Despite over six decades of research on the role and definition of the IT workforce, there remain numerous, and often contradictory, definitions related to the identity of this group. The IT workforce is made up of IT professionals, computer scientists, software developers, and business professionals trained in MIS, as well as various occupational sub-categories in organizations including programmer, analyst, network specialist, and project manager, to name only a few. Despite this, some researchers, funding organizations, and practitioners refer to the "IT workforce" as if this term represents a homogeneous group of individuals that is clearly defined and understood. Our findings contradict this assumption, and raise a number of challenges for management, researchers, policy makers, educators, and funding agencies. We argue that a clear definition of the IT workforce would assist at all levels, and might bring some additional clarity to training, hiring, and retention issues.
{"title":"Who is \"the IT workforce\"?: challenges facing policy makers, educators, management, and research","authors":"Michelle L. Kaarst-Brown, Indira R. Guzman","doi":"10.1145/1055973.1055975","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1145/1055973.1055975","url":null,"abstract":"Despite over six decades of research on the role and definition of the IT workforce, there remain numerous, and often contradictory, definitions related to the identity of this group. The IT workforce is made up of IT professionals, computer scientists, software developers, and business professionals trained in MIS, as well as various occupational sub-categories in organizations including programmer, analyst, network specialist, and project manager, to name only a few. Despite this, some researchers, funding organizations, and practitioners refer to the \"IT workforce\" as if this term represents a homogeneous group of individuals that is clearly defined and understood. Our findings contradict this assumption, and raise a number of challenges for management, researchers, policy makers, educators, and funding agencies. We argue that a clear definition of the IT workforce would assist at all levels, and might bring some additional clarity to training, hiring, and retention issues.","PeriodicalId":318957,"journal":{"name":"SIGMIS CPR '05","volume":"268 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2005-04-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"115826580","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Stephen C. Wingreen, J. Blanton, Sandra K. Newton, M. Domino
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.
{"title":"Assessing the IT training and development climate: an application of the Q-methodology","authors":"Stephen C. Wingreen, J. Blanton, Sandra K. Newton, M. Domino","doi":"10.1145/1055973.1055977","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1145/1055973.1055977","url":null,"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.","PeriodicalId":318957,"journal":{"name":"SIGMIS CPR '05","volume":"5 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2005-04-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"121115682","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Research in the area of business process redesign has traditionally focused on performance metrics for measuring process change. However, from the perspective of an employee performing the business process, such measurements are inadequate because they fail to account for the knowledge change required for the employee to perform the new process. This paper explores process redesign from a knowledge perspective. We introduce the concept of a knowledge gap when a process is redesigned and, using theories of learning transfer, identify several process knowledge elements. A framework incorporating these knowledge elements can be used to assess knowledge change during process redesign. We illustrate the use of this framework in a case study, the process redesign at Campus Health department of a large public university.
{"title":"A knowledge-centric framework for process redesign","authors":"Kelly J. Fadel, M. Tanniru","doi":"10.1145/1055973.1055984","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1145/1055973.1055984","url":null,"abstract":"Research in the area of business process redesign has traditionally focused on performance metrics for measuring process change. However, from the perspective of an employee performing the business process, such measurements are inadequate because they fail to account for the knowledge change required for the employee to perform the new process. This paper explores process redesign from a knowledge perspective. We introduce the concept of a knowledge gap when a process is redesigned and, using theories of learning transfer, identify several process knowledge elements. A framework incorporating these knowledge elements can be used to assess knowledge change during process redesign. We illustrate the use of this framework in a case study, the process redesign at Campus Health department of a large public university.","PeriodicalId":318957,"journal":{"name":"SIGMIS CPR '05","volume":"6 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2005-04-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"132544864","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
A major barrier to our ability to integrate studies and build cumulative theory about IT jobs and IT workers is the lack of consistency in terminology and conceptualizations of the profession, the jobs within the profession and the salient characteristics of those jobs. The purpose of this research is to examine how two different approaches - an IT jobs taxonomy or IT jobs typology - could be used to provide a standard framework to address this issue. The paper includes illustrations of the problem and overviews of the two approaches.
{"title":"Building theory about IT professionals: is a taxonomy or typology the answer?","authors":"T. Shaw, S. Pawlowski, James B. Davis","doi":"10.1145/1055973.1055976","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1145/1055973.1055976","url":null,"abstract":"A major barrier to our ability to integrate studies and build cumulative theory about IT jobs and IT workers is the lack of consistency in terminology and conceptualizations of the profession, the jobs within the profession and the salient characteristics of those jobs. The purpose of this research is to examine how two different approaches - an IT jobs taxonomy or IT jobs typology - could be used to provide a standard framework to address this issue. The paper includes illustrations of the problem and overviews of the two approaches.","PeriodicalId":318957,"journal":{"name":"SIGMIS CPR '05","volume":"212 2 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2005-04-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"114318480","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
In spite of the increasing trend of offshore outsourcing in the IT industry, there has been little attention given to control strategies for managing offshore IT development. This paper offers an analysis of the relationship between national culture and control mechanisms, which is particularly important in the offshore systems development context. Control is defined as an attempt made by an organization to ensure that individuals act according to an agreed upon strategy to achieve desired objectives. This paper uses four modes of control that have been previously applied to information systems development - formal (outcome, behavior) and informal (clan, self) - in the offshore context. The dimensions of national culture studied are based on Hofstede's work and include individualism (vs. collectivism), uncertainty avoidance, and power distance. The objective of this research is to address the effect of national cultural differences on control mechanisms. Propositions regarding the relationship between cultural dimensions and modes of control used in offshore-outsourced ISD project are presented. This work draws from three distinct research streams - control, outsourcing, and culture. This work proposes portfolios of control that contain a mix of control mechanisms which should be implemented depending on the cultural settings involved.
{"title":"Effects of culture on control mechanisms in offshore outsourced IT projects","authors":"R. Narayanaswamy, R. Henry","doi":"10.1145/1055973.1056004","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1145/1055973.1056004","url":null,"abstract":"In spite of the increasing trend of offshore outsourcing in the IT industry, there has been little attention given to control strategies for managing offshore IT development. This paper offers an analysis of the relationship between national culture and control mechanisms, which is particularly important in the offshore systems development context. Control is defined as an attempt made by an organization to ensure that individuals act according to an agreed upon strategy to achieve desired objectives. This paper uses four modes of control that have been previously applied to information systems development - formal (outcome, behavior) and informal (clan, self) - in the offshore context. The dimensions of national culture studied are based on Hofstede's work and include individualism (vs. collectivism), uncertainty avoidance, and power distance. The objective of this research is to address the effect of national cultural differences on control mechanisms. Propositions regarding the relationship between cultural dimensions and modes of control used in offshore-outsourced ISD project are presented. This work draws from three distinct research streams - control, outsourcing, and culture. This work proposes portfolios of control that contain a mix of control mechanisms which should be implemented depending on the cultural settings involved.","PeriodicalId":318957,"journal":{"name":"SIGMIS CPR '05","volume":"168 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2005-04-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"121318632","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
The main objective of this panel is to provide a forum for past conference chairs, program chairs, and others, to discuss lessons learned from organizing the past 10 SIGMIS-CPR conferences and how the lessons can make future conferences even more successful.
{"title":"Lessons learned from organizing: 1995 -- 2004","authors":"L. Olfman, C. Shayo","doi":"10.1145/1055973.1056008","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1145/1055973.1056008","url":null,"abstract":"The main objective of this panel is to provide a forum for past conference chairs, program chairs, and others, to discuss lessons learned from organizing the past 10 SIGMIS-CPR conferences and how the lessons can make future conferences even more successful.","PeriodicalId":318957,"journal":{"name":"SIGMIS CPR '05","volume":"29 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2005-04-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"116553961","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
In an effort to better understand the under representation of women in the IT field, the focus of research has been on the collection and analysis of empirical data. However, there is also a need for appropriate theory to understand and explain that data. Toward this end, Trauth has engaged in a program of research directed at the articulation of an empirically-grounded theory to explain and predict the under representation of women in the IT field. Called The Individual Differences Theory of Gender and IT, this theory argues that the under representation of women in IT is better accounted for by understanding the variation across women than by focusing on ascribed differences between men and women in stereotype. To this end, a set of constructs has been identified, including: personal data, shaping and influencing factors and environmental context. This set of constructs is being used as the interpretive vehicle in a multi-year study of the life histories of women IT professionals. The results, to date, have addressed the personal data, and shaping and influencing factors. The purpose of this paper is to examine the construct: environmental context. The results suggest that economic factors such as size of the information economy, household income and cost of living, and cultural factors such as attitudes and values regarding women, women working and women working in IT do exert an influence on the experience of women in the IT workforce. Thus, the data analysis presented in this paper serves to further supports this emerging theory of individual differences of gender and IT and its constructs.
{"title":"The influence of environmental context on women in the IT workforce","authors":"E. Trauth, Jeria L. Quesenberry, Benjamin Yeo","doi":"10.1145/1055973.1055979","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1145/1055973.1055979","url":null,"abstract":"In an effort to better understand the under representation of women in the IT field, the focus of research has been on the collection and analysis of empirical data. However, there is also a need for appropriate theory to understand and explain that data. Toward this end, Trauth has engaged in a program of research directed at the articulation of an empirically-grounded theory to explain and predict the under representation of women in the IT field. Called The Individual Differences Theory of Gender and IT, this theory argues that the under representation of women in IT is better accounted for by understanding the variation across women than by focusing on ascribed differences between men and women in stereotype. To this end, a set of constructs has been identified, including: personal data, shaping and influencing factors and environmental context. This set of constructs is being used as the interpretive vehicle in a multi-year study of the life histories of women IT professionals. The results, to date, have addressed the personal data, and shaping and influencing factors. The purpose of this paper is to examine the construct: environmental context. The results suggest that economic factors such as size of the information economy, household income and cost of living, and cultural factors such as attitudes and values regarding women, women working and women working in IT do exert an influence on the experience of women in the IT workforce. Thus, the data analysis presented in this paper serves to further supports this emerging theory of individual differences of gender and IT and its constructs.","PeriodicalId":318957,"journal":{"name":"SIGMIS CPR '05","volume":"1 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2005-04-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"125576036","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
As the number of outsourced IT projects increases, the identification of risks that may impact during project implementation has become increasingly important. There has been extensive research into the risk factors that impact on IT projects, typically focusing on in-house development although, more recently, some researchers have investigated risks for out-sourced projects from the client perspective. The question of the risks involved from the perspective of the outsource provider, however, has received little attention, but is becoming increasingly important with the present trend to outsourced projects. The research reported here describes key risks identified by a group of Hong Kong project managers working for vendor IT firms who offered package implementation solutions both locally and overseas. A number of new risks from the vendor perspective have been identified, which indicate that vendor project managers typically have a broader focus on risks than their in-house counterparts. In addition to risks to the project success itself, vendor project managers must be constantly vigilant for threats to their own firms from competitors and from potential damage to their firm's reputation if the customer is dissatisfied with either the outcomes or the process of the project. The increasing trend towards multinational outsourced projects also adds additional location-specific risks that must be addressed. The findings are of interest to all managers involved in offshore outsourcing projects.
{"title":"The move to outsourced IT projects: key risks from the provider perspective","authors":"Hazel Taylor","doi":"10.1145/1055973.1056006","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1145/1055973.1056006","url":null,"abstract":"As the number of outsourced IT projects increases, the identification of risks that may impact during project implementation has become increasingly important. There has been extensive research into the risk factors that impact on IT projects, typically focusing on in-house development although, more recently, some researchers have investigated risks for out-sourced projects from the client perspective. The question of the risks involved from the perspective of the outsource provider, however, has received little attention, but is becoming increasingly important with the present trend to outsourced projects. The research reported here describes key risks identified by a group of Hong Kong project managers working for vendor IT firms who offered package implementation solutions both locally and overseas. A number of new risks from the vendor perspective have been identified, which indicate that vendor project managers typically have a broader focus on risks than their in-house counterparts. In addition to risks to the project success itself, vendor project managers must be constantly vigilant for threats to their own firms from competitors and from potential damage to their firm's reputation if the customer is dissatisfied with either the outcomes or the process of the project. The increasing trend towards multinational outsourced projects also adds additional location-specific risks that must be addressed. The findings are of interest to all managers involved in offshore outsourcing projects.","PeriodicalId":318957,"journal":{"name":"SIGMIS CPR '05","volume":"20 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2005-04-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"124044456","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Scholars have extensively examined the role of information technology workers through the prism of the corporate world, a viewpoint open to bias tending toward constructs that deal exclusively with professional IT workers. The purpose of this study is to investigate a significant area that has been under explored, namely, the use of non-traditional or "do-it-yourself IT" workers, and to explore the possibility that with the advent of more user-friendly and ubiquitous IT productivity tools, the use of non-professional IT staff, or "DIY-IT," is becoming an attractive and viable option, particularly for non-profit organizations and small businesses. This study will examine the impact of web design software products and cost-effective hosting solutions on website development and website maintenance staffing by non-profit arts organizations and by small businesses. A hypothesis is that in the non-profit world, DIY-IT is performed by volunteers and by paid employees who are not primarily IT workers and whose primary job descriptions focuses on broader tasks. In small businesses, it is hypothesized that DIY-IT is performed by staff who are not primarily IT workers. The extent of DIY-IT is of interest, as well as its impact, i.e., are organizations more satisfied with their websites when professional IT personnel are involved, how does the degree of sophistication vary as a function of the type of IT staffing, can the value of professional IT personnel be quantified, and are there circumstances when DIY-IT is more appropriate in fulfilling the needs of the organization? As this research progresses, a goal is to develop a model that can be generally applied to IT staffing by non-profit organizations and small businesses.
{"title":"DIY-IT: an empirical study of website development staffing by non-profit organizations","authors":"Susan A. Vowels","doi":"10.1145/1055973.1055985","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1145/1055973.1055985","url":null,"abstract":"Scholars have extensively examined the role of information technology workers through the prism of the corporate world, a viewpoint open to bias tending toward constructs that deal exclusively with professional IT workers. The purpose of this study is to investigate a significant area that has been under explored, namely, the use of non-traditional or \"do-it-yourself IT\" workers, and to explore the possibility that with the advent of more user-friendly and ubiquitous IT productivity tools, the use of non-professional IT staff, or \"DIY-IT,\" is becoming an attractive and viable option, particularly for non-profit organizations and small businesses. This study will examine the impact of web design software products and cost-effective hosting solutions on website development and website maintenance staffing by non-profit arts organizations and by small businesses. A hypothesis is that in the non-profit world, DIY-IT is performed by volunteers and by paid employees who are not primarily IT workers and whose primary job descriptions focuses on broader tasks. In small businesses, it is hypothesized that DIY-IT is performed by staff who are not primarily IT workers. The extent of DIY-IT is of interest, as well as its impact, i.e., are organizations more satisfied with their websites when professional IT personnel are involved, how does the degree of sophistication vary as a function of the type of IT staffing, can the value of professional IT personnel be quantified, and are there circumstances when DIY-IT is more appropriate in fulfilling the needs of the organization? As this research progresses, a goal is to develop a model that can be generally applied to IT staffing by non-profit organizations and small businesses.","PeriodicalId":318957,"journal":{"name":"SIGMIS CPR '05","volume":"190 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2005-04-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"121464693","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Much prior research has examined the dearth of women in the IT industry. The purpose of this study is to examine the questions surrounding women in IT within the context of Information Security and Assurance. This research-in-progress report describes results from one phase in a study of a relatively new career path to see if there are female-friendly opportunities that have not existed in previous IT career paths. Research methodology focuses on a qualitative analysis of in-depth interviews with women who are self-described IT security professionals. The next phase will focus on interviews with men in the IT security field as a basis for comparison. A primary goal of the study is to determine whether or not women in security face the same challenges and opportunities as they do in other IT fields. Further, does the security area offer equivalent opportunities for women and men? Finally, implications are explored, including those for IT educators in terms of recruiting and retaining diverse groups of students to pursue security related careers.
{"title":"Opportunities for women in IT security","authors":"Martha E. Myers, Amy B. Woszczynski, Sherri Shade","doi":"10.1145/1055973.1055981","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1145/1055973.1055981","url":null,"abstract":"Much prior research has examined the dearth of women in the IT industry. The purpose of this study is to examine the questions surrounding women in IT within the context of Information Security and Assurance. This research-in-progress report describes results from one phase in a study of a relatively new career path to see if there are female-friendly opportunities that have not existed in previous IT career paths. Research methodology focuses on a qualitative analysis of in-depth interviews with women who are self-described IT security professionals. The next phase will focus on interviews with men in the IT security field as a basis for comparison. A primary goal of the study is to determine whether or not women in security face the same challenges and opportunities as they do in other IT fields. Further, does the security area offer equivalent opportunities for women and men? Finally, implications are explored, including those for IT educators in terms of recruiting and retaining diverse groups of students to pursue security related careers.","PeriodicalId":318957,"journal":{"name":"SIGMIS CPR '05","volume":"17 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2005-04-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"126418032","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
京公网安备 11010802042870号
京ICP备2023020795号-1
扫码关注我们
求助内容：
应助结果提醒方式：