A Study of Entry-Level Information Technology Workers: Employee Expectations and Job Perceptions

As noted in the Presidentís Information Technology Advisory Committee (PITAC) report (1999), the need for a ìcontinuous supply of well-trained, high-quality professionalsî in information technology (IT) is critical for companies to maintain global competitiveness. Yet, as discussed in the report and elsewhere, a tightness in the market for IT professionals has been chronic for at least two decades and, despite the current slowdown, is expected to accelerate in the present decade and beyond (Council on Competitiveness 1998; Eisenberg 2002). Even in the current fluctuating job market for IT workers, attracting, motivating, and retaining workers continues to be a formidable challenge. Increasingly firms in the IT industry operate on ìInternet Time,î necessitating a core workforce that can provide innovative products and services, as well as respond to competitive threats (Barney 1995). Additionally, most non-IT industry companies are also feeling the pressure via the need to utilize IT in such forms as developing enterprise resource planning systems, setting up intranets, and forging a greater role in the e-business space. Interestingly, the continuing competition for the IT workers is causing companies to think more broadly about workplace issues (Useem 2000). This paper aims to enhance our understanding of individual and organizational context factors that influence important IT employee attitudes, such as job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and turnover intention. Specifically, we have the following three research objectives: 1. Understand expectations of entry-level IT professionals concerning their work environments 2. Understand how entry-level IT professionals perceive the workplace as meeting their expectations 3 Examine the relationship between expectations, importance, and job perceptions in the context of entry-level IT professional

Do They Pursue the Same? A Cross-culture Research on Career Anchor of IT/IS Personnel

While career anchor has been mainly studied in US society; this study extends research to Chinese cultural context to investigate the implications of career anchor in terms of job/career satisfaction and subsequent turnover intention among information technology/information systems (IT/IS) personnel in Taiwan and United Arab Emirates (UAE) societies. Chinese guanxi culture could be plays key roles in shaping career anchor and in affecting employees\u27 assessing their job/career and turnover decision. A survey study will be used for conducted to validate the hypotheses and compare the different with Taiwan and UAE two societies

The Threat-Rigidity Model of Professional Obsolescence and Its Impact on Occupational Mobility Behaviors of IT Professionals

This study examines how IT professionals cope with the threat of professional obsolescence. We adopt the threat rigidity model to explain the relationship between threat of professional obsolescence and occupational mobility. In addition, we argue that professional commitment moderates the relationship between the consequent cognitive coping mechanisms of threat and occupational mobility. We collected data from 192 IT professionals using a survey methodology for data collection. Initial results of the field study provide strong support for the threat-rigidity hypotheses with professional commitment moderating the relationship between the cognitive coping mechanisms and occupational mobility

Models of motivation in software engineering

Motivation in software engineering is recognized as a key success factor for software projects, but although there are many papers written about motivation in software engineering, the field lacks a comprehensive overview of the area. In particular, several models of motivation have been proposed, but they either rely heavily on one particular model (the job characteristics model), or are quite disparate and difficult to combine. Using the results from our previous systematic literature review (SLR), we constructed a new model of motivation in software engineering. We then compared this new model with existing models and refined it based on this comparison. This paper summarises the SLR results, presents the important existing models found in the literature and explains the development of our new model of motivation in software engineering

Identifying the Enablers and Barriers of Information Technology Personnel Transition

This paper reports the initial findings from a National Science Foundation supported study of IT personnel transition. We used the revealed causal mapping method (Narayanan and Fahey 1990) to elicit barriers, enablers, and examples of IT personnel transition. This paper reveals new knowledge and insight into factors that enable and prevent IT personnel transition as organizations evolve. The data is presented in the form of interpretation of revealed causal maps from 83 respondents. The results of this study are the first steps toward developing a theory of IT personnel transition that is distinct from general transition theories

Exploring the job satisfaction and organisational commitment of employees in the information technology environment

9The objective of the study was to explore the relationship between employees’ job satisfaction (as measured by the Job Satisfaction Survey) and organisational commitment (as measured on the Organisational Commitment Scale). A cross-sectional survey was conducted on a convenience sample of 86 employees at four information technology companies in South Africa. Correlational and stepwise regression analyses revealed a number of signifi cant relationships between the two variables. The fi ndings add newknowledge that can be used to improve organisational practices for the retention of valuable staff members in the information technology environment

Career Anchors, National Culture and Leave Intent of MIS Professionals in Taiwan

This study focuses on the career anchors of MIS professionals and adopts the well-established career theory, Schein\u27s Career Anchors, as the fundamental theory in this study. The present paper attempts to investigate the relationship between career anchors and leave intent of MIS professionals in Taiwan. The study adds the cultural construct, Chinese Relationalism, into its research model, in order to comprehend the role of Chinese Relationalism in the context of the career anchor model. Three career anchors: technical competence, autonomy, and entrepreneurship, have direct (negative or positive) and significant impacts on the intents of MIS professionals to leave their employment. This study establishes that Chinese Relationalism impacts on the technical competence, geographical security, identity, lifestyle, and various career anchors of MIS professionals and also moderates the relationships between autonomy, entrepreneurship and the leave intent of MIS professionals in Taiwan

Person - job fi t and the work commitment of IT Personnel

Introduction: There have been given a much higher importance to employee commitment and retention since India is experiencing the highest attrition rate globally Economic Times, 2015. Hence, considering the factors of Person-job fi t to interpret the impact towards work commitment is very well essential, especially in the current scenario. Work Commitment is a vital element in any organization which has outstanding impact on productivity and functioning and hence it is very much vital to have a committed workforce which is necessary in this competitive environment and tight labour market. In the same way, there is considerable amount of evidence that if P-J fi t is high then it will have a direct impact on organization commitment also. Person-job fi t is the compatibility between person’s competency and abilities and the requirements of the job Zheng et al.2. If there exists a mismatch between person-job fi t then the consequences might result in poor work commitment, low job satisfaction and extremely lower involvement in the job. Objective: This study analyzed the key factors that contribute to Person- job compatibility among IT workers and also analyzed the relationship and impact of Person- job compatibility towards work commitment. Methods: Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) was used to fi lter the key factors initially, followed by a linear regression technique to determine the impact of Person- job compatibility factors in work commitment on a sample of 300 employees. EFA used Principal Component analysis for extraction and Promax for rotation. Finally regression analysis was carried out to predict the work commitment through statistically significant person-job compatibility variables. Results: The impact of person-job compatibility on work commitment was studied through regression analysis and it imply that for every unit increase in HR Policy, a 0.52 (unstandardised coeffi cients) increase in work commitment is predicted and it has been turned out as a most impacting variable to predict work commitment. The coeffi cients for Relationship (B =.330, sig =.000), HR Policies (B =.519, sig =.000), Pay and Benefi ts (B =.386, sig =.000) and Employee Growth (B =.290, sig =.001) were statistically significant, since its p-value is .000 which is smaller than .05. The coeffi cients for Work Autonomy (B =.154, sig = .081) was not statistically signifi cant, since its p-value is 0.081 which is greater than.05. Conclusion: The major factors responsible for creating work commitment among IT employees are Relationship, HR Policies and strategies, Pay and benefi ts, Work autonomy and Employee growth. The most contributing regressors which accounts for creating work commitment are HR policies, Pay and benefi ts, Employee growth and work autonomy.Introduction: There have been given a much higher importance to employee commitment and retention since India is experiencing the highest attrition rate globally Economic Times, 2015. Hence, considering the factors of Person-job fi t to interpret the impact towards work commitment is very well essential, especially in the current scenario. Work Commitment is a vital element in any organization which has outstanding impact on productivity and functioning and hence it is very much vital to have a committed workforce which is necessary in this competitive environment and tight labour market. In the same way, there is considerable amount of evidence that if P-J fi t is high then it will have a direct impact on organization commitment also. Person-job fi t is the compatibility between person’s competency and abilities and the requirements of the job Zheng et al.2. If there exists a mismatch between person-job fi t then the consequences might result in poor work commitment, low job satisfaction and extremely lower involvement in the job. Objective: This study analyzed the key factors that contribute to Person- job compatibility among IT workers and also analyzed the relationship and impact of Person- job compatibility towards work commitment. Methods: Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) was used to fi lter the key factors initially, followed by a linear regression technique to determine the impact of Person- job compatibility factors in work commitment on a sample of 300 employees. EFA used Principal Component analysis for extraction and Promax for rotation. Finally regression analysis was carried out to predict the work commitment through statistically significant person-job compatibility variables. Results: The impact of person-job compatibility on work commitment was studied through regression analysis and it imply that for every unit increase in HR Policy, a 0.52 (unstandardised coeffi cients) increase in work commitment is predicted and it has been turned out as a most impacting variable to predict work commitment. The coeffi cients for Relationship (B =.330, sig =.000), HR Policies (B =.519, sig =.000), Pay and Benefi ts (B =.386, sig =.000) and Employee Growth (B =.290, sig =.001) were statistically significant, since its p-value is .000 which is smaller than .05. The coeffi cients for Work Autonomy (B =.154, sig = .081) was not statistically signifi cant, since its p-value is 0.081 which is greater than.05. Conclusion: The major factors responsible for creating work commitment among IT employees are Relationship, HR Policies and strategies, Pay and benefi ts, Work autonomy and Employee growth. The most contributing regressors which accounts for creating work commitment are HR policies, Pay and benefi ts, Employee growth and work autonomy

Employees’ Emotional Hardiness and Intentions to Quit in the Public-Sector Organization in Nigeria

We examined employees’ emotional hardiness and intentions to quit employment in Nigeria. Data were generated from 118 respondents. The Pearson’s Product Moment Correlation was utilized as test statistic in assessing the hypothesized relationship. Results indicated that the psychological resources of commitment, control, and challenge dimensions of employee emotional hardiness had significant (albeit) negative relationships with intentions to quit. The study found that an increase in the dimensions of employee emotional hardiness moderates the intentions of employees to quit. We recommend management should encourage regular training of employees in hardiness, enhance good social support in work relationships, and encourage the use of effective stress management strategies to mitigate intentions to quit arising from such distressful circumstances. Keywords:             Employee Emotional Hardiness, Commitment, Control, Challenge, Intention to quit, Thinking of quitting, Searching for alternative career, Desire to leave or stay