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Human Resource Analytics (HRA) is a technology-enabled organisational practice that utilises quantitative data and analysis to enhance HR decision-making. While HRA has gained increasing interest among HR practitioners, its adoption has been predominantly concentrated in technology-intensive private sector companies. At the same time, academic research on HRA remains limited, particularly in the public sector. Although factors such as low technological maturity and a lesser focus on profit maximisation and competitive advantage may hinder its implementation, HRA holds significant potential for public sector organisations due to their distinct characteristics. These include large workforces generating extensive HR-related data, political authority, governmental ownership, and a strong emphasis on transparency, accountability, and efficiency in areas such as competence supply, workforce recruitment, and retention.This thesis comprises four papers that collectively conceptualise and investigate the practice of HRA, exploring the reasons, preconditions, and processes involved in its implementation within public sector organisations. Empirical data were collected from three Swedish public sector organisations at the national, regional, and local levels. The study employs an engaged scholarship research design, allowing for the pragmatic application of multiple theoretical perspectives best suited to address the overarching research question: How is HRA being implemented in public sector organisations? This research aims to contribute to the existing HRA literature while also offering practical insights for organisations and HR practitioners operating in this under-researched context.By adopting a practice-based approach, informed by institutional legitimacy concept, the AMO (Ability, Motivation, Opportunity) framework, and organisational translation perspective, this thesis reveals that HRA practices undergo significant adaptation during implementation. In the public sector, HRA has primarily been limited to improving HR reporting and the visualisation of descriptive HR data. HRA practitioners, driven by contextual factors and the need to ensure the legitimacy of HR activities through economic rationality, face constraints related to analytical skills, organisational resources, and sector-specific characteristics.Given the rapid advancements in technology, including the growing influence of AI, future research should explore how these developments, alongside challenges such as employee privacy and data protection, impact the further evolution of HRA practices in the public sector.

Purpose – This study explores the rationale behind the utilisation of human resource (HR) analytics in public sector organisations. The existing HR analytics literature exhibits limited empirical evidence and has predominantly focused on the business context of private firms. In addressing this gap, the study seeksto answer the following research question: What reasonsfor the adoption of HR analytics can be identified in public sector organisations?

Design/methodology/approach – The study employs a qualitative approach drawing on the empirical data collected from three public administrations in Sweden – national, regional and local. A total of 51 in-depth interviews are conducted with HR and other organisational practitioners engaged in HR analytics practices.

Findings – Drawing on the institutional legitimacy perspective, this paper suggests that public sector organisations adopt HR analytics to secure cognitive, socio-political and technological legitimacy, stemming from explanations rooted in economic rationality. This encompasses organisational and HR-related outcomes achieved through data management and analysis, driven by the personal interests of specific individuals.

Research limitations/implications – This study contributes to ongoing debates about the adoption of HR analytics in diverse contextual settings. Future research is needed in other organisational contexts, including various national and international settings.

Practical implications – The results of this study offer practical insights for HR practitioners in public sector organisations seeking to adopt HR analytics to enhance organisational and HR legitimacy.

Originality/value – This study contributes to the HR analytics literature by providing empirical evidence from the public sector. Furthermore, it advocates for a synthesis of economic rationality with legitimacy gains and individual interests to elucidate the rationale behind the adoption of HR analytics.

The use of data analytics has gained popularity among various managerial functions, aligning with the principles of evidence-based management. Reflecting this trend, human resource management has also embraced the managerial fashion, framing it as human resource (HR) analytics. HR analytics represents a relatively recent HR innovation, generally understood as a technology-driven organisational practice of analysing HR and other data to make better people-related decisions.

Despite the growing interest among HR scholars and practitioners, empirical evidence remains limited, particularly in the context of public sector organisations, which have also begun leveraging HR analytics, albeit with some delay. Thus, the aim of this study is to describe the process of HR analytics implementation from a translation perspective. We seek to answer the following research question: How is HR analytics being translated in the practices of public sector organisations?

HR analytics implementation is seen as a broader concept, but it is not sufficient to explain the changes that occur in the process and why the results do not always meet expectations. To increase understanding, we use the concept of translation. Drawing on Scandinavian institutionalism and the organisational translation perspective, we show how the practice of HR analytics has been adapted for use in two public administrations in Sweden: a state authority and a regional administration. We employ a longitudinal research design comprising three phases of data collection conducted over a period of three years. This includes a total of 51 in-depth interviews with organisational practitioners involved in HR analytics implementation, observation of project meetings, and document analysis. The process data are analysed using a visual mapping strategy combined with thematic analysis. 

Our preliminary findings show that during the process of translation, the concept of HR analytics underwent significant transformation to meet specific organisational needs. One previously deemed important aspect of the concept, namely predictive and prescriptive analyses, was omitted during the translation process. Conversely, another aspect, namely descriptive statistics, received significantly more attention compared to the conceptualisation in existing literature within the field.

The study contributes to the existing HR analytics literature by providing empirical evidence from the underexplored context of public sector organisations. The study makes a general theoretical contribution to the literature on how managerial ideas are adapted during the process of translation. We demonstrate that ideas may not only be transformed through adaptation, but some important aspects may be lost in the translation process, resulting in the loss of the original meaning. 

Syftet med workshopen är att öppna upp för idé- och erfarenhetsutbyte gällande digitalisering och dess verksamhetsspecifika möjligheter, begränsningar och (etiska) konsekvenser kopplat till företagsekonomisk utbildning och forskning. Vi vill även bidra till nätverksskapande för forskare och lärare som intresserar sig för denna kunskapsutveckling och hur den påverkar framtidens företagsekonomiska utbildning.Vi inleder workshoppen med en kort presentation av våra påbörjade forskningsaktiviteter inom bl a HR-analytics, e-ledarskap, projektledning kopplat till digitalisering av produktionssystem och Business Intelligence samt hur dessa kunskaper kan inkluderas i våra kurser. Därefter öppnar vi upp för smågruppsdiskussioner med dessa frågeställningar: - Vilka forskningsfrågor inom digitalisering och dess verksamhetsspecifika möjligheter, begränsningar och (etiska) konsekvenser är ni intresserad av? Vilka teorier och metoder används (planerar att användas)? - Hur jobbar ni (vill ni jobba) med utveckling av digitaliseringskompetens som kunskaps- och färdighetsområde i era utbildningar?Deltagarna kommer under smågruppdiskussioner kunna föra anteckningar via onlineverktyg (Padlet), vilka sedan används för sammanfattning och erfarenhetsutbyte mellan grupperna i slutet av workshopen. Möjligt att ansluta eller lämna i samband med pausen. Svenska och engelska mixas.

HR analytics (HRA) is a new activity within the field of HR that companies recently have shown a strongly growing interest in. The practical interest has generated a stream of research with the aim to increase formal knowledge about the phenomenon. Following this development several early literature reviews have been conducted. They mostly focus on enabling and preventing factors for HRA without clearly relating to theoretical perspectives and standpoints. This paper therefore aims to achieve more in-depth formal knowledge by placing the early flow of HRA research in relation to the practice theory reflecting the general “practice turn” in social sciences. Inspired by the HRM-as-practice framework this paper systematically reviews existing research based on the four pre-defined categories: HRA practices, HRA praxis, HRA practitioners and intersections between them. This paper makes two theoretical contributions. First, it conceptualizes HRA-as-practice, describing what practices are involved in HRA, by whom and how they are enacted. And second, it suggests that HRA technology, HRA outcomes and HRA hinders and facilitators might act at the intersections between the three elements.

The summary of the insights from the current literature indicates that HR analytics is a growing field which is still characterized by the general lack of empirical research. Especially noticeable is the shortage of studies conducted in the public sector context. Existing studies heavily employed strategic perspective on HR analytics, meaning that its successful implementation depends on the strategically relevant measures linked to the organizational strategy execution. The focus is moved from justifying the effectiveness of the HR function towards the impact of organizational workforce on the organizational success and competitive advantage. Moreover, HR analytics is conceptualized as an ongoing process, rather than a statistical toolkit. This opens up for the discussion of possibilities to apply the concept of HR analytics process in the public sector context.

Purpose: To explore consumers’ attitudes towards e-commerce, in particular online grocery shopping, and its delivery in non-dense areas for the purpose of designing smart last-mile solutions.

Approach: The state-of-the-art of smart e-commerce delivery in dense areas was identified by a review of the literature. It was expected that this knowledge could be transferred to non-dense areas. This prediction was examined and explored further by making use of four focus groups recruited in a Swedish mid-sized town.

Findings: Respondents were generally positive towards e-commerce, although mixed attitudes were found with regard to online grocery shopping. Further, the willingness to pay for flexible, smart and sustainable delivery was low, with a notable exception for local produce.

Originality: The knowledge acquired and solution developed in dense areas is not readily transferred to non-dense areas. There is scope for developing new Business Models for the supply chain of local produce. For the prototype testing and roll-out of smart e-commerce delivery platforms, the online local produce market is recommended.

The topic of human resource (HR) analytics has recently attracted growing interest. Despite numerous advantages, adopting HR analytics in practice is still limited, especially in a public sector context. The aim of this study is to investigate why this is the case. The study applies the Ability, Motivation, and Opportunity (AMO) framework to examine public sector HR professionals’ preconditions for HR analytics. A total of 30 interviews were conducted with HR practitioners in three public administration authorities in Sweden and they were analysed using thematic template analysis. The results show that despite the high motivation to comply with governments’ political agendas, improve decision-making, and ensure transparency, HR practitioners report a lack of analytical skills and technical knowledge. They are also limited by data availability, technical support, scarce resources, and complex organisational structures. The study adds to a growing body of HR analytics literature and highlights the complexity involved in HR analytics adoption.