Jo Ellen Moore

One road to turnover: an examination of work exhaustion in technology professionals

The concept of work exhaustion (or job burnout) from the management and psychology research literature is examined in the context of technology professionals. Data were collected from 270 IT professionals and managers in various industries across the United States. Through structural equation modeling, work exhaustion was shown to partially mediate the effects of workplace factors on turnover intention. In addition, the results of the study revealed that: (1) technology professionals experiencing higher levels of exhaustion reported higher intentions to leave the job and, (2) of the variables expected to influence exhaus

Content analysis in leadership research: Examples, procedures, and suggestions for future use

Abstract Content analysis is a method for analyzing written and oral textual materials which is used sparingly by organizational researchers. This paper reminds leadership researchers that content analysis is in their methodology toolbox and reviews: what content analysis is and how it has evolved; examples of its use in leadership research; the variety of analysis techniques for which the results are suitable; and the strengths and weaknesses associated with this method. In addition, a suggested procedure is presented to assist researchers in using content analysis. Finally, the role of content analysis in future leadership research is considered.

IT Human Resource Management Configurations and IT Turnover: Theoretical Synthesis and Empirical Analysis

Increasingly, scholars and practitioners acknowledge that information technology (IT) human capital is a strategic resource and that its effective management represents a significant organizational capability. We use configurational theory to examine organizational practices related to the management of IT human capital. In contrast to much prior work in IT human resource management (HRM) that is focused at the individual level, our inquiry is focused at the organizational level of analysis. Building on strategic human resource management (SHRM) research in general and research on the management of IT professionals in particular, we examine the broad question: Are different configurations of IT HRM practices associated with different IT staff turnover rates? A multidimensional view of IT HRM practices is presented, based on prior IT and SHRM literature. We formalize hypotheses regarding the relationship of turnover with configurations of IT HRM practices grounded in prior theory and empirical research. Based on survey responses from 106 organizations, IT HRM dimensions and configurations are derived and the hypotheses are tested. A five-configuration solution, obtained via cluster analysis, includes two contrasting configurations consistent with two archetypes found in the prior literature. Specifically, the configuration with a human capital focus has lower turnover than the task-focused configuration, providing support for our first hypothesis. Although the hypothesis on intermediate configurations and their relationship with turnover is not supported, we discover and interpret three additional configurations that embody patterns of practices with unique emphases. Theoretical and practical implications of the findings are discussed.

How to turn around `turnover culture' in IT

To stem the flight of valued IT professionals, recognize how the social contagion of changing jobs to overcome workplace dissatisfaction can infect even the most loyal and productive IT employees. Then listen.

IT professionals as organizational citizens

Are managers discouraging IT professionals from exhibiting behaviors the organization desperately needs?

Observations from “the front”: IT executives on practices to recruit and retain information technology professionals

1. ABSTRACT Human resource practices used to recruit and retain people in information technology (IT) have received considerable attention recently. IT Managers exhausted with hiring and keeping IT workers are as likely to find exasperation as find inspiration when they pore over the myriad practices described in hard-copy or electronic publications that cross their desks (e.g., Frankel, 1997; ColeGomolski, 1998). Recent research has provided a useful taxonomy that can help make sense of the bewildering array of recruitment and retention practices that managers could consider (Agarwal and Ferratt, 1998). Through use of this taxonomy, the objective of the research reported here is to describe the set of recruitment and retention practices IT managers are employing and view as most effective. An examination of these practices will provide valuable guidance to both researchers and practitioners.

Personality characteristics of information systems professionals

Relative to other occupations, few empirical studies have been documented concerning personality characteristics of information systems professionals. Also, past studies have tended to lump all data processing personnel into a single group of “computer programmers”. This study is based on the Sixteen Personali ty Factor Questionnaire (16PF) results of 113 respondents who work in data processing at large insurance companies located in the midwest. 16PF personality profiles were compiled for application programmers, systems analysts, technical programmers, and data processing managers. ACMCPR ’91 A multivariate test of the difference in group centroids indicated significant differences in these four personali ty profiles. Through discriminant analysis, it was determined that the managers and application programmers tended to be more experimenting and free-thinking, more imaginative, and more forthright and content with what comes than the technical programmers and systems analysts. Itwas also determined that the managers tended to be more lax and impulsive, more assertive and competitive, and have a higher capability for abstract-thinking than the application programmers. The information systems manager group was also compared to an existing 16PF profile for business executives. This comparison suggests that the IS managers in this study tended to be less warm and outgoing, more assertive and aggressive, less adventurous and socially bold, less trusting and accepting of conditions, more self-sufficient and resourceful, more impulsive, and more tense than the business executives. Permission to copy without fee all or part of this material is granted provided that the copies are not made or distributed for direct commercial advantage, the ACM copyright notice and the title of the publication and its date appear, and notice is given that copying is by permissionoftbe Association for Computing Machinery. Tocopy otherwise , or to republish, requires a fee and/or specific permission. 01991 ACM 089791-389-2/91/0003/0140

Is employee attitudes and perceptions at varying levels of software process maturity

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The Reverberating Effects of Job Rotation: A Theoretical Exploration of Nonrotaters' Fairness Perceptions

Taking a control theory view of software process innovation, we tested prevalent beliefs regarding software process maturity and Information Systems employee attitudes and perceptions by surveying 736 IS professionals in 10 organizations at varying levels of the CMM (capability maturity model). Although anecdotal reports and the scant empirical studies to date suggest job attitudes and perceptions are more positive for employees in organizations at higher levels of software process maturity, we found evidence of a more complex picture. While our data supported expectations that role conflict and perceived work overload were lower for IS professionals in organizations at a level of maturity where software process behavioral controls are implemented, other results were not fully in line with prevalent beliefs. Most notably, IS workers reported significantly lower professional efficacy and lower job satisfaction in organizations at CMM Level 3, where behavioral controls are the dominant form of formal control, than in organizations at Level 1, which is relatively free of formal controls. Some anticipated positive attitudes and perceptions surfaced in organizations at the highest rungs of software process maturity (CMM Levels 4/5), where the established behavioral controls are supplemented by substantial outcome controls, as IS professionals reported lower role ambiguity and higher job satisfaction than did their counterparts in organizations at CMM Level 3.

Meeting the demand for IT workers: A call for research

Abstract Human resource researchers have long regarded job rotation as a valuable form of job-based experiential learning. However, given the dearth of prior conceptual work in the collection of rotation research and the sparse attention given to rotations collateral effects, we pursue two objectives in this article. First, to guide future research we develop a general model of the fairness perceptions and responses related to job rotation decisions. In this effort, we apply organizational justice concepts within a social information-processing framework. Second, we advance specific propositions to address the reverberating effects of job rotation on nonrotating employees. Specific recommendations for future research and implications for practice are also discussed.