Career orientations and turnover intentions of information systems professionals in South Africa

Bibliography: leaves 93-103.Managing Information Systems (IS) personnel has frequently been cited as a major challenge for organisations, particularly with respect to reducing and controlling the high rate of turnover that IS personnel have historically displayed. In the past, with demand for qualified IS personnel outstripping supply, alternative job openings were plentiful and organisations found it difficult to attract and retain sufficient staff. However, the last few years have seen significant cutbacks in IS spending, resulting in declining growth rates and a reduced demand for IS personnel. Although the South African IS job market does not appear to be as severely affected as in other parts of the world, and there are still pockets of high demand worldwide, it seems unlikely that the IS industry will return to its former glory in the foreseeable future. Despite these stringent market conditions, organisations continue to be plagued with high, and even more surprisingly, increasing turnover rates. This trend is particularly perturbing for organisations that are highly dependent on IS because of its negative implications. Employee turnover is costly and disrupting, often leading to delays in project completion, there is a loss of valuable expertise and productivity of the IS department is reduced. Although, this research project only considered IS personnel turnover at the individual level, there are many other factors related to the work and external environments that are believed to affect IS personnel turnover in South Africa. However, these factors which include organisational structure, perceived job market and government policy, are very difficult to measure and are often beyond the control of organisations endeavouring to reduce and control turnover; and as such were not explicitly studied

The consequences of a mismatch between employee needs and job attributes in the information systems field : an empirical survey

Includes bibliography.The high turnover of IS staff in South Africa continues to be a source of concern to organisations relying on Information Technology. Such turnover is costly, and leads to delays in project completion; loss of valuable experience; and reductions in IS department productivity. One of the suggestions for reducing turnover that is frequently encountered in the literature is for organisations to implement a dual-career path for their IT staff. This advice is based on the assumption that IT personnel hold either a Managerial or Technical Career Orientation, and that the dual-career path will, therefore, meet the needs of all IT personnel. This study shows that such an assumption is invalid. As a group, IT professionals in South Africa are shown to have a wide diversity of career orientations. In addition, professionals with different career orientations are shown to be very different types of employee, having different needs and values, and exhibiting different levels of performance in the job. As expected, professionals also tend to occupy jobs that are most likely to fulfil their career orientations. Furthermore, IT professionals whose jobs are congruent with their orientations show significantly greater job and career satisfaction, higher organisational commitment, and less intention to leave their organisations, than their counterparts who experience a mismatch. In contrast, the matched group as a whole did not show superior perceived performance in the mismatched group, although certain orientations did exhibit such differences. It is critical that organisations take cognisance of the diversity of IT personnel in their employ, and adopt career planning and motivational strategies flexible enough to accommodate each orientation. This study has shown that the implementation of a dual-career path will satisfy a scant 10.2% of the individuals surveyed. Thus, greater focus by organisations on understanding the individual, and less on seeking to manage the IT profession as a group, will result in personnel experiencing greater satisfaction, as well as more commitment to, and less likelihood of leaving, their employing organisations. It is recommended that research is continued into the career orientations of IS personnel. Specifically, it would be valuable to improve and refine the instrument assembled in this study, the aim of producing a measure that researchers and, moreover, employers can utilise to assess how various jobs match the different career orientations known to exist. Also, it would be beneficial to examine further the performance levels of individuals in positions incompatible with their orientations, and to examine why different levels of performance between matched and mismatched individuals were exhibited by only certain of the orientations. Finally, research should be performed into the different career paths, positions and assignments most suited to the individual orientations, in order to enable organisations to achieve a better fit between the needs of the organisation, and the needs of the IT employee. It is recommended that research is continued into the career of IS personnel. Specifically, it would be valuable to improve and refine the instrument assembled in this study, with aim of producing a measure that researchers and, moreover, employers can utilise to assess how various jobs match the different career orientations known to it would be beneficial to examine further the performance levels of individuals positions incompatible with orientations, and to examine different levels of between matched and mismatched individuals were by only certain of the orientations. Finally, research should performed into the different career paths, positions and assignments most suited to the individual in order to enable organisations to achieve a between the needs of the and the needs of the employee

Arbeitsgestaltung in der Softwareentwicklung:ein empirischer Vergleich subjektiver Arbeitsmerkmale in proprietären und Open-Source-Softwareprojekten

In der vorliegenden empirischen Studie wurden mit den Methoden der Arbeits- und Organisationspsychologie die Arbeitsgestaltung bei zwei Arten von Tätigkeiten miteinander verglichen: zum einen die Arbeitsgestaltung in Open-Source-Softwareentwicklungsprojekten und zum anderen die Arbeitsgestaltung im proprietären Umfeld der Softwareentwicklung. Es zeigte sich, dass die Tätigkeitsmerkmale der Komplexität in der Open-Source-Softwareentwicklung höher ausgeprägt sind als in der proprietären Softwareentwicklung. Kein eindeutiger Unterschied konnte für die sozialen Aspekte der Tätigkeit nachgewiesen werden. Außerdem wurde der Wirkungszusammenhang zwischen Tätigkeitsmerkmalen und organisationalen Kriterien untersucht. Es konnte jedoch nicht gezeigt werden, dass dieser für beide Arten von Tätigkeiten identisch ist. Insgesamt geben die Ergebnisse erste Hinweise auf Verbesserungsansätze für die Gestaltung von Tätigkeiten in der Softwareentwicklung und anderen Berufen

Semantic discovery and reuse of business process patterns

Patterns currently play an important role in modern information systems (IS) development and their use has mainly been restricted to the design and implementation phases of the development lifecycle. Given the increasing significance of business modelling in IS development, patterns have the potential of providing a viable solution for promoting reusability of recurrent generalized models in the very early stages of development. As a statement of research-in-progress this paper focuses on business process patterns and proposes an initial methodological framework for the discovery and reuse of business process patterns within the IS development lifecycle. The framework borrows ideas from the domain engineering literature and proposes the use of semantics to drive both the discovery of patterns as well as their reuse

Medidas de productividad en los proyectos de desarrollo de software: una aproximación por puestos de trabajo

La productividad es una medida, principalmente económica, creada a finales del siglo XVIII. Desde entonces, numerosas modificaciones se han realizado sobre la definición inicial y se han incorporando a diversas áreas de conocimiento. Dentro de la Ingeniería del Software (IS), la productividad comenzó a ser objeto de estudio a finales de los años 70, casi de forma paralela a la concepción de la misma y al inicio del estudio de conceptos relacionados, tales como la estimación de esfuerzo. La medición de la productividad en IS ha sido ampliamente analizada a nivel de proyecto y organización, sin embargo a nivel de puesto de trabajo no ha sido tan investigada. En estos escasos estudios, las medidas utilizadas suelen ser las mismas medidas que las empleadas en niveles superiores de medición. En concreto, las medidas empleadas suelen ser ratios entre una medida de tamaño de producto (p. ej., líneas de código o puntos función) y una medida de esfuerzo o tiempo (p. ej., horas-hombre u horas). Este tipo de medidas son muy específicas y no reflejan la realidad del trabajo desempeñado en todo el proceso de desarrollo, ya que no tienen en cuenta las características inherentes a cada puesto de trabajo. Así pues, la eficacia de estas medidas, en este nivel de medición, parece estar en entredicho y la realización de estudios que aporten nuevas medidas de productividad en IS a nivel de puesto de trabajo cobra sentido. En la presente tesis doctoral se ha analizado la situación actual de la medición de la productividad en IS a nivel de puesto de trabajo con el objetivo de crear nuevas medidas. Para conseguir este objetivo se ha realizado un estudio del estado de la cuestión utilizando una metodología clásica de revisión de referencias junto con una revisión sistemática de la literatura. Una vez analizado el estado de la cuestión se ha planteado un conjunto de hipótesis relacionadas con la construcción de nuevas medidas de productividad: Hipótesis 1. En los puestos de trabajo involucrados en la ejecución de proyectos de desarrollo de software se emplean otras entradas, además del tiempo y el esfuerzo. Hipótesis 2. Las entradas utilizadas son distintas para cada puesto de trabajo involucrado en la ejecución de proyectos de desarrollo de software. Hipótesis 3. En los puestos de trabajo involucrados en la ejecución de proyectos de desarrollo de software se producen otras salidas, además de líneas de código y funcionalidad. Hipótesis 4. Las salidas producidas son distintas para cada puesto de trabajo involucrado en la ejecución de proyectos de desarrollo de software. Hipótesis 5. Las medidas de productividad más utilizadas a nivel de puesto de trabajo en los proyectos de desarrollo de software tienen una eficacia limitada para medir la productividad real de los trabajadores. Hipótesis 6. Es posible medir de forma más eficaz la productividad de los puestos de trabajo en los proyectos de desarrollo de software con nuevas medidas que combinen varios elementos: entradas, salidas y factores. Tras el análisis del estado de la cuestión, se ha realizado una fase de investigación cualitativa mediante el empleo de entrevistas a trabajadores de IS y un posterior análisis de contenido, con el fin de obtener información suficiente para: (1) contrastar las cuatro primeras hipótesis con información cualitativa, y (2) construir el medio de recogida de información para la siguiente fase de la investigación. Con respecto al primer objetivo, ha sido posible contrastar dos hipótesis (H1 y H3). En la segunda fase, mediante una metodología cuantitativa, se han contrastado las cuatro primeras hipótesis planteadas. Para la recogida de información se ha utilizado un formulario construido a partir de los resultados de la fase cualitativa. Los resultados de esta fase indican que en los puestos de trabajo analizados (programador, analista, consultor, y jefe de proyecto): se utilizan otros recursos además del tiempo, se producen otras salidas además del código fuente y la funcionalidad entregada al cliente. Además, se han encontrado diferencias en el grado de uso de las entradas y en la producción de las salidas, por lo que el uso de una misma medida de productividad para todos los puestos bajo estudio es, en principio, ilógico. Para contrastar las dos, y últimas, hipótesis se han construido nuevas medidas de productividad, teniendo en cuenta los resultados previos. En concreto, se ha utilizado Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) como metodología personalizable para medir la productividad; y se han realizado cuatro casos de estudio empleando dicha metodología. Los resultados tras los casos de estudio indican que mediante DEA es posible medir la productividad de los puestos de trabajo vinculados con los proyectos de desarrollo y mantenimiento de software de forma más eficaz que con las medidas más utilizadas. Además, esta metodología permite conocer los puntos de mejora para que los trabajadores menos productivos aumenten su productividad, lo que supone una gran ventaja frente a otras medidas de productividad si el objetivo de medir, como es lógico suponer, es mejorar la productividad, y no simplemente evaluarla. Así pues, se contrastan las dos últimas hipótesis y se insta, entre otras futuras líneas de investigación, a continuar con nuevos estudios que comparen el uso de DEA con otras medidas de productividad. Finalmente, se concluye que la medición de la productividad en los puestos de trabajo vinculados con los proyectos de desarrollo y mantenimiento de software continua siendo un reto. Para reducir la dificultad de éste, la presente tesis doctoral arroja luz aportando un marco de trabajo para analizar y plantear nuevas medidas de productividad, tanto en estos puestos de trabajo como en otros. ------------------------------Productivity is mainly an economic measure, created in the late eighteenth century. Since then, many changes have been made on its initial definition and have been incorporated into various areas of knowledge. Within Software Engineering (SE), productivity began to be studied in the late '70s. These efforts ran parallel to SE developments, such as effort estimation. Measuring productivity in SE has been extensively analyzed at the project and organization level; however job level has not been investigated with the same depth. In these few studies, the measures used are often the same ones than those used in higher levels of measurement. Specifically, the measures employed are usually ratios between a measure of product size (e.g., lines of code or function points) and a measure of effort or time (e.g., man-hours or hours). Such measures do not reflect the reality of the work performed throughout the development process because they do not take into account the inherent characteristics of each job. Thus, the effectiveness of these measures, in this measurement level, seems to be in question and studies that provide new measures of productivity at job level make sense. In this thesis we have analyzed the current state of productivity measurement at job level within SE with the goal of creating new measures. In order to achieve this objective a study of the state of the art has been carried out with a classical methodology along with a systematic review of the literature. After analyzing the state of the art, a number of hypotheses related to the construction of new productivity measures have been stated: Hypothesis 1. In the jobs involved in the implementation of software development projects other inputs are used in addition to time and effort. Hypothesis 2. The inputs used are different for every job involved in software development projects. Hypothesis 3. In the jobs involved in the implementation of software development projects other outputs are produced in addition to source code lines and functionality. Hypothesis 4. The outputs produced are different for every job involved in software development projects. Hypothesis 5. The most used productivity measures at job level in software development projects have limited effectiveness for measuring real productivity of workers. Hypothesis 6. It is possible to measure more effectively the productivity of jobs in software development projects with new measures that combine several elements: inputs, outputs and factors. After analyzing the state of the art, a qualitative phase has been performed using interviews with SE workers and a subsequent content analysis of them in order to obtain pertinent information: (1) to test the first four hypotheses with qualitative information, and (2) to build the information gathering instrument for the next phase of research. Regarding the first objective, it has been possible to test two hypotheses (H1 and H3). In the second phase, using a quantitative method, the first four hypotheses have been contrasted and accepted. For the information gathering a form constructed from the results of the qualitative phase has been used. The results of this phase indicate that the analyzed job positions (programmer, analyst, consultant, and project manager): use other resources in addition to time, and deliver other outputs in addition to source code and functionality delivered to the client. Also some differences in the degree of use of inputs and production of outputs have been found. Therefore, the use of the same measure of productivity for all positions under study is, in principle, illogical. To contrast the last two hypotheses new productivity measures have been built taking into account the previous results. Specifically, a customizable methodology for measuring productivity such as Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) was used in four case studies. The results after these studies indicate that using DEA is a mean to measure the productivity of job level for job positions related to the development and maintenance of software projects in a more effectively way. Furthermore, this methodology allows knowing the points for improvement for the least productive workers in order to increase their productivity. This knowledge is a great advantage over other productivity measures if the goal of measuring, as is logical to assume, is to improve productivity, not simply to evaluate it. So the last two hypotheses has been supported. Consequently we call, among other future research, to continue with further studies comparing the use of DEA with other measures of productivity. Finally, it is concluded that the measurement of productivity in job positions related with software development and maintenance projects remains a challenge. To reduce this difficulty, this thesis sheds some light on the topic by providing a framework to analyze and propose new measures of productivity for SE job roles.Presidente: María Belén Ruiz Mezcua; Vocal: Rafael Valencia García; Secretario: Edmundo Tovar Car

Protean and boundaryless career orientations - an empirical study of IT professionals in Europe

One of the key themes in current career research is the debate regarding the prevalence of so-called 'new' careers and the assumed decline of 'old', organizationally driven careers. Yet, new career concepts characterized by increasing mobility, boundary crossing and self-directedness often suffer from a rather vague conceptualization, as well as from a lack of empirical evidence, especially outside the US cultural context from where most of these models originate. This study critically examines, conceptually refines, and empirically applies two frequently quoted new career models, namely the protean career and the boundaryless career. In addition, the two concepts are linked with career success, career anchors and career management three other relevant areas in career research. These themes are explored in a large empirical study in the context of the Information Technology (IT) industry in Europe. Careers of IT professionals have often been considered as prototypical for new careers. Hence, this study makes it possible to examine empirically the two American career concepts in a European context. It further addresses relevant topics for IT organizations in Europe, where many employers struggle to attract new talent whilst retaining and developing their existing workforce. The study applies a mixed-method approach, combining quantitative and qualitative, cross-sectional and longitudinal elements. Whilst it predominantly focuses on individuals and their careers, the study also takes into account more general perspectives, namely the organizational, industrial/professional and economic/societal levels, in order to provide a more encompassing view of individual careers. The findings suggest that the protean and the boundaryless career concepts are helpful tools to examine and understand individual careers. Based on the two concepts, three clusters of individuals with different career orientations are identified. These clusters differ significantly with regard to a wide range of characteristics. Yet, the results also show that both concepts require further conceptual clarification and that they cannot provide an all-encompassing perspective on career orientations. By taking career success, career anchors and career management tools into account, several additional aspects of individual careers are revealed. Also, the results demonstrate that only by looking at the complex interplay of various levels of analysis can individuals and their careers be understood more holistically. Finally, the study contributes to a better understanding of IT professionals and their careers and it provides a variety of practical implications which can support IT organizations in Europe in creating a more attractive, motivating work environment for their workforces.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Entornos colaborativos : despliegue del observatorio del capital humano en las TIC (ICT-HC)

Desarrollo de un entorno colaborativo en la puesta en funcionamiento del Observatorio del Capital Humano en las TIC (ICT - Human Capital) es un proyecto de fin de carrera de carácter funcional y de consultoría con un fuerte carácter técnico. En el se ha desarrollado un trabajo de investigación, diseño y desarrollo llevado a cabo en equipo y en pleno contacto con el mundo profesional. Para el Observatorio se ha desarrollado un sitio web 2.0 con fin de ayudar a acometer sus objetivos como sociedad difusora de conocimiento y observadora de tendencias. Dicho sitio web ha sido complementado mediante la creación de un extractor de información relevante relativa a libros y publicaciones que dote de contenido al portal. Además se ha realizado un estudio y diseño de un modelo de Gobierno de los Recurso Humanos (RRHH) en las Tecnologías de la Información y las Comunicaciones (TIC) acompañado de un modelo de Mejora de las Competencias del Profesional TIC guiada por la Estrategia de Negocio propuesta por Cobit, obteniendo una herramienta tipo para la autoevaluación y propuesta de acciones de mejora en materia de competencias del profesional TIC. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________The consultancy on making ICT – Human Capital operational is a final project which has a functional and consultant nature and at the same time does not neglect the technical part. A research, design and development teamwork has been carried out in this project, keeping in touch with the professional world. A 2.0 web site has been developed for the ICT-HC, in order to help fulfill its objectives as a knowledge-spreader and trend-observer society. This web site has been complemented by the creation of a relevant information extractor which provides the portal with information. A research and design about two models have been carried out –the first model deals with the Human Resources (HR) Governance in Information Technologies and Communications (ICT) and the second one deals with the Improvement of the ICT Professional‟s Competences guided by the Business Strategy based on Cobit. Moreover, a self-assessment prototype tool for the ICT professional‟s competences which proposes improvement actions has been created for the second model.Ingeniería en Informátic

A framework for the introduction of knowledge management within an engineering environment

This research is based on real issues that have been recognised within the global organisation, Rolls-Royce. The first aim concerned an issue that many companies face, the difficulty that employees face in locating the knowledge and information they require, especially in larger organisations. The developed solution of an Information Map proved to be a success in providing people within the Submarines business with the location of' Configuration Management information. The concept of the Information Map is one that can be adopted by any business as the stages in the tools development have been well documented within Chapters Four, Five and Six. Analysis of the success of the Information Map led to the derivation of 10 lessons learned. These were then verified in a second case study of an intranet development. The second aim of the research was to create a Knowledge Management framework that could be adapted by companies looking to invest in Knowledge Management and provide them with a guide to use. This framework was built from the lessons learned from the Information Map and from other best practice derived from available literature and within Rolls-Royce. The work conducted within the Support business tries to fill in gaps in current research by offering companies a new approach to Knowledge Management, which was based upon the way that industries work today. The creation of the Knowledge Management framework simplifies the work conducted and offers practitioners an easy, high-level approach to the adoption of Knowledge Management by grouping the process into ten steps. This is presented in a fashion that is easy to follow and ultimately offers a guide to make the best use of the resources and budget available to Knowledge Management practitioners. Overall the research addresses the 'real' issues faced by Knowledge Management practitioners. The main contributions to the Knowledge Management domain are the Information Map, action research approach, implementation of Knowledge Management tools for the users needs and a Framework as a guide for industry

A Design Framework for Engaging Collective Interaction Applications for Mobile Devices

The main objective of this research is to define the conceptual and technological key factors of engaging collective interaction applications for mobile devices. To answer the problem, a throwaway prototyping software development method is utilized to study design issues. Furthermore, a conceptual framework is constructed in accordance with design science activities. This fundamentally exploratory research is a combination of literature review, design and implementation of mobile device based prototypes, as well as empirical humancomputer interaction studies, which were conducted during the period 2008 - 2012. All the applications described in this thesis were developed mainly for research purposes in order to ensure that attention could be focused on the problem statement. The thesis presents the design process of the novel Engaging Collective Interaction (ECI) framework that can be used to design engaging collective interaction applications for mobile devices e.g. for public events and co-creational spaces such as sport events, schools or exhibitions. The building and evaluating phases of design science combine the existing knowledge and the results of the throwaway prototyping approach. Thus, the framework was constructed from the key factors identified of six developed and piloted prototypes. Finally, the framework was used to design and implement a collective sound sensing application in a classroom setting. The evaluation results indicated that the framework offered knowledge to develop a purposeful application. Furthermore, the evolutionary and iterative framework building process combined together with the throwaway prototyping process can be presented as an unseen Dual Process Prototyping (DPP) model. Therefore it is claimed that: 1) ECI can be used to design engaging collective interaction applications for mobile devices. 2) DPP is an appropriate method to build a framework or a model. This research indicates that the key factors of the presented framework are: collaborative control, gamification, playfulness, active spectatorship, continuous sensing, and collective experience. Further, the results supported the assumption that when the focus is more on activity rather than technology, it has a positive impact on the engagement. As a conclusion, this research has shown that a framework for engaging collective interaction applications for mobile devices can be designed (ECI) and it can be utilized to build an appropriate application. In addition, the framework design process can be presented as a novel model (DPP). The framework does not provide a step-by-step guide for designing applications, but it helps to refine the design of successful ones. The overall benefit of the framework is that developers can pay attention to the factors of engaging application at an early stage of design