Understanding Employer Attractiveness for Generation Z in the IT Industry: Insights and Implications for Future Recruitment Strategies

Purpose: This research delves into understanding the selection criteria of Generation Z, specifically those with an IT education background, in choosing potential employers. The study aims to bridge the gap in knowledge regarding employer attractiveness from the perspective of this emerging workforce cohort. Design/Method/Approach: A quantitative approach was employed, utilizing a survey method to gather data. The study predominantly targeted students from an Austrian business school, resulting in a sample size of 156 respondents. The survey included a Conjoint Analysis to evaluate various employer attributes. Findings: The findings highlight the significance of workplace flexibility, Work-Life Balance, and meaningful, varied job tasks for Generation Z. Salary emerged as a crucial factor influencing their choice of an attractive employer. While symbolic attributes were slightly more critical than instrumental ones, no significant impact of professional experience on the perceived relevance of symbolic attributes was found. Theoretical Implications: The study enriches the Instrumental-Symbolic Framework by validating the importance of symbolic attributes for Generation Z. Practical Implications: Practitioners can leverage these insights to tailor their Employer Branding strategies to attract Generation Z, focusing on flexible work arrangements, meaningful work, and competitive salaries. Originality/Value: This research provides new insights into the preferences of Generation Z in the IT sector, highlighting the nuanced differences in their employer selection criteria compared to previous generations. Research Limitations/Future Research: The study’s limitations include its focus on two specific educational institutions and the lack of rural-urban differentiation among respondents. Future research could explore these criteria across diverse geographic and institutional contexts. JEL Сlassіfіcatіon: J24, M12, M51  Мета: це дослідження спрямоване на розуміння критеріїв відбору покоління Z, зокрема тих, хто має ІТ-освіту, при виборі потенційних роботодавців. Дослідження має на меті подолати прогалину в знаннях щодо привабливості роботодавця з точки зору цієї нової групи робочої сили.Дизайн/метод/підхід: було застосовано кількісний підхід із використанням методу опитування для збору даних. Дослідження переважно було націлене на студентів австрійської бізнес-школи, у результаті вибірка склала 156 респондентів. Опитування включало спільний аналіз для оцінки різних атрибутів роботодавця.Висновки. Отримані дані підкреслюють важливість гнучкості робочого місця, балансу між роботою та особистим життям, а також змістовних, різноманітних робочих завдань для покоління Z. Зарплата виявилася вирішальним фактором, що впливає на вибір привабливого роботодавця. Хоча символічні атрибути були дещо більш критичними, ніж інструментальні, не було виявлено істотного впливу професійного досвіду на сприйману релевантність символічних атрибутів.Теоретичні наслідки: дослідження збагачує інструментально-символічний фреймворк, підтверджуючи важливість символічних атрибутів для покоління Z.Практичні наслідки: спеціалісти-практики можуть використовувати ці знання, щоб адаптувати свої стратегії брендингу роботодавця для залучення покоління Z, зосереджуючись на гнучкому робочому порядку, змістовній роботі та конкурентоспроможній зарплаті.Оригінальність/цінність: це дослідження дозволяє по-новому зрозуміти переваги покоління Z в ІТ-секторі, висвітлюючи тонкі відмінності в критеріях відбору роботодавців порівняно з попередніми поколіннями. JEL Сlassіfіcatіon: J24, M12, M51Обмеження дослідження/Майбутнє дослідження: обмеження дослідження включають його фокусування на двох конкретних навчальних закладах і відсутність диференціації між респондентами між селом і містом. Майбутні дослідження можуть вивчити ці критерії в різних географічних та інституційних контекстах

Mergers and Acquisitions - Elaborating Factors for Enterprise Interoperability in an ERP context

In this paper, the authors discussed Enterprise Interoperability (EI) in Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) transactions focusing on ERP systems. Essential connections to practice are drawn through a discussion of use cases with experts from the fields of M&A, IT, and ERP. The research questions are defined as: What are the core influencing factors determining interoperability profiles? What will the future look like regarding the ERP dimension? Based on eleven experts and qualitative content analysis, relevant findings on EI implementation scenarios are extracted. There are different approaches to achieve Enterprise Interoperability, depending on the context of the M&A transaction. Finally, the crucial decision factors are given in the findings and show the future development of ERP systems integrations. Current results suggest that fast and easy EI is a critical requirement to meet the increasing need for flexibility and ERP systems are at the core of these developments

Cash in the Trash? An Austrian Perspective on Mobile Payment Adoption

Despite offering many benefits to consumers, merchants, banks, and other providers, mobile payment still has not found widespread acceptance in Austria, for example, in 2015, 15% of Austrian consumers used the Internet or a mobile device for payments and 16% made contactless payments at least once a week. This study sheds light on this issue by taking a consumer perspective and investigating the factors that foster or hinder mobile payment adoption. Three popular user acceptance models were compared and in the end, a unified theory of acceptance and use of technologybased model (UTAUT2) was chosen. The developed model was composed of 12 factors (behavioral intention, utilitarian performance expectancy, hedonic performance expectancy, effort expectancy, social influence, facilitating conditions, perceived risk, perceived security, privacy concerns, trust, cost, personal innovativeness) and three moderators (age, gender, experience). The proposed model was tested using data from 158 Austrian consumers and analyzed with partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). The results showed that 68% of consumers’ intention to use mobile payments could be explained, making it a promising model in the mobile payment research area based on the baseline data. Perceived risk and hedonic performance expectancy are the greatest drivers with psychological risk (a lack of fit with one’s self-image) as the most important risk dimension. The results suggest that mobile payment possesses lifestyle characteristics and its usage needs to be fun in order for consumers to prefer it to cash and cards. Keywords: mobile payment adoption, unified theory of acceptance and use of technology, user acceptance models, partial least squares structural equation modelin

The Suitability of Agile Principles in IoT Development

Agile software development is a popular approach which focuses on creating (small) working pieces of software in iterations. One of the major benefits is that it allows the customer to provide feedback and change requirements during the development phase. The enhanced and transparent collaboration with the customer therefore leads to outcomes that better match their specifications, which can save time and money when compared to traditional approaches, such as plan-driven development. Another new paradigm is the Internet of Things (IoT), which is starting to become one of the largest technological industry segments worldwide. With the rise of agile software development, it is interesting to research how agile software development can be leveraged for the development of IoT solutions. This research specifically focuses on how agile software development can maximize the competitive advantage of organizations that are developing IoT solutions

Leverage the COBIT 2019 Design Toolkit in an SME Context: A Multiple Case Study

Organizations today exploit IT to achieve business value and competitive advantages; it is the disruptive effect of digital transformation. However, investing in IT without proper control and governance over enterprise IT (GEIT) can expose organizations to cyber-risks and IT project failures. This problem affects both multinationals and small organizations. In particular, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) struggle to implement IT-governance also due to the complexity of the standard IT-governance frameworks. In this study, five case studies were conducted with five manufacturing companies in Italy whose headquarters are located in the Lombardy region to investigate the potential benefits for IT practitioners of using the COBIT 2019 Design Toolkit, an Excel spreadsheet that facilitates the development of a governance system. The results are encouraging, the IT practitioners appreciated the COBIT 2019 Design Toolkit to map the IT resources and issues, prioritize the most important governance and management objectives, and align business and IT strategy. However, some criticalities emerged, for instance, the limited prescriptive power of the tool and the language, which is sometimes difficult to understand for IT practitioners. It should also be noted that current IT-governance implementation in Italian manufacturing SMEs appears to be very limited. Further, it should be highlighted that this study was using COBIT 2019 before ISACA issued “COBIT for Small and Medium Enterprises Using COBIT 2019” which could already have a positive impact on the level of comprehension. Keywords: COBIT 2019, IT-governance, IT-governance frameworks, multiple case stud

MACHINE LEARNING FOR CLASSIFICATION OF AN ERODING SCARP SURFACE USING TERRESTRIAL PHOTOGRAMMETRY WITH NIR AND RGB IMAGERY

Abstract. Increasingly advanced and affordable close-range sensing techniques are employed by an ever-broadening range of users, with varying competence and experience. In this context a method was tested that uses photogrammetry and classification by machine learning to divide a point cloud into different surface type classes. The study site is a peat scarp 20 metres long in the actively eroding river bank of the Rotmoos valley near Obergurgl, Austria. Imagery from near-infra red (NIR) and conventional (RGB) sensors, georeferenced with coordinates of targets surveyed with a total station, was used to create a point cloud using structure from motion and dense image matching. NIR and RGB information were merged into a single point cloud and 18 geometric features were extracted using three different radii (0.02 m, 0.05 m and 0.1 m) totalling 58 variables on which to apply the machine learning classification. Segments representing six classes, dry grass, green grass, peat, rock, snow and target, were extracted from the point cloud and split into a training set and a testing set. A Random Forest machine learning model was trained using machine learning packages in the R-CRAN environment. The overall classification accuracy and Kappa Index were 98% and 97% respectively. Rock, snow and target classes had the highest producer and user accuracies. Dry and green grass had the highest omission (1.9% and 5.6% respectively) and commission errors (3.3% and 3.4% respectively). Analysis of feature importance revealed that the spectral descriptors (NIR, R, G, B) were by far the most important determinants followed by verticality at 0.1 m radius

Atomistic basis of opening and conduction in mammalian inward rectifier potassium (Kir2.2) channels

Potassium ion conduction through open potassium channels is essential to control of membrane potentials in all cells. To elucidate the open conformation and hence the mechanism of K+ ion conduction in the classic inward rectifier Kir2.2, we introduced a negative charge (G178D) at the crossing point of the inner helix bundle, the location of ligand-dependent gating. This forced open mutation generated channels that were active even in the complete absence of phosphatidylinositol-4,5-bisphosphate (PIP2), an otherwise essential ligand for Kir channel opening. Crystal structures were obtained at a resolution of 3.6 Å without PIP2 bound, or 2.8 Å in complex with PIP2. The latter revealed a slight widening at the helix bundle crossing (HBC) through backbone movement. MD simulations showed that subsequent spontaneous wetting of the pore through the HBC gate region allowed K+ ion movement across the HBC and conduction through the channel. Further simulations reveal atomistic details of the opening process and highlight the role of pore-lining acidic residues in K+ conduction through Kir2 channels

Verification of the use of micro-CT scanning to assess the features of entire squat type defects

Squats and studs are defects in railheads that share features, but have different causes. This paper examined four squat and stud samples from three different traffic environments to compare features using μ-CT X-ray scans, surface and subsurface inspection. μ-CT scanning has been used before as a non-destructive method to investigate rail defects, but not the entire defect. The scans were verified and allowed the identification of areas of interest when sectioning the samples further. The scan volumes were also used to create 3D models of the crack networks for the 3 samples that were scanned. All defects contain similar superficial features but the depth and severity of the subsurface damage varies. This work provides a visualisation of the 3D nature of studs in a way not seen before, as a 3D model the crack network from an in-service defect. The models of two of the defects showed the influence of hollow wheels initiating defects, as the crack seemed to initiate on the field side, grow down and towards the gauge side, before resurfacing as the longitudinal crack noted in all four defect samples. One sample is believed to have initiated due to contamination of the weld and the only squat sample, which failed in track, was believed to be ingot cast steel containing many inclusions. Three samples were studs and one was a squat. Each defect developed for different reasons, although the two metro samples were similar. One of the studs shows branching of cracks that, based on its changing angle of growth, could continue to grow into transverse defects, breaking the rail. The three defects that were scanned would all be classed as studs, but their crack morphology varies, possibly because they are all from different traffic environments. They also show slight differences to other studs in literature

Two-Year Progress of Pilot Research Activities in Teaching Digital Thinking Project (TDT)

This article presents a progress report from the last two years of the Teaching Digital Thinking (TDT) project. This project aims to implement new concepts, didactic methods, and teaching formats for sustainable digital transformation in Austrian Universities’ curricula by introducing new digital competencies. By equipping students and teachers with 21st-century digital competencies, partner universities can contribute to solving global challenges and organizing pilot projects. In line with the overall project aims, this article presents the ongoing digital transformation activities, courses, and research in the project, which have been carried out by the five partner universities since 2020, and briefly discusses the results. This article presents a summary of the research and educational activities carried out within two parts: complementary research and pilot projects

Die Interkulturelle Pädagogik in der offenen Jugendarbeit in Klagenfurt

Bernsteiner AnjaKlagenfurt, Alpen-Adria-Univ., Dipl.-Arb., 2009KB2009 05(VLID)240974