Executive SummaryIn this technology intensive society, most students are required to be proficient in computer skills to compete in today's global job market. These computer skills usually consist of basic to advanced knowledge in word processing, presentation, and spreadsheet applications. In many U.S. states, students are required to demonstrate computer proficiency early in their educational experience by means of passing an assessment test. This research was conducted in North Carolina where all students must pass a computer/technology skills assessment test prior to completing twelfth grade. This study explored U.S. college students' perceived mastery of their computer skills, evaluated their actual scores on a computer skills assessment, and compared the results to realign and enhance an introductory business computer applications course. T wo instruments were developed to accomplish the objectives for this research: a survey to capture students' perceptions of their computer proficiency and a computer skills assessment to measure their actual performance. The assessment tool evaluated their knowledge of three computer application skills -word processing, presentation, and spreadsheet -with three levels of proficiency -basic, moderate, and advanced. The survey and assessment instruments were administered to over 200 business students in a medium sized, public university with a required introductory computer applications course. The findings of this study indicate some differences in the students' perception of their word processing skills and actual performance, no difference in perception and performance for their presentation skills, and a significant difference in perception and performance for their spreadsheet skills. As a result of this research, the curriculum for the introductory course was redesigned to concentrate primarily on the substantial skill deficiency in spreadsheet skills while still allowing the students to demonstrate their level of proficiency in word processing and presentation skills through a mandatory online assessment test beginning in fall semester 2008. Any student who does not perform well on the word processing and presentation assessment will be required to obtain additional training to enhance these skills.These findings have important implications for two reasons: 1) schools with a similar profile can possibly replicate the realignment and enhancement of the business computer application course and 2) any school interested in comparing their students' perception of their computer skill proficiency and actual performance on three different levels can apply a modified version of this study.

Executive SummaryA college degree is not what it used to be in respect to securing future employment. Constantly changing technologies in a struggling economy make it necessary for organizations to carefully balance recruitment staffing, particularly with regards to new hires. Organizations want to know that each new hire can add value immediately. In order to add value, Information Systems (IS) graduates must possess the necessary technical skills as well as "real world" work experience and soft skills. Additionally, these graduates will have more success if they have had applicable industry experience and a network of business professionals. In this paper, we describe a capstone experience model that goes beyond the reinforcement of the students' technical skills. The model extends the normal classroom to include students' putting into practice their skills and establishing professionals networks through their interaction with professional organizations and business partnerships. Our proposed capstone model integrates three learning environments: the classroom, a business organization and a professional organization. The model reinforces our students' technical, project management, team work, and communication skills through the implementation of a "real world" information system and the presentation of their system to their external client and at a professional conference. The expected benefits of this proposed model are to utilize various partnerships to prepare our students for employment Information Technology (IT) industry; allow our students to demonstrate their skills and talents; and establish networking opportunities with organizations and IT professionals.The initial pilot of our model was conducted during the 2008-2009 academic year. Our capstone model classroom environment incorporates two courses: 1) Systems Analysis and Design and 2) Systems Implementation. The "real world" experience with the external business partner was a year-long project implementation of the City's Print Services information system. The professional organization environment was achieved by the additional requirement for the team to submit their project to a national conference. Consequently, the team submitted a paper, presentation, and poster to the BDPA 2009 National Conference IT Showcase.The overall results of the initial pilot were very favorable. The students successful designed, developed and implemented the City's Print Service system. The students' paper and presentation received third place at the BDPA 2009 National Conference IT Showcase. Additionally, in order to evaluate the success of pilot from the stakeholders' perspective, two surveys were created: CIS Capstone Experience Project Team Survey Material published as part of this publication, either on-line or in print, is copyrighted by the Informing Science Institute. Permission to make digital or paper copy of part or all of these works for personal or classroom use is granted without fee provided that the copies are not made or distributed for profit or com...

Purpose Grounded in the principal-agent theory, this study aims to develop and test hypotheses too, investigate how the firm’s strategic orientations, namely, innovation, growth, differentiation and cost leadership impact the chief information officer (CIO) reporting relationship and structure. Design/methodology/approach The study uses content analysis to analyze a data set of press releases collected from the LexisNexis Academic wire index. The press releases were issued by firms when they hired CIOs between 2003 and 2007, yielding 128 firms, which had specific information about the CIO reporting relationship and structure. Findings The results reveal that firms seeking an innovation, growth or differentiation strategy have their CIOs reporting to the chief executive officer. Research limitations/implications The current study is motivated by the desire to replicate and extend the works of previous researchers who have assessed various CIO issues. Replication takes several forms such as the use of similar or different data sets, different research environments or reinvestigating research concepts through a different theoretical lens. This study makes use of a multi-firm data set spanning five years and the principal-agent theory as the theoretical framework to explore the CIO reporting relationship and structure. Although this study focuses on the hiring trends and the strategic orientations of the firms, future studies should explore other characteristics associated with the CIOs that might have an impact on the reporting relationship such as the years of experience, age, educational background of CIOs and information technology budgets. Practical implications The existing literature has not settled the debate as to whom the CIO should be reporting to and understanding the reporting relationships is important because, in many firms, the organizational structures and the reporting relationships are indicative of the power dynamics and how the organizational resources are controlled and shared. Originality/value Replication studies are important because they confirm, reinforce, extend and provide reliability to the paradigms and knowledge in the discipline, as well as offer reliability of the results upon which scientific progress is based.

This research reports on the results of a study of 412 girls, ages sixteen through eighteen, in a major Midwestern United States city. The study, which also uncovered unexpected racial differences, found that, contrary to the preponderance of the research evidence, most high school girls say that they do not view those who choose IT careers as being geeks or loners. These results, which also contradict widely held beliefs, suggest the need to reassess resources currently allocated to combat the geek and loner images, particularly in large urban areas. Unfortunately, the results are not as positive as they might seem at first glance. More than half of the girls studied believe that people who choose IT careers are obsessed with computers. This new misinformation, rooted in girls' personal experiences, is likely to prove even more difficult to counter than the geek image that it appears to be replacing.

This study investigates the skill sets necessary for entry level systems analysts. Towards this end, the study combines two sources of data, namely, a content analysis of 200 systems analysts' online job advertisements and a survey of 20 senior Information Systems (IS) professionals. Based on Chi-square tests, the results reveal that most employers prefer entry level systems analysts with an undergraduate Computer Science degree. Furthermore, most of the employers prefer entry level systems analysts to have some years of experience as well as industry certifications. The results also reveal that there is a higher preference for entry level systems analysts who have non-technical and people skills (e.g., problem solving and oral communication). The empirical results from this study will inform IS educators as they develop future systems analysts. Additionally, the results will be useful to the aspiring systems analysts who need to make sure that they have the necessary job skills before graduating and entering the labor market.