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The role and impact of Information Technology (IT) on the human resource functions has been both
pervasive and profound. A recent study, noted that IT can be a potent weapon for lowering administrative
costs, increasing productivity, speeding response time, improving decision making, and enhancing
customer service. Ultimately, IT can provide data and communications platform that helps HR link and
leverage the firm¶s human capital to achieve competitive advantage.

Despite the potential benefits of IT, most organizations have a fairly dismal record of turning their
investment in technology into increased productivity and strategic capability. Furthermore the
overwhelming majority of HR departments have never used their systems for strategic purposes. The
problems tend not to be with the availability of IT for HR application. We present our views on how
managers can identify, partition, and prioritize IT applications to support their HR initiatives. We describe
three basic ways in which IT can impact HR:

|
 discuss the 
  of IT; that is, alleviating the administrative burden, reducing costs,
and improving productivity internal to the HR functions itself. The strong administrative component of HR
makes it a logical candidate for automation. Also, because cost reduction and increased productivity have
been preeminent goals of HR, the focus of most IT applications have been on the internal operations of
HR function itself.

à
we will describe the 
   of IT; that is, providing managers and employees access
to the HR databases, simultaneously reducing response time, and improving service levels. Whereas in
the previous section we focus primarily on the improving internal operations of the HR functions, in this
section we concentrate more on how IT influences HR¶S relationships with other parties within the
organizations. IT allows HR to enhance service to outsiders by providing line managers and employees
with access to HR databases, supporting their HR related decisions, and increasing their ability to connect
with other parts of the corporations.

p
, we will discuss the 

  of IT; that is, organizing human interaction to create
virtual teams and more flexible network organizations. Trends toward restructuring, reengineering,
outsourcing and strategic alliances all represent efforts by organizations to change the way they do
business.

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The role and impact of Information Technology (IT) on the human resource functions has been both
pervasive and profound. IT encompasses a wide range of tools including hardware (from word-processing
programs to expert system), software (from main-frames to microcomputers), networks, and work
stations. The vast majority of firms have made at least some us of IT to transform their HR functions.
Infect, within US corporations alone, IT now represents the single largest capital expenditure, accounting
for almost one-third of all capital investment.
ÿerhaps even more significant than the level of IT usage is  Yp      
 IT allows us to
store and retrieve large amounts of information quickly and inexpensively. We can also rapidly and
accurately combine and reconfigure data to create new information. Further, we have begun to store and
quickly use the judgment and decision models developed in the minds of experts, allowing us to
institutionalize organizational knowledge.

With IT networks, we can communicate more easily and selectively with others in remote parts of the
world, thereby allowing us to make even better use of the information at our disposal. A recent IBM-
Towers ÿerrin study, ³ÿriorities for comparative advantages,´ noted that IT can be a potent weapon for
lowering administrative costs, increasing productivity, speeding response time, improving decision
making, and enhancing customer service. Ultimately, IT can provide data and communications platform
that helps HR link and leverage the firm¶s human capital to achieve competitive advantage.

Despite the potential benefits of IT, most organizations have a fairly dismal record of turning their
investment in technology into increased productivity and strategic capability. Loveman, for example, found
that capital expenditures on IT have historically been the last effective method for improving productivity.
Kinnie and Arthurs found that, within HR, IT has been used as no more than an ³electronic filing cabinet´
for keeping records and processing routine administrative tasks. Furthermore the overwhelming majority
of HR departments have never used their systems for strategic purposes. The problems tend not to be
with the availability of IT for HR application. Indeed, virtually all of the technology needed to compete in
the twenty-first century is readily accessible today. Rather, the evidence suggests that senior managers
do not have a workable framework that conveys how IT can be leveraged to exploit its full benefits with
HR.

We present our views on how managers can identify, partition, and prioritize IT applications to support
their HR initiatives. We describe three basic ways in which IT can impact HR:

|
 we discuss the 
   of IT; that is, alleviating the administrative burden, reducing
costs, and improving productivity internal to the HR functions itself. One of the first ways we can think
about the usage of IT is improving the operational efficiency of the HR functions. The strong
administrative component of HR makes it a logical candidate for automation. Also, because cost reduction
and increased productivity have been preeminent goals of HR, the focus of most IT applications have
been on the internal operations of HR function itself.

à
we will describe the 
   of IT; that is, providing managers and employees access
to the HR databases, simultaneously reducing response time, and improving service levels. Whereas in
the previous section we focus primarily on the improving internal operations of the HR functions, in this
section we concentrate more on how IT influences HR¶S relationships with other parties within the
organizations. IT allows HR to enhance service to outsiders by providing line managers and employees
with access to HR databases, supporting their HR related decisions, and increasing their ability to connect
with other parts of the corporations.

p
, we will discuss the 

  of IT; that is, organizing human interaction to create
virtual teams and more flexible network organizations. We can view the impact of IT in how it helps
transform the organizations. In environment characterized by uncertainty and intense rivalry, many
companies are scrambling to reinvent themselves. Global competition, faster products cycles, and the
need to leverage knowledge across business units require a much more agile form of organizations.
Trends toward restructuring, reengineering, outsourcing and strategic alliances all represent efforts by
organizations to change the way they do business. IT plays a pivotal role in this transformation.
Furthermore, while the changes are not always directed by the HR department, the IT applications almost
always involve the management of people.

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³There are three types of companies: Those who make things happen; those who watch things happen;
those who wonder what has happened´.

  



At the time of independence in 1947, ÿakistan had 77 Insurance Companies out of which 7 were local and
70 were foreign resident companies. There was neither reinsurance nor a public sector at that time. This
situation remains till 1952. In 1952, the Government of ÿakistan established ÿakistan Insurance
Corporation as a reinsurance company and asked all the insurance companies to cede 10% of all their
business to ÿakistan Insurance Corporation. For these reasons, in addition to other factor, 40 of these
foreign companies wound up their business and left ÿakistan. In 1993, there were 57 insurance
companies in the private sector and three in the public sector.

In 1972, all life insurance business was nationalized and a corporation under the name of State Life
Insurance Corporation (SLIC) was formed which consisted of 35 companies. Eastern Federal Union
(EFU) was the largest among these companies. Since the SLIC is the only Life Insurance Company in
ÿakistan. But no under the liberalization program of the government many insurance companies have
been given licenses to start life insurance business. These are:

· § Metropolitan Life Insurance

· § American Life Insurance Co. (ALICO)

· § Commercial Union Life Assurance

· § Eastern Federal Union Assurance (EFU)

· § New Jubilee Insurance (NIC)

Up till now there are 10 foreign resident insurance companies, 47 local (national) insurance companies
and 3 public sector insurance concerns.

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