The interface: computers and human resource management

An interface is the common boundary of two spaces. This paper discusses two very different interfaces. The first section focuses on the interface between the computer and the computer user. Emerging trends in human-computer interface research, including input/output devices, intelligent agents, extended reality, nomadic computing, and ubiquitous computing, are briefly reviewed. The remainder of this paper focuses on a second interface – the interface between computer technology and the human side of an organisation. In this section, the potential impact of computer technology on job design and analysis, performance appraisal, selection, training, careers, disabilities, and work/family conflict is discussed. Although emerging computer technologies impact every aspect of human resource management, research tends to focus on the technological and engineering aspects of the computer interface, rather than on the human resource impacts. This paper concludes by recommending areas for future research for those whose focus is on the organisation's human resources.