Assessing the IT training and development climate: an application of the Q-methodology

Abstract

The Q-methodology was employed to address the managerial problem of deciding which of the firm's personnel development resources should be aimed at which personnel, or groups of personnel, through the various venues of development that are available to the firm for the development of its IT workforce. The procedure identified six interpretable groups of IT professionals that seem to be associated with the development priorities of the IT management, analytical, development & programming, and operations functions. Opportunities are identified for both future research and the practical application of the Q-methodology, its associated instrumentation, and analytical procedure as a managerial decision tool in the context of the internal development of the firm's IT personnel to meet the firm's goals.