staff as well as the level and type of skills required for jobs redesigned after the implementation of e-Commerce applications.