Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
Table 3. Organizational level of respondents
Function
Number of
Responses
Percent
IT/IS/computing manager
108
78.3
CIO/Chief information officer
9
6.5
IT consultant
5
3.6
IT/IS team leader
4
2.9
Not identified
3
2.2
Manager, recruiting and
personnel
2
1.4
Project manager
2
1.4
Personnel consultant
2
1.4
Recruitment officer
2
1.4
Company secretary/finance
manager
1
0.7
Total
138
100
a score of four being the midrange and representing a neutral response, these “core” business
subjects are seen as less important by practitioners in the discipline of IS.
Management [5.43 (lower), 5.63 (higher)], Ethics [4.85 (lower), 5.24 (higher)] and
Organizational Behavior [4.68 (lower), 5.08 (higher)] rate closer to five or higher, indicating
these are somewhat more important, especially Management, which rates in the fairly
important to very important range. In all cases, respondents in higher people contact roles
rated these areas as more important than did those in positions that involve lower people
contact.
Overall, these results are unexpected given the popular claims that IS graduates need
more understanding about business. Communications and Report Writing, often regarded
more as a “soft” skill rather than an academic discipline in its own right, was rated the most
important [5.82 (lower), 6.18 (higher)] of the academic areas, supporting many anecdotal
reports that employers value and seek these skills. It should also be noted that a subject
entitled “Communications & Report Writing” has been included in some business degree
programs in the past.
Of the academic disciplines covered in the survey, only three were significantly different
at the 0.05% level. These included Project Management, Business or Commercial Law, and
Foreign Languages. Not surprisingly, the “higher people contact” group rated these areas
as significantly more important than the other group.
