IS Human Capital: Assessing Gaps to Strengthen Skill and Competency Sourcing

Poston, Robin S.; Dhaliwal, Jasbir

doi:10.17705/1cais.03634

Cited by 6 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 51 publications

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“…Research evidence has long supported the finding that organizations that both recruit and train for skills do better (Poston and Dhaliwal, 2015). In the IDC research, retraining and up-skilling existing employees offers considerable advantages and is used by most employers.…”

Section: Developing Existing Employeesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Information management – a skills gap?

Kolding¹,

Sundblad²,

Alexa³

et al. 2018

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The aim of this paper is to explore very recent data about how large organizations are dealing with a shortage of information and communications technology (ICT) specialists, in terms of its implications for information management. Design/methodology/approach This paper is based on qualitative interview-based research with eleven large European companies, with an estimated ICT workforce of around 400,000 (about 14% of ICT professionals in Europe), covering hiring, retention, and upskilling of ICT staff, and expectations concerning graduates from European universities. This data is combined with IDC analyst reports on the demand for different categories of ICT products and services, and data from the authors' consulting work. Findings Larger organizations expect hiring to be a challenge, with strong competition for talent, whether from existing users or from the many rapidly digitalizing companies-digitalizing their organizations, their products and services, and their relationships with customer, suppliers and business partners. Upskilling and retraining workforces is seen by large organizations as a better approach than hiring, allowing them to create the right skills balance and retain their workers better. However, softer skills, such as communication and problem solving, are seen as just as important. ICT workers will benefit from a lifelong approach to learning, acquiring new skills and adapting existing skills. Many ICT companies have created academies for developing employee skills and certifications related to their own technologies, while the education sector has been working on creating curricula (alone or sometimes in partnerships with vendors) to improve graduate employability. Research limitations/implications The research is based on a small sample of large companies. The situation may be different in other companies and smaller organisations, Practical implications Organizations can cope with the skills shortage by anticipating and working with the market forces rather than trying to oppose them. Social implications ICT employees will show the way for employees in other sectors where skills are scarce, by demonstrating how to reinvent themselves as the skills needed change. Originality/value This paper demonstrates that employers have changed their expectations of universities. They expect less that graduates will be ICT-employment ready, and more that they will have the skills to make and keep themselves employment ready. This has significant implications for university course design.

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Section: Developing Existing Employeesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Information management – a skills gap?

Kolding¹,

Sundblad²,

Alexa³

et al. 2018

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show abstract

“…Resource-based theories propose that firm's success depends on how well the firm manages its resources, especially the resources related to human capital [39]. Resent resource-based studies suggest firms will benefit from assessing and strengthening the skills and competencies of their employees [34]. According to the resource-based theories, rare, valuable, hard to imitate and hard to substitute resources are essential but not sufficient components to the competitive advantage of the firm [1].…”

Section: Background and Conceptual Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The overall performance of a firm and its adaptiveness to the environment depends to a great extent on IT professionals' knowledge and expertise towards the software development process [37] as well as their non-technical skills (e.g., project management) [16]. Prior research guides how to manage the organizations [23], and highlights the importance of both technical and non-technical skills and competences [16,34]. Prior studies however do not incorporate skill and value perceptions related with the 21st century technological developments [53], like big data, internet of things, ubiquitous technologies, and entrepreneurship amongst others [4,9,35].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Influence of Data Analysis, Entrepreneurial and Business Skills on Information Technology Firms: A Dynamic Capabilities Approach

Giannakos¹,

Mikalef²,

Pappas³

2018

Proceedings of the 51st Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences

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In the contemporary business environment, the innovation and quality of the Information Technology (IT) industry's products and services depend to a grea t extent on the knowledge, ability and talent applied by IT professionals. IT professionals' skills and capacities to integrate, build, and reconfigure resources in the continuously evolving business environments is critical. In particular, inefficiencies usually come from the lack of skills or IT professionals' inability to apply them in a way that allows a firm to adapt and evolve concurrently with business demands. With these challenges in mind, this paper presents a study conducted with 72 IT professionals to test the importance that data analytics, entrepreneurial, and business skills have in enhancing employees' dynamic capabilities and ultimately their perceived work performance. This study confirms that there is an important association between the three types of skills and employees' ability to effectuate action that hel p s a firm evolve. By fostering such a capacity which is critical in modern day firms, their perception about their work performance is ultimately affected.

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“…However, the complete spectrum of needed skills for IT professionals is determined by the tasks that are required in their work environment [12], and as the complexity of technology increases, the skills of related professionals must also increase and evolve [37]. Thus, in addition to hard skills, 21 st century IT professionals must pose a robust understanding of skills related to data understanding and analysis [9], entrepreneurship and business as well as communication and collaboration with other professionals but also the end users [22]. These skills allow them to utilize resources and, understand needs and opportunities in order to gain innovative outcomes and competitive advantages.…”

Section: Background and Conceptual Modelmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…IT firms' performance and competitiveness depends to a great extent on IT professionals' knowledge and expertise towards the software development process [28] as well as their non-technical skills (e.g., management, communication) [7]. Prior research guides how to manage the organizations [10], and highlights the importance of both technical and non-technical skills and competences [7,22]. Related work however do not incorporate skill related with the 21 st century technological developments [35], like understanding/analyzing big data and entrepreneurship amongst others [1,3,23].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Role of Contemporary Skills in Information Technology Professionals: An FsQCA Approach

Giannakos

Pappas

Mikalef

2017

Digital Nations – Smart Cities, Innovation, and Sustainability

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Information Technology (IT) industries' knowledge and ability to innovate, heavily relies in the skills of the IT professionals. In particular, inefficiencies usually come from the lack of skills or IT professionals' inability to apply them in a way that allows a firm to adapt and evolve concurrently with business demands. In order to examine the interplay of skills related with data analysis, entrepreneurship, business, communication and collaboration, and their combined effect in enhancing employees' perceived work performance, a conceptual model is developed and examined on a data sample of 72 IT professionals, through fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA). The findings indicate five configurations that lead to high perceived work performance. The outcomes of the analysis show the importance of collaboration and entrepreneurship, since they appear in most of the configurations/solutions; but also the importance of data analysis, which can lead to high work performance even with the absence of all the other skills. This study also confirms that the identified skills portray to a good extend IT professionals' work performance, which is critical for a firm to evolve and innovate.

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IS Human Capital: Assessing Gaps to Strengthen Skill and Competency Sourcing

Cited by 6 publications

References 51 publications

Information management – a skills gap?

Information management – a skills gap?

Influence of Data Analysis, Entrepreneurial and Business Skills on Information Technology Firms: A Dynamic Capabilities Approach

The Role of Contemporary Skills in Information Technology Professionals: An FsQCA Approach

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