Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
changing role of the IS/IT professional and identified skills and competencies required for
development in the early 21st century.
Identifying the skills sought by employers of new IS graduates is critical for educators
in designing curricula and advising students. Van Slyke (1997) found that specific technical
skills were less important than basic technical skills and nonacademic skills. In a study across
various IS job classifications, Doke and Williams (1999) found that systems development
skills and interpersonal skills were common across classifications, but programming skills
were more important for entry-level IS positions. Similar results were obtained by Turner and
Lowry (1999a) in a pilot study of 102 students and 54 employers of IS graduates. An earlier
study by McLean, Tanner, and Smits (1991) found that employers believed that members of
staff are motivated primarily by “hygiene factors,” such as income, security, and other
material components that, in and of themselves, cannot produce job satisfaction, but without
which job satisfaction cannot occur (Herzberg, 1968). Wrycza, Usowicz, Gabor, and Verber
(1999) found that knowledge and skills needed for work in small businesses is different from
that required for larger enterprises. They also found that contemporary firms had a stronger
need for IS specialists than they did for computer programmers.
The findings reported in this chapter present a snapshot of some of the evidence that
“business subjects,” such as those comprising many undergraduate business or commerce
courses, do not equate to the business skills that employers of IS graduates are seeking in
new hires. The work presented here is part of an ongoing research program that investigates
the views of other major stakeholders, including employers, currently enrolled students, and
academics (Turner & Lowry, 1999b, 2000, 2001, 2002).
We argue that IS practitioners, employers, and students see little value in some of the
more formal business subject areas that often form the core of an IS degree offered in a
business or commerce faculty. These stakeholder groups see more value in the development
of “soft skills” useful in client interaction. The findings have serious implications for IS
educators and IS curriculum design.
Importance of Nontechnical Business Subjects in the
Information Systems Curriculum
In a previous study of the content of information system curricula, the authors (Turner
& Lowry, 1999b) began to suspect that the “other business skills” desired of new IS graduates
were not synonymous with traditional business curriculum subjects. The results of that study
indicated that of nine business subjects that are typically included in IS curricula, only three,
Accounting
,
Business Ethics
, and
Management
were judged to be important by students and
employers.
Students and employers were asked to indicate what they considered to be the most
and least important non-information systems subjects. Their responses are shown in
percentages in Table 1. Nine subjects were evaluated by students and employers as “Most
Important” in the three columns to the left, and as “Least Important” in the three right-hand
columns. For convenience, the superscripted numbers in parenthesis indicate the first,
second, and third most and least important subjects, from student and employer perspectives.
There is a surprising level of agreement between students and employers. Assessments
of “Most Important” subjects differ only in the rank order, with students viewing “Manage-
ment” as most important, “Accounting” as second most important, and “Business Ethics”
as third. Employers ranked them as “Accounting,” “Management,” and “Business Ethics.”
