A TEXTUAL ANALYSIS OF RACIAL CONSIDERATIONS IN HUMAN RESOURCE ANALYTICS VENDORS’ MARKETING

Scott David Williams ()
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Scott David Williams: Department of Management & International Business, Wright State University, Dayton, Ohio, USA

Management Research and Practice, 2020, vol. 12, issue 4, 49-63

Abstract: The field of HR analytics is rapidly developing with innovations such as machine learning and artificial intelligence. At the same time, questions about whether HR analytics tools will be used in ways that help or harm racial fairness in employment have been raised. In fact, in some instances the use of HR analytics has triggered lawsuits and new legislation. To assess HR analytics vendors’ positions on the matter of racial fairness, a study was conducted of their webpage content pertaining to the matter. Among 121 vendors included in the sample, only nine had content on their webpages pertaining to racial fairness. This may be a surprisingly low frequency in view of the current global attention being given to racism. The goal of this study was to generate some initial data and stimulate interest in additional research. In particular, future research is needed to determine why so few HR analytics vendors mentioned racial concerns on their webpages. Since this study was exploratory in nature, definitive conclusions would be inappropriate. Nevertheless, findings suggest an HR analytics vendor could differentiate itself among competitors if it were to use its website landing page to clearly emphasize concern for racial fairness in how their products are used. The current study did not find HR analytics vendors had much to say about the effects of their products and services on racial fairness.

Keywords: human resource analytics; Racial biases; algorithms; artificial intelligence; discrimination; socially responsible marketing (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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