Panel 3: Issues in IS Curriculum Design

Although major attention today is being devoted to spreading computer usage throughout the general BA and MBA curriculum, there is an increasing need to redesign and expand what is being taught in the information systems curriculum itself. The ambiguities of the personal computer, the growth in new languages. the increasing importance of data-centered design, the introduction of expert systems, the continuing dispersal of hardware and personnel throughout the organization, and the increasing influence of end users are all causing major changes in both what should be taught and methods of teaching information systems material. Adjusting the curriculum to all these changes is not simple, however. There is a shortage of faculty. The impact of some trends, such as expert systems growth, is far from clear. Students are entering with vastly diverse computer backgrounds. What can be eliminated from the curriculum to add new material isn\u27t clear. This panel will focus on some of the key issues in curriculum design. The overall development of one of the largest programs in the United States will be discussed. Following this, attention will be turned to two key courses - the initial course for non-specialist MBA\u27s and the capstone course for IS majors. Among the iSSues to be discussed are: - IS Program Size and Scope - Program Strategies - Faculty Needs -Technology/Management Emphasis Tradeoffs -Courses for Non-Majors - Educating MBA Non-Specialists - The Undergraduate Curriculum - Models for the Undergraduate Capstone Course - Resource Issue

Enabling New Organizational Forms: A Changing Perspective on Infrastructure

Global competition is mandating faster cycle times, cost effective operations, and responsiveness to customer needs. Many large, formerly decentralized firms are responding to these challenges by adopting federalist structures, intended “to make things big by keeping them small; to encourage autonomy but within bounds...” (Handy 1992, p. 60). Two characteristics of federalist structures are (1) a strong core organization that coordinates the activities of (2) responsive, flexible local offices

An Examination of Work-Related Correl ates of Job Satisfaction in Programmer/Analysts

Even though industrial and organizational psychologists have accumul ated a great deal of knowledge about job sati sfaction, few MIS researchers have applied this knowledge to the study of the job satisfaction of programmer/analysts. One of the most notabl e exceptions to this oversight is the study conducted by Cougar and Zawacki (1981) . These researchers examined the relationship between programmer/analysts\u27 feelings about thei r jobs and one set of work-rel ated correl ates of job sati sfacti on - correl ates of sati sfacti on stemming from the work itsel f. Specifically, they used Hackman and Oldham\u27s (1976, 1980) Job Characteristic Model (JCM) to study the rel ationship between the tasks carried out by programmer/ analysts and the programmer/analysts\u27 feelings about their jobs. This research examines two sets of variables that can be added to the JCM and can measure some work-rel ated correlates of job satisfaction not consi dered by Couger and Zawacki . One set of vari abl es - rol e percepti ons - measures the amount of conflict and ambiguity in a worker\u27s job (Kahn, Wol fe, Gui nn, Stroek, and Rosenthal , 1964) . Researchers have found high levels of conflict and ambiguity among workers who have a great deal of contact with peopl e i n other groups within the organization. Since contact with information systems users is often an important part of programmer/analysts jobs, role percepti ons shoul d be significant correl ates of job satisfaction in programmer/analysts. The second set of variables measures the quality of leadership provided by the worker\u27 s supervisor and peers (Bowers and Seashore, 1966). Leadership characteristics should also be important in the study of programmer/analysts\u27 jobs, because of the amount of team work needed in developing information systems. The survey described below .examines the rel ative importance of these three sets of independent variables - job characteristics, role perceptions, and leadership characteristics - as cor rel ates of j ob satisfaction in programmer/analysts. It is hypothesized that each of the in dependent variables will be significant correl ated of job satisfaction. Further, it is hypothesized that the addition of role perceptions and leadership characteristics to job characteristics will significantly increase our understanding of work-rel ated correl ates of job satisfaction. To test these hypotheses, a survey of 188 programmer/analysts was carried out. The subjects cam from two insurance companies and two industrial companies, each with a staff of over 100 programmer/analysts. The subject compl eted a questionnaire that contained measures for each of the independent variables and for job satisfaction. Correlation and regression analyses were performed. on the survey data. The correlation analysis indicated that each of the job characteristics, role perceptions, and 1 eadership characteristics correl ated significantly with job satisfaction. In general, the role perceptions correlated more highly with the satisfaction variables than either the leadership characteristics or the job characteristics. Multiple regression analyses were performed to examine the amount of variance in job satisfaction explained by each of the three sets of independent variables. The job characteristics alone expl ained 39% of the variance in job satisfaction. The role perceptions alone explained 34% of the varlance, and the leadership characteri sti cs alone expl ai ned 25% of the vari ance i n sati sfaction. Further analysis indicated that using job characteristics in a base regression and then adding role perceptions and leadership characteristics, either individually or together, significantly increased the explained variance in job satisfaction. The addition of both sets of variabl es i ncreased the expl ained variance in job satisfaction from 39% to 50%. The main conclusion of this research is that extensions are needed to the JCM to better understand the work-rel ated correl ates of job satisfaction in programmer/analysts. This conclusion has important implications for researchers and practitioners interested in redesigning programmer/analysts\u27 jobs. Work redesigners must not focus solely on modifying the tasks performed by programmer/analysts. In addition, they must examine the interactions between information systems users and programmer/analysts that could affect role confl ict and role ambiuity. Further, they must consi der the qual ity of leadership provided by information systems managers and the programmer/analysts! co-workers and how improvements in this area can lead to higher job satisfaction

TEACHING THE CURRENTOR FUTURE GENERAL MANAGERS: A CRITICAL FUNCTION FOR THE MIS FACULTY

For the past several years, information systems faculties have worked diligently to develop effective curriculums for students majoring in the field. Today, an increasingly important, and perhaps more important role for the information systems faculty is that of educating non-majors -- students who wish to be, ar currently are, general managers. Increasingly, general managers are determining the extent or use of the computer and the effectiveness of the information systems function in their organizations. Systems design and programming is more and more being performed within end-user departments and by end-users themselves. Therefore, in the 80\u27s an increased degree of understanding of the information function by general management is vital. However, general management students vary widely. In addition, the amount of material which might be taught is overwhelming. Finally, the amount of time available in general management curriculums for information systems material is limited. Three current approaches to these constraints, and some general conclusions concerning teaching information systems to general managers are presented

MAPPING OFFICE WORK TO OFFICE TECHNOLOGY

have achieved success with respect to describing what happens in the office, they have contributed far less with respect to prescribing how computer-based technologies can support the office. Here we present TEMO (TEchnological Mapping of Office-work), a procedure which aids the analyst in determining the feasibility of supporting a given office task and suggests which specific software packages might improve performance of that task. In order to illustrate the procedure's application, we present a case in which TEMO is applied, in step-by-step fashion, in order to assess the feasibility of automating a simple set of tasks and to assist in the selection of an appropriate software package. Directions of continuing work in the procedure's extension, enhancement, and evaluation are also described.Information Systems Working Papers Serie

Multiple case-study analysis of quality management practices within UK Six Sigma and non-Six Sigma manufacturing small- and medium-sized enterprises

This paper examines multiple case-study analysis of quality management practices within UK Six Sigma and non-Six Sigma manufacturing small- and medium-sized enterprises