Michael A. Chilton

Person-Job Cognitive Style Fit for Software Developers: The Effect on Strain and Performance

Software developers face a constant barrage of innovations designed to improve the development environment. Yet stress/strain among software developers has been steadily increasing and is at an all-time high, while their productivity is often questioned. Why, if these innovations are meant to improve the environment, are developers more stressed and less productive than they should be? Using a combination of cognitive style and person-environment fit theories as the theoretical lens, this study examines one potential source of stress/strain and productivity impediment among software developers. Specifically, this paper examines the fit between the preferred cognitive style of a software developer and his or her perception of the cognitive style required by the job environment, and the effect of that fit on stress/strain and performance. Data collected from a field study of 123 (object-oriented) software developers suggest that performance decreases and stress increases as this gap between cognitive styles becomes wider. Using surface response methodology, the precise fit relationship is modeled. The interaction of the developer and the environment provides explanatory power above and beyond either of the factors separately, suggesting that studies examining strain and performance of developers should explicitly consider and measure the cognitive style fit between the software developer and the software development environment. In practice, managers can use the results to help recognize misfit, its consequences, and the appropriate interventions (such as training or person/task matching).

The Dimensions of Tacit & Explicit Knowledge: A Description and Measure

abstraCt Knowledge workers are often employed to extract knowledge from domain experts in order to codify knowledge held by these experts. The extent to which workers rely on tacit or explicit knowledge may produce inefficiencies and reduce productivity if the information is not shared among those who need it or if it encapsulates strategic goals and is inadvertently shared with those who might undermine the firms competitive advantage. This article discusses the nature of tacit vs. explicit knowledge in terms of the dimensions thought to contribute to its degree of tacitness. We present the results of an exploratory study in which we develop an instrument designed to elicit perceptions regarding the nature of knowledge used by workers and their degree of reliance on tacit knowledge. It is an indirect form of measurement that eliminates the need to render the knowledge entirely explicit prior to measurement. As an additional benefit, it allows us to classify the knowledge along a continuum, ranging from entirely tacit to entirely explicit or somewhere in between. Use of this instrument by managers will help them identify pockets of tacit knowledge within the firm that could either be made explicit so that other workers can benefit from it or that could be prevented from becoming explicit should its strategic value require protection.

Assessing information technology personnel: toward a behavioral rating scale

Performance ratings are used as a means to measure and record performance of individuals on any particular job. Results can then be used for promotion, increases in pay and other incentives. They, therefore, can have a large impact on a persons career and are viewed by both employers and employees as extremely important. Performance ratings vary widely and typically include a variety of measures - some of which the employee can control, and others over which the employee has no direct control. Overall, the various types of performance ratings are not perfect; each has its flaws along with its advantages. In this study, one particular type of scale - a behavioral rating scale - is proposed by taking the results of a previous study performed by Green (1989) and empirically testing a set of critical skills for use as a performance assessment instrument for information technology (IT) personnel. The instrument is provided for researchers who wish to incorporate a behavior-oriented measure in their research and for practitioners who may be looking for a behavior-oriented scale to evaluate IT personnel. The psychometric properties of the instrument as observed in this study are also presented.

Performance and strain levels of it workers engaged in rapidly changing environments: a person-job fit perspective

Technological changes ripple through information technology (IT) development environments. IT professionals must often incorporate these changes into their job or risk obsolescence. This paper looks at the effects of technological change, and focuses on job environment conditions which affect individual performance, health, and well-being by applying person-job fit theory to software developers that have moved to an object-oriented development approach. Heretofore, the literature on person-job fit has viewed its effects statically, disregarding the effects of change. The current research recognizes the dynamics of the IT workplace and investigates the impact of a rapidly changing job environment on individual IT workers by including a comparison of fit at two different points in time. Results indicate that for a change in job environment, individuals whose professional needs match what is supplied by the job fare better in terms of strain and performance. By devoting attention to supplying IT workers who are facing increasing amounts of change with job environment dimensions these workers need, managers are able to direct their efforts toward the job environment dimensions that may improve worker performance and reduce the ill-effects of stress and strain. This, in turn, may have positive effects on overall system development. This study provides insights for managers regarding the pressures felt by software developers moving to a new development environment, and contributes to the person-job fit literature by incorporating a technological change in job environment.

Management of Lecture Time: Using the Web to Manipulate Extrinsic Cognitive Load

The variety of new technologies available for classroom use requires a choice not just between the technological options, but among them as well, since an educator may choose a single option or include a mix of media. In this study we investigate a particular mix of advanced technology and its effect on student learning outcomes. Our experimental design compares outcomes from a traditional teaching format with those of a more advanced web-based format. Our model is based on cognitive load theory, is developed from perceptions of the students, and is analyzed using factor analysis. The results based on this qualitative model show promise for delving further into the assessment of learning. This would provide researchers with additional tools to help evaluate their results and educators with a basis on which to make decisions regarding which advanced technologies to use.

Adaption-Innovation Theory and Cognitive Diversity: The Impact on Knowledge Use within Organizations

The usefulness of data within organizations is proposed to be partially dependent upon the characteristics of those organization members who actually use it. Certain types of data are more likely to be accessed and utilized by organization members when they prefer working with it. The value and usefulness of data is therefore partially determined by the desire of individuals to use it. Because critical data may not be in a preferred format, it can be overlooked or ignored by some organizational members. Moreover, organizational members may also rely too heavily on their favored types of data. Thus, inappropriate access and use of data can occur within organizational decision making. This can result in ineffective decision-making and poor organizational performance. The purpose of this study is to propose relationships between the users of both tacit and explicit knowledge and their preferred cognitive style and to test these proposed relationships using empirical data.

Big Data Meets the Food Supply: A Network of Cattle Monitoring Systems

The beef cattle industry generates

Technology in the Classroom: Using Video Links to Enable Long Distance Experiential Learning

78.2 billion of revenues from nearly 100 million head each year in the U.S. alone. Cattle feed efficiency is a measure of animal growth. Animals with better efficiency may grow at the same rate as animals with lower efficiency, but will eat less to do so. This paper introduces a network of sensors in a cattle production operation designed to measure and report feed efficiency to the farmer. The sensors provide data that is used to monitor and control feed rations to the animals and help the farmer make informed decisions regarding animal grouping, control and genetic line building to improve beef stock quality over time. While cattle feed control and monitoring is itself not a new concept, the system described here adds some automated components to enhance and better control the operation that have not yet been done.