The Overconfidence Effect and IT Professionals

Information Technology has become a core activity in most, if not all, corporations. Although IT managers continue to be under-represented in executive management, the very centrality of information technology to corporate success or failure suggests that this situation cannot endure. It has been suggested that information technology managers are too narrowly focused and technically oriented for strategic roles in the corporation. A key skill required of the executive relates to making decisions in situations imbued with uncertainty. This paper examines a cognitive process, the overconfidence effect, which has been shown to influence good decision making. An analysis is presented as to the susceptibility of IT professionals to the overconfidence effect when compared to accounting / finance and marketing professionals. The results suggest that information technology professionals are as good, if not better, at making complex decisions as professionals from the other two groups. Information technology professionals proved to be moderately overconfident, a situation which has some advantages as well is disadvantages. The study indicated that information technology professionals have the decision making skills to take their rightful place at the most senior levels in corporations

Partnership quality in IT outsourcing: a mixed methods review of its measurement

[Abstract]: There is little doubt that how an IT outsourcing relationship is managed has a significant bearing on the overall success of an outsourcing venture. However, there has been a lack of empirical research with the view to developing a better understanding of the partnership type relationship between the client organisation and outsourcing vendor. This paper reports on the measurement and applicability of partnership quality using a mixed methods approach. The findings confirmed six dimensions of partnership quality which are important in evaluating the quality of a partnership type relationship in IT outsourcing. But findings also show that a partnership type relationship is more likely to exist for small to medium sized organisations

Higher education course content: paper-based, online or hybrid course delivery?

[Abstract]: The emergence of the Internet has made many institutions involved in the delivery of distance education programs re-evaluate the course delivery framework. A variety of models and techniques co-exist in an often uneasy alliance at many such institutions. These range from the traditional distance learning model, which remains paper-based, to the purely online model. Recently, hybrid models have emerged which apparently attempt to forge elements taken from several models into a unified whole. Many of these hybrid models seek to eliminate paper-based materials from the tuition process. While many arguments are put forward about the efficacy of purely electronic delivery mechanisms, cost containment is often the driving motivation. This study explores student perceptions of the various delivery mechanisms for distance learning materials. In particular, it seeks to determine what value students place on paper-based delivery mechanisms. The study surveys a group of undergraduate students and a group of graduate students enrolled in the Faculty of Business at a large regional Australian university

Factors influencing the decision to choose information technology preparatory studies in secondary schools: an exploratory study in regional/rural Australia

[Abstract]: The career paths of students are influenced and shaped by the subject choices that are made in the final years of secondary schooling. This paper presents the findings of an empirical study that identified the key factors influencing the decision of rural / regional Australian students to choose or not choose to study Information Processing and Technology. The findings revealed that career oriented, extrinsic factors play an important role in motivating the selection of I.P.T. at school and, by implication, information technology at university. There are few apparent gender differences but there is limited evidence to suggest that males may be more influenced by extrinsic motivators and females by intrinsic motivators. Although the factors used in the study were initially identified largely via informal processes, they all appear to influence the decision to take I.P.T. The focus on career-related factors and the instrumentality of taking I.P.T. could explain the drop-off in students taking the subject. This has potentially significant implications as regards the future supply of good information technology professional

Partnership Quality in IT Outsourcing - A mixed methods review of its measurement

There is little doubt that how an IT outsourcing relationship is managed has a significant bearing on the overall success of an outsourcing venture. However, there has been a lack of empirical research with the view to developing a better understanding of the partnership type relationship between the client organisation and outsourcing vendor. This paper reports on the measurement and applicability of partnership quality using a mixed methods approach. The findings confirmed six dimensions of partnership quality which are important in evaluating the quality of a partnership type relationship in IT outsourcing. But findings also show that a partnership type relationship is more likely to exist for small to medium sized organisations

Assessing for competence need not devalue grades

[Abstract]: Norm-based assessment is under fire from some quarters because it is often unfair and is out of touch with the demands of the job market. Criterion-referenced assessment is touted as the answer by others but problems remain, in particular with regards to the maintenance of standards. This study examines the use of competency-based assessment in an undergraduate database course. The findings suggest that it is possible to create an assessment instrument that is relevant to particular skills required in the job market but does not inflate grades across the board. A remarkable idiosyncrasy emerges in that the distribution of scores assumes a bi-polar shape with a significant number of high grades and a significant number of grades at the lowest passing level or failing grades

Does off-shoring IT make good business sense? Proceed with caution!

IT off-shoring has received much attention in the media for both positive and negative reasons. However, there has been a lack of empirical studies that have critically evaluated the practice of IT off-shoring. This paper reports on a qualitative study of the key factors facilitating and inhibiting the adoption of IT off-shoring by Australian industry. Empirical data was collected in a series of in-depth interviews drawing on the first hand experience of a number of senior business managers and senior IT executives. The findings indicate that organisations are generally positively disposed towards the practice of IT off-shoring but are quite selective in what IT they are offshoring. The findings also revealed that the perceived cost advantages may actually be much lower than expected due to the considerable establishment and management costs associated with IT off-shoring. Furthermore organisations need to also consider the negative consequences such as the potential loss of IP and loss of valuable internal ICT knowledge and capability

Are universities To blame for the IT careers crisis

[Abstract]: At a time when the IT industry in general and the IT academy in particular face major challenges,some accuse universities of producing graduates with poor or inappropriate skills. This qualitative study, based on interviews with fifteen senior IT executives and managers in the Australian financial services industry, examines what employers seek when they recruit new graduates. We find that employers now expect much more from IT graduates. They require a blend of technical, business and people skills combined with the right attitude. Furthermore, requirements are highly mediated by contextual factors such as company size and corporate culture. We also find that universities are not perceived as negatively as some would have it. Universities face a significant challenge in producing graduates with much wider skill sets. Although this study was conducted in Australia, we are of the opinion that the issues discussed are relevant in the wider international context

A review of IT outsourcing trends in 2005: an Australian study

IT outsourcing is a well established business practice but is still challenging for organisations due to the difficulty in managing the complexity of ICT and the relationship between the client organisation and the outsourcing vendor. There has been a lack of large scale studies on IT outsourcing which focused on the Australian context and considered a range of organisations including SMEs. This paper reports on the current state of play of IT outsourcing in Australia for small, medium and large organisations. The findings of the quantitative survey show that IT outsourcing is a relatively well established practice in a number of industry sectors which have been traditionally reliant on IT/ICT. Organisations are quite selective about what IT functions are outsourced and how much of their total IT budget is spent on IT outsourcing. The findings show that majority of organisations are involved in partnership type relationships with their outsourcing vendors and that many of the relationships are well established. Finally, the findings suggest that a partnership type relationship is a strong indicator of the overall success of an IT outsourcing relationship

IT outsourcing success: revisiting the measurement of a multi-dimensional construct: an Australian perspective

This paper examines the applicability of three dimensions of IT outsourcing success (Strategic benefits, Economic benefits, Technological Benefits) which have been identified in existing literature, in the Australian context. While a number of studies have identified that IT outsourcing success is a multi-dimensional construct most of the studies have been based in the US and South Korea. Furthermore most of the previous studies have not reported on the multidimensionality of IT outsourcing success in their findings rather reporting of IT outsourcing success as a summated scale. We believe that evaluating and confirming the measurement of IT outsourcing success in Australian context adds to the body of knowledge. Our analysis identified two completing factor models and significant evidence of crossloading in the two factor and three factor models examined. The results of the analysis show that the three dimensions of IT outsourcing success maybe mixed measures and the technological benefits may actually be interpreted by respondents as a strategic benefit or an economic benefit depending on individual circumstances. However our results overall do provide stronger support for the three factor model when the factor selection was driven by priori theory. Our results also show the degree of unpredictability inherent when using inferential multivariate statistical techniques such as factor analysis. Therefore we believe our work provides a strong argument for testing and confirming measurement models such as IT outsourcing success in a variety of contexts over time to truly confirm the reliability and validity of IS models and theory