In Praise of Workforce and Inclusion

Abstract

In this issue of The Data Base for Advances in Information Systems, we are reminded of one of the key reasons why we engage in MIS research: to study ways in which technology management serves the enterprise. This connotes the notion of Work and the value of Workforces. This special issue, from the ACM SIGMIS Computers and People Research (CPR) Conference, provides a rich and impactful illumination on the nature of the technological workforce, both in terms of its composition and its management. This is vital research within our field. In this issue, we have a sampling of workforce research that focuses on computers and people issues in two broad ways: ensuring broad participation in the technology workforce through inclusion and informing wise managerial guidance of technological workforces. We typically call the former area of inquiry "inclusion research," while referring to the latter as "workforce research." They are really part and parcel of the same important underlying notion: what can we do to better manage the technological function in the firm, such that work proceeds effectively, productively, profitably?