The Effects of Maintenance Assignments On Goal Congruence For Programmers and Analysts

The effect of varying amounts of maintenance work on perceptions of role conflict, role clarity, and reward clarity was analyzed in ten organizations representative of widely varying computing environments. The organizations had one characteristic in common-productivity of maintenance personnel was satisfactory, consistent with that of personnel assigned to new development work. The research revealed significant differences in perceptions of congruency between high maintenance and low maintenance employees. High maintenance employees appear to attain much higher levels of role clarity and reward clarity and much lower role conflic

Work-Related Correlates of Job Satisfaction in Programmer/Analysts: An Examination of Task Differences

The present research examined task differences in work satisfaction and in several correlates of satisfaction among programmer/analysts. Subjects were initially classified along analysis/programming and developmenUmaintenance dimensions. Questionnaire data were collected from over 250 subjects at a large manufacturing company. The results indicated that analysts were more satisfied with their work than programmers and that developers were more satisfied than maintainers. In a secondary analysis, subjects were divided into five groups: development/programmers, maintenance/programmers, developmenUanalysts, maintenance/analysts and supporters-those who primarily provided user and production support. The results indicated that maintenance/programmers were less satisfied than the other four groups-who were approximately equally satisfied. Significant differences in skill variety, autonomy, role ambiguity and amount of user interaction also existed among the five groups. A revised task differences model was presented based on this secondary analysis

Entrepreneurship by circumstances and abilities: the mediating role of job satisfaction and moderating role of self-efficacy

Prior studies have found that job dissatisfaction and self-efficacy are significant factors influencing individuals’ entrepreneurial propensity. Existing literature on entrepreneurship often regards job dissatisfaction as an entrepreneurial push factor and self-efficacy as an entrepreneurial pull factor. The argument is that individuals who are dissatisfied with their jobs are more likely to seek alternative mode of employment such as self-employment. In other words, poor job circumstances may push individuals to leave their paid employment to start their own businesses. On the other hand, personal abilities such as self-efficacy may pull individuals toward starting their own businesses in areas where they are confident and competent in. Despite the importance of job dissatisfaction and self-efficacy for new venture creation, few if any studies have examined the entrepreneurial phenomena from a holistic perspective. Utilizing concepts from the P-E fit and self-efficacy literatures, this paper argues that the path to entrepreneurship is a multi-faceted interactive process between individuals’ personal attributes and their work environment. We specifically examined how IT professional’s personal attributes such as innovation orientation and self-efficacy condition individuals for an entrepreneurial career in unsatisfactory work environments.

A new construct of IS performance measurement: Consonance approach

The purpose of this research is to create a subjective measurement system that can assist in the successful creation of new information systems (IS). That entails moving from the commonly used objective measures of success (time and money constraints) to subjective measures (people\u27s perceptions). Literature in the social perception area and goal congruence area has provided a basis for changing the measurement of success. Due to major differences in how people react to stimuli and perceived outcomes the objective measures must evolve to include subjective observations. This research uses a questionnaire to gather data about the perceptions of the stakeholders (IS personnel and IS end users) involved in production or use of IS. A performance construct and satisfaction construct are used to investigate hypotheses regarding the differences in the perceptions of IS end users and IS personnel. Discrepancy theory is the basis for depicting gaps in the perceptions of the different stakeholders. By creating new constructs related to IS work, performance expectations and perceived outcomes can be measured for IS end users and IS personnel that are involved in creating and maintaining information systems. Current literature supports the involvement of these two stakeholders and the movement to subjective measures. A process of consonance is also included to insure consistence over time in creating common goals. Consonance is defined as harmony and understanding between stakeholders or people. Consonance is a process that can help achieve consistence in setting common goals in IS projects. If IS end users and IS personnel are working toward a common goal, higher IS success rates will occur

Techniques for Understanding Unstructured Code

Within the maintenance activity, a great deal of time is spent in the process of understanding unstructured code prior to changing or fixing the program. This involves the comprehension of complex control structures. While automated processes are available to structure entire programs, there is a need for less formal structuring processes to be used by practicing professionals on small programs or local sections of code. This paper presents methods for restructuring complex sequence, selection, and iteration structures into structured logic. The procedures are easily taught and they result in solutions of reduced complexity as compared to the original code. Whether the maintenance programmer uses these procedures simply for understanding, or for actually re-writing the program, they will,simplify efforts on unstructured code

NON-TECHNICAL COMPETENCIES REQUIRED FOR INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY PROFESSIONALS: HOW TO EFFECTIVELY INTERACT WITH CLIENTS/USERS

After considering reasons for developing the competencies of information technology (IT) professionals, so me of their key non-technical competencies are identified and discussed. Focusing on competence in their communicative interactions, results are presented from a survey which was performed to identify specific components of competence in interaction with clients/users. A total of 150 traits was evaluated by 424 IT professionals. Four factors have been found to contribute lo competence in interaction with clients/users: (1) work effectiveness; (2) productive information exchange; (3) agreeableness; and (4) sales related characteristics. Results are interpreted in relation to the demands of the professional environment of IT personnel

Reframing the Role of Computers in Organizations The Transaction Costs Approach

The traditional role of computer-based information systems is to provide support for individual decision making. According to this model, information is to be seen as a valuable resource for the decision maker faced with a complex task. Such a view of information systems in organizations does however fail to include such phenomena as the daily use of information for misrepresentation purposes. The conventional systems analysis methods; whether they be data- or decision-oriented, do not help in understanding the nature of organizations and their ways of processing information. This paper proposes what appears to be a more realistic approach to the analysis and design of information systems. Organizations are seen as networks of contracts which govern exchange transactions between members having only partially overlapping goals. Conflict of interests is explicitly admitted to be a factor affecting information and exchange costs. Information technology is seen as a means to streamline exchange transactions, thus enabling economic organizations to operate more efficiently. Examples are given of MIS, data base and office automation systems, where both the organization and its information system were jointly designed. These examples illustrate the power of the approach, which is based on recent research in the new institutional economics

The Transition Process in Office Automation and Its Impact on Clerical Workers: A Case Study

The purpose of this research was to study the transition process of office automation and its impact on clerical workers. The objective was to provide computer-naive managers with recommendations on factors to consider when managing the office automation change process. The topic was investigated using a case study approach. The setting was a large, multi-function, research-oriented, urban university on the west coast. Data were gathered through interviews, observations and examination of documents. Twenty-five clerical workers (representing different segments of the campus and having experience using different types of computer-assisted office equipment), who had experienced the transition process of office automation, were interviewed in depth. Ten of those subjects were additionally interviewed in group settings. Administrative personnel who had responsibility for managing computing resources were interviewed for background data. Information was gathered from the subjects concerning their experiences with and perceptions of the automation change process, and the impact of automation on their jobs. The data were analyzed by the following categories: (a) factors affecting the transition process, (b) factors impacting on efficient use of computer-assisted equipment, (c) job changes resulting from office automation, and (d) factors associated with the use of different types of computer-assisted equipment. Key findings were that (a) the prospect of office automation can be anxiety-producing for potential users, (b) most users did not receive adequate training, (c) lack of training may result in underutilization of computer-assisted equipment, (d) there was no indication that automation diminished communication among users, and (e) most of the subjects reported high job satisfaction after automation. It was the researcher\u27s conclusion that the significant issue of office automation is how the automation change process is managed, not the automation per se. It is recommended that managers include users in office automation decision-making in order to minimize problems associated with user anxiety, training, job design and efficient use of the equipment

Higher Education Professional Staff Engagement: Looking In And Beyond The Great Resignation

In 2021, there were 68.9 million job separations. Of those, 47.4 million people willingly left their jobs (Romans, 2022). As the “Great Resignation” in the COVID-19 era continues, many professional staff in higher education are re-examining their relationship with work (McClure, 2021). Higher education professional staff, often feeling undervalued and unappreciated, are less likely to engage and more likely to intend to turnover; leaving institutions to bear the costs of lost productivity and staff replacement. This study examines the relationship between university professional staff members’ self-reported levels of psychological engagement (meaningfulness, safety, and availability), employee engagement (cognitive, emotional, and behavioral), intention to turnover, and COVID-19 impact (intrusion and avoidance). A sample of 240 higher education professional staff at a Midwestern university completed an online survey in late 2021. Results from correlations indicate significant relationships between psychological engagement, employee engagement, intention to turnover, and COVID-19 impact. The hierarchical regression results indicate that emotional engagement has statistically significant predictability in staff turnover intentions. In the model including COVID-19 impact, COVID-19 intrusion and emotional engagement were also found to be significant predictors of intention to turnover. Consideration of the implications of this study include how higher education administrators may address staff members’ engagement and potential turnover intention. One way is by effecting a comprehensive and strategic focus on a caring campus culture that values diversity, equity, inclusion, and a sense of belonging amongst staff, administrators, faculty, and students—even in an era of great disruption

The importance of communication skills: Perceptions of IS professionals, IS managers, and users

Information systems (IS) research has shown that communication skills tend to be more important than technical skills to IS staff in project development activities. Yet, research findings indicate that IS staff are lacking in the communication skills they need to interact successfully with users and managers during systems development. Thus, the two purposes of this research were (1) to determine whether IS staff, IS managers, and IS users differ in their perceptions of important communication skills that IS staff need and (2) if differences do exist, to assess the impact of the differences on user satisfaction with IS product and service and on IS manager\u27s job performance evaluations of IS staff. Variables used in this study were written and oral communication skills, interpersonal skills, user satisfaction, and job performance. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to develop models of the constructs, to address validity and reliability issues, and to assess model fit of the variables. Paired-sample T-tests were used to determine whether significant differences in perceptions existed between IS staff and users and between IS staff and managers. Regression analysis was used to analyze the impact of differences on user satisfaction and job performance. Results of the research indicated that significant differences in perceptions of importance of written, oral, and interpersonal communication skills existed between IS staff and users and between IS staff and managers. Also, the results indicated that the greater the difference in perceptions of IS staff and users with respect to written and oral communications, the lower that user satisfaction was and that the greater the difference in perceptions with respect to interpersonal skills, the lower that user satisfaction with user involvement was. Findings indicated that IS staff and managers differed significantly in their perceptions of importance of written, oral, and interpersonal communication skills and that the greater the difference, the lower job performance evaluations were