Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
Table 8. Non-IS subjects comparison: Kruskall-Wallis procedure
results
Subject
df
Asymp. Sig.
Accounting
1
0.00
International business
1
0.01
Management
1
0.01
Business finance
1
0.09
Mathematical modeling
1
0.12
Business statistics
1
0.24
Business ethics
1
0.41
Foreign languages
1
0.68
Psychology
1
0.74
Economics
1
0.78
Marketing
1
0.78
Operations research
1
0.79
Organizational behavior
1
0.84
Business or commercial law
1
0.92
Communications and report writing
1
0.92
There has long been agreement that the IS curriculum should be comprised of some
combination of technical subjects and nontechnical business subjects, and that graduates
also need soft business skills. There is far less agreement about what the mix between these
should be and how best to prepare students in some areas, notably in the development of
soft business skills.
Overall, the data indicate that IS/IT practitioners perceive soft skills as very important,
while hard skills, especially some of the more traditional core business subjects such as
accounting or economics, are rated lower, perhaps expecting a satisfactory level of technical
skill as a given. The data were obtained from a wide representation of professionals across
the spectrum of functional areas that require different types and levels of hard and soft skills.
While we agree with the general view that soft skills have become increasingly
important, we argue that the traditional business subjects are
not
the business skills primarily
sought in studies of the IS marketplace. Does the study of traditional business subjects such
as marketing, business law, or economics directly help students to develop a repertoire of
soft business skills? The findings suggest that in reality, it is not more core business subjects
that are needed, but an appreciation of business processes and activities that are not always
covered in IS degree programs is needed.
Some Issues
Some formidable barriers exist to substantive revision of IS curricula to emphasize
acquisition and development of soft business skills. These include:
