As telecommuting programs proliferate, a better understanding of the relationship between telecommuting and career success outcomes is required to provide human resources managers, telecommuters, and information systems managers with information to decide the future of telecommuting arrangements. This paper addresses this need by exploring whether turnover intentions and their determinants differ for telecommuters and non-telecommuters. Four hundred salespeople from one large company in the southeastern United States were asked to participate in the study. The organization entry point was the marketing director. One hundred and four telecommuting employees and one hundred and twenty-one regular employees responded, with a total of 225 usable questionnaires. Telecommuters seemed to face less role conflict and role ambiguity and tended to be happier with their supervisors and more committed to their organizations. They also showed lower satisfaction with peers and with promotion. Based on the results, recommendations are proposed for managing the implementation of telecommuting programs and their impact on the rest of the organization's employee population.
The Israeli Air Force (IAF) has developed a simulation system to train its top commanders in how to use defensive resources in the face of an aerial attack by enemy combat aircraft. During the simulation session, the commander in charge allocates airborne and standby resources and dispatches or diverts aircraft to intercept intruders. Seventy-four simulation sessions were conducted in order to examine the effects of time pressure and completeness of information on the performance of twenty-nine top IAF commanders. Variables examined were: (1) display of complete versus incomplete information, (2) time-constrained decision making versus unlimited decision time, and (3) the difference in performance between top strategic commanders and mid-level field commanders. The authors' results show that complete information usually improved performance. However, field commanders (as opposed to top strategic commanders) did not improve their performance when presented with complete information under pressure of time. Time pressure usually, but not always, impaired performance. Top commanders tended to make fewer changes in previous decisions than did field commanders.
This study draws upon the technology acceptance model as the theoretical basis and empirical findings for a pragmatic explanation of key factors affecting personal computing acceptance in small firms. The study uses results from a survey of 358 users in small firms in New Zealand to test a structural model examining the hypothesized relationships among the following constructs: intraorganizational factors, extraorganizational factors, perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, and personal computing acceptance (i.e., system usage). The findings indicate that perceived ease of use is a dominant factor in explaining perceived usefulness and system usage, and that perceived usefulness has a strong effect on system usage. The results also indicate that exogenous variables influence both perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness, particularly management support and external support. Inconsistent with prior research in large firms, relatively little support was found for the influence of both internal support and internal training. Implications for the acceptance of personal computing and future research on personal computing acceptance in small firms are discussed.
Survey data gathered from 471 professionals and managers in 62 companies in North America were used to test a motivational model of microcomputer usage. The model synthesized prior research findings and proposed that perceived usefulness, perceived fun/enjoyment, and social pressure would motivate increased use of microcomputers by professionals and managers. Results provided substantial support for the proposition that perceived usefulness (rather than perceived fun or social pressure) is the principal motivator. The findings also demonstrated that perceived complexity is a key intervening variable linking the antecedent variables (skills, organizational support, and organizational usage) with the three motivational variables. The results also suggested that skills play a critical role in affecting microcomputer usage. Skills directly promote microcomputer usage and influence usage through their effects on perceived usefulness, perceived enjoyment, and social pressure. The findings of the study contribute to an expanded understanding of the factors that promote microcomputer usage and also have important implications for the management of information systems.
Despite the significant demographic changes in the work force projected by the year 2000 and beyond, little empirical research has been made on the obstacles faced by women in the field of computing. Since career advancement prospects are especially salient for IS employees, and IS workers are considered a distinct occupational group, it is important to understand the career advancement prospects of IS employees. This study examines the impact of gender on job performance evaluations, job performance attributions, and career advancement prospects. The results show that there are no significant gender differences in job performance ratings; however, women are perceived to have less favorable chances for promotion than men. We found that job performance ratings play an important role in influencing an individual's chances for advancement. We also found that the effect of job performance on attributions is stronger among males than females. Additionally, we found that while the effect of job performance ratings on career advancement prospects is stronger among males, the effect of attributions on career advancement prospects is stronger among females. Suggestions regarding areas for future research are offered, and implications for human resource management are identified.
We examine the differences and similarities in the human capital variables of male and female information systems (IS) workers and the affect these differences have on job outcomes. The human capital variables studied include age, education, organizational and job tenure, and number of years in the IS occupation. We found that even when controlling for the differences in human capital variables, women in IS still tend to be employed at lower levels of the organization, make less money, and have greater intentions to leave the organization.
This study assesses the job involvement of 464 professionals and managers in the information systems (IS) field and investigates the role of involvement in influencing the quality of work life. Results show significant variation in the level of job involvement displayed by IS employees and differential patterns of relationships among the study variables for IS personnel with low, moderate, and high levels of job involvement. The findings indicate that involvement serves as a complex moderator role in the pattern of relationships of work experiences, and of job characteristics with career expectations and career outcomes. It has both linear and non-linear relationships with several of the study variables. While in some cases, high levels of job involvement tend to enhance the beneficial effects of work experiences on the quality of work life, in others such involvement tends to heighten the negative effects of role stressors. Implications of the findings and directions for future research are discussed.
This paper reports on the results of two studies involving the development and construct validation of a short-form measure of the Career Orientations Inventory. The Career Orientations Inventory is a questionnaire designed to assess an individual's career interests, career values, and career motivators. The measure evaluates nine career orientations: technical, managerial, autonomy, job security, geographic security, service, pure challenge, life-style, and entrepreneurship. A short form of this questionnaire was derived and tested in two separate field studies of IS employees. Extensive evidence of the reliability and validity of the measure was demonstrated in both studies (the development, Study 1, and the validation, Study 2). The relationships between career orientations and various individual difference and satisfaction measures were also tested and provided additional evidence of the construct validity of the short-form measure. Researchers and practitioners who need to measure the career orientations of IS personnel should find this a useful questionnaire.
Personnel is one of the most important resources for the performance of Information Systems (IS) and Information Center (IC) organizations. The scarcity of new employees, the difficulty of training and a high turnover make personnel management in these areas a difficult problem. For IS employees, the relationships between job satisfaction, organizational commitment and intention to leave the organization have been established. Because the size of the investment and the number of organizations establishing IC organizations are growing dramatically, it has become important to understand the determinants of turnover intentions for IC as well as IS employees. Are IC employees similar to their IS counterparts? Or, is their nature basically different, as some studies have suggested? This study examines the differences between IS and IC employees in terms of demographic characteristics, participation on boundary spanning activities, role stressors, overall job satisfaction, organizational commitment and turnover intentions. The differences are found to be significant and call for special attention from IC managers to manage more properly their personnel resources. IC employees were found to participate more extensively in boundary spanning activities, experienced more role stressors (role ambiguity and role conflict), were less satisfied with their jobs and less committed to their organization. The findings also demonstrate the importance of organizational commitment as an intervening variable in models of turnover. While overall job satisfaction had both direct and indirect effects on turnover intentions among IC employees, for IS personnel it had only indirect effects through organizational commitment. The effects of role stressors and boundary spanning activities were found to be indirect via overall job satisfaction and organizational commitment for both IC and IS employees. The implications of these findings for practicing managers and for future research are discussed.
The role that race plays in influencing the work experiences and career outcomes of MIS personnel has been neglected in the MIS human resource management literature to date, despite the significant demographic changes in the worn force projected by the year 2000 and beyond. Thus, the need to understand and eliminate any barriers to advancement for various subgroups is essential if employers are to continue attracting the most qualified employees. This study examines relationships among race, organizational experiences, job performance evaluation, and career outcomes of black and white MIS employees in a large, multi-national telecommunications company. Direct and indirect effects of race on job performance evaluations and career outcomes (i.e., advancement prospects, career satisfaction, and organizational commitment) are examined. Compared to white MIS employees, black MIS employees reported less job discretion, less career support, and lower levels of met expectations. In addition, blacks received lower job performance ratings and were less satisfied with their careers than whites, Among other things, it is recommended that organizations be sensitive to and work to prevent the disparate treatment of black and white employees in all areas of the company, especially by supervisors, which negatively affects black employees' opportunities for promotion and advancement and the quality of their experiences on the job. Employers cannot assume automatically that black and white employees, or other subgroups, have the same experiences on the job or that their perceptions of their experiences are the same. Suggestions for additional research are offered and human resource management implications are identified.
The career orientations of employees can have important implications for their job satisfaction, commitment, and retention within organizations. However, there is little empirical research on the correlates of career orientations held by managers and professionals in the MIS field. This study sought to address this gap in the literature and assessed the career orientations of 464 MIS employees, as well as their relationship with selected demographic characteristics, job type, and career outcomes. The most prevalent career orientations of MIS employees were found to be technical and managerial. Autonomy and lifestyle orientations were also found to be moderately represented in the sample. Women were more lifestyle oriented and less technically oriented than men. In addition, systems programmers, applications programmers, and software engineers tended to be technically oriented, whereas systems analysts, project leaders, and computer managers tended to be managerially oriented. The most significant finding was that employees whose career orientations were compatible with their job setting reported high job satisfaction, high career satisfaction, strong commitment to their organization, and low intentions to leave their organization. Firms need to recognize the diversity of career orientations so that appropriate reward systems and career paths can be developed. Research on this topic should continue to examine characteristics unique to MIS employees, as well as how these interrelationships change over time at different career stages.