CALL FOR ABSTRACTS: INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE 

CONFERENCE THEME: TRANSFORMING BUSINESS PRACTICE THROUGH HUMAN RESOURCE ANALYTICS IN ORGANISATIONS

The Midlands State University is calling for abstracts for a hybrid conference under the theme “Transforming Business Practice Through Human Resource Analytics in Organisations 

The backdrop of the conference comes under three major local and international trends. First, calls are being made in driving Zimbabwe towards being an innovation-based economy. Efforts in local imperatives such as Education 5.0 attest to such efforts. Crucial here is the development of human capital and the harnessing of technology to achieve success. Second, a global phenomenon is observed where organizations are being encouraged to make use of data science and also business analytics. The Human Resource function potentially can benefit from this. Third, there are growing calls to advance understanding especially around the role of Human Resources Analytics (HRA) within the contemporary world of work.

HRA is best defined as “human resource practice enabled by information technology that uses descriptive, visual, and statistical analyses of data related to Human Resource (HR) processes, organizational performance, and external economic benchmarks to establish business impact and enable data-driven decision-making” (Marler & Boudreau, 2017, p.15). The widespread adoption of the internet has changed the game and potential rate of adoption for human capital analytics in global organisations, as data became more easily shared and computing power increased.

As the survival of our planet and even humanity is threatened by unsustainable business practices, human capital management scholars have never been placed in such an important role in society. Researchers, educators, business leaders and academics have a huge responsibility in transforming businesses through HRA. The current and future generations look up to researchers, educators, business leaders and academics to deliver on this mandate. HRA and data driven decision-making are propelling a mega-transformation of organisations in the 21st century.

To apply data driven decisions in businesses, there is need for each field of research in the broad portfolio that comprises management to create and disseminate knowledge. This involves both conceptual and empirical research aimed at describing the complexity of Human Resource data used to provide solutions at the workplace. 

The Human Resource Analytics conference will be held at the Midlands State University main campus in Gweru, Zimbabwe. The conference takes between 15th – 17th of November 2023. The organizing team invites scholars to submit research abstracts for papers that address issues related to but not limited to the following sub-themes:

Sub Theme 1: Human Capital Value Addition through Human Resource Analytics.

Recruitment and Selection Analytics

Corporate Culture Analytics

Employment Relations Analytics

Employee Behavior Analytics

Leadership Analytics

Performance Management Analytics

Gender Analytics

Green Human Resource Management and Sustainable Development

Sub-Theme 2: Technology and the transformation of work in a post-industrial society

Possible areas of interest include the following but are not limited to: 

Artificial intelligence

Technology and flexible work

Technology and the changing nature of work for example, the shift from manual to automated work and its effect on workers and work processes.

Technology and outsourcing of work

Technology and Work-life merge

Sub-Theme 3: Improving workplace safety through Human Resource Analytics

Causes, occurrence and prevention of accidents

Behavior Based Safety Management

Workplace Mental Health

Stress Management

Substance abuse at workplace

Sub-Theme 4: The Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) and Human Resource Management (HRM) Nexus

Implications of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) in Public Sector Human Resource Management practices

Emerging HRM roles and technological skills requirements in the 4IR era

Integrating Management Information Systems in contemporary Human Resource Management functions in Public Sector

Cybersecurity and digital employment records management 

Social Media prevalence and workplace productivity 

In your abstract be guided by the following template:

Title:

Name of author, affiliation, and email of corresponding author,

Abstract of 250 words

Keywords (that are not in the title)

Abstracts should be submitted to the following email address:  hrmanalyticsconference@admin.msu.ac.zw

Timelines:

Call for Abstracts open – 3 October 2023

Deadline for Abstract submission: 3 October 2023

Notification of abstracts accepted – Ongoing

Deadline of full paper (6000 words) – 10 October 2023

Conference dates 16-17 November 2023

Registration Fee: International Delegates Early Registration: USD 200 

International Delegates Late Registration: USD250 

Local Delegates Early Registration: USD100 (equivalent in RTGS/ZWL) 

Local Delegates Late Registration: USD150 (equivalent in RTGS/ZWL) 

International Students Early Registration: USD100 

International Students Late Registration: USD125 

Local Students Early Registration: USD75 (equivalent in RTGS/ZWL) 

Local Students Late Registration: USD 100 (equivalent in RTGS/ZWL) 

Presentation formats: Plenary; poster presentation and oral presentation

NB: Selected articles will be published in the Dyke Journal under a special issue.

Review of articles – up to 30th October 2023

Expected date of publication – 30th November 2023

Was this post helpful?