Enterprise e-recruitment: a problem-oriented conceptual model and ontology for contextualising recruitment problem space.

Abstract

Internet-led labour market has become so competitive forcing many organisations from different sectors to embrace e-recruitment. However, it is challenging to realise the value of e-recruitment from a Requirements Engineering (RE) analysis perspective, which is the overall problem addressed in this thesis. The research was originated from the failure of realising the e- recruitment value in a real e-recruitment project conducted in the Secureland Army (SA). After reviewing the various challenges faced in that project through a number of related research domains, the thesis focuses on two major problems that are root causes of the overall problem of the thesis: (1) the difficulty of scoping, representing, and systematically transforming recruitment problem knowledge towards e-recruitment solution specification; and (2) the difficulty of documenting e-recruitment best practices for reuse purposes in an enterprise recruitment environment. These problems are related to some knowledge gaps in the research literature. To address the foregoing problems, the thesis developed four artefacts leading to contributions to knowledge centred on enterprise e-recruitment: (1) a Problem-Oriented Conceptual Model (POCM) to contextualise and represent the various recruitment problem viewpoints from an enterprise perspective; (2) a complementary Ontology for Recruitment Problem Definition (Onto-RPD) to elaborate those problem viewpoints towards a comprehensive recruitment problem definition; (3) a POCM-informed Requirements Analysis Approach (POCM-RAA) to utilise POCM and systematically derive and analyse requirements through different levels of abstraction towards the e-solution space; and (4) an Enterprise Recruitment Metamodel (ERM) to enable a better documentation and reuse of Enterprise Recruitment Best Practices (ERBPs) by combining the elements of the three artefacts previously developed with the elements of a template defined for that purpose. The overall research methodology adopted is design science, a scientific study for creating artefacts with the goal of solving practical problems. The POCM and Onto-RPD artefacts were developed incrementally using action-research conducted on three real case studies, and evaluated using a focus group. Based on the POCM and Onto-RPD, the POCM-RAA was developed using a literature study as well as well-established RE approaches. The ERM was developed by consolidating and integrating the previous artefacts with a defined template for documentation. The evaluation indicates that the POCM and Onto-RPD provide a strong foundation for representing and defining recruitment problem from different enterprise perspectives. Moreover, the POCM-RAA can support a systematic guidance and transformation of recruitment problem domain knowledge towards e-recruitment solution. The ERM supported by an example of application showed its feasibility towards a better structuring and documenting of ERBPs. Finally, the four artefacts developed can collectively contribute to the resolution of research problem and enable realisation of e-recruitment value. However, some limitations with the artefacts were addressed for future work.