Effectively utilizing systems developers on projects
Authors: 
A. Nelson, K. JoshiAuthors Info & Claims
Pages 188 - 196
Abstract
Today's systems developer should possess skills to deal with a range of social and technical issues during systems development. However, all developers do not excel in every skill dimension. Some may possess very good people skills but only average technical skills, while others may possess very good technical and functional skills but only average people and political skills. Furthermore, all IS projects are not the same. They may differ on dimensions such as size, number of users, user comprehension of tasks, degree of integration, and degree of change. Therefore, the mix of skills needed for successfully completing each project may be different depending upon the nature of the project.
This paper highlights the importance of skills in assigning developers to system projects. A proper matching of project skill requirements and developers should lead to a more effective use of development resources. Towards this end key developers' skills and core IS project characteristics are identified. Based on these skills and project characteristics, an approach is proposed for assigning systems developers to IS projects to effectively utilize the systems development staff. Furthermore, the proposed approach can also provide useful suggestions for training existing developers and recruiting additional staff.
References
[1]
Arvey and Hoyle "A Guttman Approach to the Development of Behaviorally Based Rating Scales For the Systems Analysts and Programmer Analysts," Journal of Applied Psychology, 59(1), 1974, pp. 61-68.
[2]
Benbasat, I., et al "Impact of Organizational Maturity of IS Skill Needs," MIS Quarterly, 4(1), March 1980, pp. 21-34.
[3]
Benjamin, C., "Information Technology in the 1990s: A Long Range Planning Scenario," MIS Quarterly, 6(2), 1982, pp. 11-31.
[4]
Blank, M. and Barratt, D. "Finding and Selecting Systems Analysts and Designers," Journal of Systems Management, 39, March 1988, pp. 8-11.
[5]
Bolman, L. and Deal, T., Modern Approaches to Understanding and Managing Organizations, San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1986.
[6]
Bostrom, R. and Heinen, J., "MIS Problems and Failures: A Socio-Technical Perspective, Part I: The Causes," MIS Quarterly, 1(3), 1977.
[7]
Burgetz, B., Needed: The Systems Apprentice, "CMA Magazine, 65(5), June 1991, pp. 28.
[8]
Bums, R.N., and Dennis, A.R., *Selecting the Appropriate Application Development Methodology," Data Ba, Fall 1985, pp. 19-23.
[9]
Cheney, P. and Lyons, N., 'IS Skill Requirements: A Survey," MIS Qua~erly, 4(1), March 1980, pp. 35-43.
[10]
Davis, G. and Olson, M., M~agement Information Systems: Conceptual Foundation. s, Structure. and Development, New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1985.
[11]
Dewar, R. and Dutton, J., "The Adoption Of Radical and Incremental Innovations- An Empirical Analysis," Management Science, 32(1), November 1986, pp. 1422- 1433.
[12]
Ettlie, J. and Vallenga, D., "The Adoption Time Period For Some Transportation Innovations," Management Science, 25(5), May 1979, pp. 429-443.
[13]
Freextland, M., "What You Should Know About Programmers," Datamation, 33, March 15, 1987, pp. 91- 102.
[14]
Foreht, K., et al, "Emerging Roles of the MIS Professional: Technocrat or Change Agent?," Journal of Systems Management, November 1987, pp. 10-17.
[15]
Gore, M and Stubble, J., Elements of Systems Anal sy.~, Fourth Edition, Win. C. Brown Publishers, 1988.
[16]
Green, G. "Perceived Importance of Systems Analysts' Job Skills, Roles, and Non-Salary Incentives," MI._.SS Quarterly, 13(2), June 1989, pp. 115-133.
[17]
Hartog, C. and Rouse, R., "A Blueprint for the New IS Professional," Datamation, 33, October 1987 pp. 64-70.
[18]
Henderson, J. and Lee, S., "Managing I/S Design Teams: A Control Thoorie,s Perspective," Management Science, 38(6), June 1992, pp. 757-777.
[19]
Henry, D., "Read Between the Lines," Data Management, 24, November 1986, pp. 38-39.
[20]
Hurd, A., "Systems Analysts for the '90s,", August 7, 1989, pp. 69-76.
[21]
Jones, C., "Measuring Programming Quality and Productivity," IBM Syste. ms Jouma!, 17(1), 1987, pp. 39- 63.
[22]
Joshi, K., "A Model of Users' Perspective on Change: The Case of IS Technology Implementation," MI__._SS Quarterly, 15(2), June 1991, pp. 229-242.
[23]
Kean, R., "Specific Knowledge Becomes a Necessity as DP Industry Matures,", 25, June 1987, pp. 25-30.
[24]
Keen, P., "Information Systems and Organizational Change," Communications of the ACM, 24(1), January 1981, pp. 24-32.
[25]
Keen, P. and Gerson, E., "The Politics of Software Systems Design," Datamation, November 1977, pp. 80-84.
[26]
Keider, S.P., "Managing Systems Development Projects," in (eds) Gray, P., King, W., McLean E.R., and Watson H.J., Management of Information Systems, Chicago: The Dryden Press, 1989, pp. 319-328.
[27]
Kemerer, C., "An Agenda for Research in the Managerial Evaluation of CASE Tool Impacts,", Kailua- Kona, HI, January 3-6, 1989, pp 219-228.
[28]
Leavitt, H., "Applying Organizational Change In Industry: Structural, Technological and Humanistic Approaches" Handbook of Organization, J.G. March, Editors, Rand McNally, Chicago, IL, 1965.
[29]
Lucas, H., Why Information Systems Fail, New York, NY, Columbia University Press, 1975.
[30]
Maxwell, P., "Developing A Successful Deskside Manner for System Analysts," Journal of Systems Management, April 1988, pp. 6-9.
[31]
Marks, W., "How to Track MIS Projects," Canadian Datasystems, 21, July 1989, pp. 35-36.
[32]
Markus, L., "Power, Politics, and MIS implementation," Communicatig_ns of the ACM, 26(6), June 1983, pp. 430-444.
[33]
McFarlan, F. "Portfolio Approach to Information Systems," Harvard Business Review, September-October 1981, pp. 142-150.
[34]
Mumford, E. and Pettigrew, A., Implementing Strategic Decisions, Longman, New York, NY, 1975.
[35]
Nelson, R., nEducational Needs As Perceived By iS and End-User Personnel: A Survey of Knowledge and Skill Requirements,~ M!S~arterly, 15(4), December 1991, pp. 503-525.
[36]
Newman, M. and Robey, D., 'A Social Process Model of User-Analyst Relationships," MIS Oua~erly, 16(2), June 1992, pp. 249-266.
[37]
O'Hara, R., ~A Survey of Change: Infon:nation Processing and Human Resources, n Training: and Development Joum. al, 37, May 1983, pp. 24-30.
[38]
Olle, T.W., Hagelstien, J., Ian G. Macdonald, Rolland, C., Sol, H.G., Van Assche, F.J.M., and Verrin- Smart, A.A., Information Systems Methodologies, Wokingham, England: Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, 1991.
[39]
Pettigrew, A., 'Information Control as a Power Resource," Sociology, 6(2), May 1972, pp. 187-204.
[40]
Pfeffer, j., Organizational Design, AHM Publishing Co., Arlington Heights, IL 1978.
[41]
Robey, D. and Markus, M., HRituals In IS Design," MIS Quarterly, March 1984, pp. 5-15.
[42]
Rogers, E., Diffusion of Innovations, N.Y.' Free Press; London: Collier Macmillan, 1983.
[43]
Rouse, R. and Hartog, C., "The New MIS Professional - Part I," Journal of Systems Management, May 1988a, pp. 6-10.
[44]
Rouse, R. and Hartog, C.,~ The New MIS Professional- Part II,~ Journal of Systems Management, June 1988b, pp. 19-21.
[45]
Salaneik, G. and Pfeffer, J., "Who Gets Power and How They Hold On To It: A Strategic Contingency Model of Power," Organizational Dynamics, Winter 1977, pp. 3- 21.
[46]
Schein, V., "Organizational Realities' The Politics of Change," Train~g Development Joum.al, 39(2), February 1985, pp. 37-411.
[47]
Stamps, D., "CASE- Cranking Out Productivity," Datamation, July 1, 1987, pp. 55-58.
[48]
Stone, J. and Mason, I., ~Too Much Jargon Hurts DPer's Credibility,' Computerworld, 12(10), March 6, 1978, p.23.
[49]
Taylor C., ~Knowing Business and How to Communicate Best ~ed Skills, Study Reveals," Data Management, 19, June 1981, pp. 34-38.
[50]
Tushman, M., "A Political Approach to Organizations: A Review and Rational,' Academy of Management R eyiew, 2, 1977, pp. 206-211.
[51]
Vitalari, N., ~Knowledge as a Basis for Expertise in Systems Analysis: An Empirical Study,~ MIS Quarterly, 9(3), September 1985, pp. 221-241.
[52]
Wemer, R., ~The Business System Professional," .MIS Ouarterlv, 3(1), March 1079, pp 65-66.
[53]
Wetherbe, J., Systems Analysis and Design, 3rd Edition, West Publishing Company, 1988.
[54]
Zmud, R. and Cox, J., "The Implementation Process: A Change approach," MIS Ouarterly, 3(2), June 1979, pp. 35-43.
[55]
Walsh, J.J., and Kanter, J., "Towards More Successful Project Management,~ Journal of Systems Management, January 1988, pp.16-21.
Index Terms
- Effectively utilizing systems developers on projects
Recommendations
The emotions of systems developers: an empirical study of affective events theory
SIGMIS CPR '04: Proceedings of the 2004 SIGMIS conference on Computer personnel research: Careers, culture, and ethics in a networked environmentThe role of emotions in the workplace has received increasing attention from management theorists in recent years [2], yet information technology (IT) researchers have failed to consider the role of emotions on IT professionals. Many researchers ...
Job Shadowing in Information Technology Projects: A Source of Competitive Advantage
High-value turnkey projects in Information Technology firms are susceptible to multiple risks. Inappropriate staffing is one of the major risks that can impact deliverable negatively. The greatest fallacy that comes up is the incongruence between HR ...
Comments
Please enable JavaScript to view thecomments powered by Disqus.Information & Contributors
Information
Published In
Copyright © 1993 ACM.
Permission to make digital or hard copies of all or part of this work for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and the full citation on the first page. Copyrights for components of this work owned by others than ACM must be honored. Abstracting with credit is permitted. To copy otherwise, or republish, to post on servers or to redistribute to lists, requires prior specific permission and/or a fee. Request permissions from [email protected]
Sponsors
Publisher
Association for Computing Machinery
New York, NY, United States
Publication History
Published: 01 June 1993
Check for updates
Qualifiers
- Article
Conference
SIGCPR93
Sponsor:
Acceptance Rates
Overall Acceptance Rate 300 of 480 submissions, 63%
Contributors
Other Metrics
Bibliometrics & Citations
Bibliometrics
Article Metrics
- 0Total Citations
- 389Total Downloads
- Downloads (Last 12 months)43
- Downloads (Last 6 weeks)9
Reflects downloads up to 14 Dec 2024
Other Metrics
Citations
View Options
Login options
Check if you have access through your login credentials or your institution to get full access on this article.
Sign in