Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
Management Association, developed certifi cation programs for specifi c
fi elds in computer programming, systems analysis, and software design.
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These were really certifi cation exams, intended to validate the credentials
of society members, not aptitude tests. But they suggested that a new
approach to personnel management—the cultivation of professional
norms and institutions—might be the solution to the personnel crisis. At
the same time, academically minded researchers worked to elaborate a
theory of computer science that would place the discipline of program-
ming on a fi rm scientifi c foundation. For the time being, however, the
preferred solution was technological rather than professional or theoreti-
cal: drawing from traditional industrial approaches to increasing pro-
ductivity and eliminating human labor, computer manufacturers worked
to automate the programming process. For managers and employers in
the late 1950s and early 1960s, the development of “automatic program-
ming systems” seemed to offer the perfect solution to the labor crisis in
programming.
