• Discuss the key problems with the old system(s) and the factors contributing to these problems? How were the problems identified?
• How did the new system address these problems? What was the impact of the new system?
• What elements of the implementation approach likely promoted its success? In what way? What elements might have put the new system at risk? In what way?
• What measures would you use to assess the long-term impact of this change?

Hitachi Consulting Moves Human Resources to the Cloud CASE STUDY tachi Consulting Corporation is an interna- legacy HR system needed to be replaced. One top H donal management and technology consulting priority was to improve business processes for tal- firm headquartered in Dallas, Texas and a sub- ent acquisition and development so that Hitachi sidiary of Hitachi Led. based in Tokyo, Japan, Hitachi Consulting could find the right people better, faster, Consulting currently employs approximately 6,500 and cheaper. In the past, Hitachi Consulting waited people in 22 countries, including the United States. until a new position opened before actively recruit- Japan, Brazil, China, India, Portugal, Singapore, ing new talent. Its new HR function sought to cul- Spain, the UK, Germany, and Vietnam, Because the tivate relationships with top candidates, fueled by company provides consulting services, its employees employee referrals and social networks. Through are its most important resource. To succeed competi- ongoing dialogues, the HR staff could identify star tively. Hitachi Consulting must ensure that it has the talent and quickly hire these people when the time right number of employees with the right skills and was right. Hitachi hoped that the new HR system expertise wherever and whenever the need for its would reduce recruiting costs, improve candidate consulting services arise. The human resources func- experience, engagement, and retention, and expand tion is especially important in a company of this sort. recognition of Hitachi as an employer of choice. Four years ago, Hitachi Consulting decided to Another high priority was having a single system grow its business model to include turnkey and of record as the authoritative source of information custom solutions combining business best practices for all of HCC's regions with a central repository for and leading-edge technologies such as the Internet HR data. With an enterprise-wide cloud application, of Things (ToT) as well as traditional consulting HR and IT managers could centrally assign author services, Hitachi is doing this across many areas- rail rizations for data access based on roles and respons and transportation, energy, water, cities, healthcare, sibilities, while also enforcing global security and and public safety. A key success factor is to collabo- regulatory policies. HCC's workforce regularly works rate with partners, clients and other stakeholders at client sites and requires access to enterprise data across entire industries. These new offerings require and applications from tablets and smartphones, so people with appropriate talents and skills to deliver the new solution needed to provide mobile access Hitachi Consulting's new solution portfolio. The as well, which was not possible with HCC's legacy company had to recast its Human Resources depart- systems. Other goals included expanded analytics ment to operate more strategically so that it would and reporting capabilities, and a global platform to have the right human resources in place to do the streamline compensation, benefits, and absence work management. Hitachi Consulting was saddled with multiple dis- A steering committee composed of HR, business, parate local human resources systems (and in some and IT leadership evaluated various technology cases just spreadsheets) that held its valuable em- options, selecting Oracle HCM Cloud for the solu- playec data. These systems were not integrated with the company's legacy Human Resources system in tion. Oracle HCM Cloud is a cloud-based system for the United States, There was no way to easily obtain Human Capital Management (HCM), providing a sin an enterprise-wide view of the company's workforce. gle global human resources solution to maintain em- When a senior executive requested such company- ployee records, align common HR processes, attract. wide data for decision making, HR staff had to manu- develop and retain top talent, improve employee ally assemble and aggregate the necessary data. The productivity, control labor costs, and address simple process would take days. Dealing with such complex and complex employee compensation needs. There manual processes and siloed data prevented the com- are capabilities for recruiting candidates, managing pany from operating under a single source of truth." performance, developing careers, providing learning. For the company to move forward, its Human performing talent reviews, and planning successions Resources function had to be transformed and its Hitachi Consulting was growing quickly, and the flexibility of cloud computing was helpful when