Talent management and the HRIS specialist: A narrative analysis

Researchers are required to make methodological choices about the underlying nature of phenomena being investigated, which appropriate research methods to use and how to present valid evidence. Information systems (IS) is a discipline originally rooted in a single overarching perspective, the positivist/realist domain, but critics of such a narrow view have encouraged a move towards more interpretive approaches in order to understand human thought and action in social and organisational contexts. Addressing this gap, we demonstrate, using examples from case study and ethnographic research on human resourcing information systems (HRIS), how four analytical „tools‟ (contextual narrative, personal narrative, template analysis and evaluation) can be used to interpret respondents‟ accounts. It is found that narratives can provide a meaningful description of events and experiences through time and go some way to encourage an informed consideration of alternative approaches to the positivist research dominating the IS domain. Critical reflections of narrative analysis are also provided in the paper.