Information Systems Professionals Research Articles

A Pilot Study of the Tasks of Information Systems Professionals in Indonesia

A Pilot Study of the Tasks of Information Systems Professionals in Indonesia

Blending Audience Response Systems into an Information Systems Professional Course

Many higher education institutions are moving towards blended learning environments that seek to move towards a student-centred ethos, where students are stakeholders in the learning process. This often involves multi-modal learner-support technologies capable of operating in a range of time and place settings. This article considers the impact of an Audience Response System (ARS) upon the ongoing development of an Information Systems Professional course at the Masters level in the College of Business at Victoria University in Melbourne, Australia. The course allows students to consider ethical issues faced by an Information Systems Professional. Given the sensitivity of some of the topics explored within this area, an ARS offers an ideal vehicle for allowing students to respond to potentially contentious questions without revealing their identity to the rest of the group. The paper reports the findings of a pilot scheme designed to explore the efficacy of the technology. Use of a blended learning framework to frame the discussion allowed the authors to consider the readiness of institution, lecturers, and students to use ARS. From a usage viewpoint, multiple choice questions lead to further discussion of student responses related to important issues in the unit. From an impact viewpoint the use of ARS in the class appeared to be successful, but some limitations were reported.

Benson, Angela D & Whitworth, Andrew ed (2014) Research on course management systems in higher educationIAP (Charlotte, NC & Eurospan, London) isbn 978‐1‐62396‐601‐0 261 pp $39 http://www.infoagepub.com/products/Research‐on‐Course‐Management‐Systems‐in‐Higher‐Education

SummaryThis book examines the role of course management systems (cmss) in higher education. Some chapters consider broader issues such as trends, cms governance, and evaluation; others examine the implementation of pedagogical initiatives using cmss. The case studies in this second group feature initiatives by educators who show more or less familiarity with their cmss. A recurring theme is the “eco‐systemic” quality of cms systems, their institutions, and institutional stakeholders. This book would be of interest to university administrators, information systems professionals, and academics. If the content of this book is likely to be relevant to you, I advise that you will probably find only parts of it of interest or use.Sara Hammer

Investigating the Perception of Stakeholders on Soft Skills Development of Students: Evidence from South Africa

Soft skills are becoming increasingly important and will be critical for success in the Information Systems profession. Employers complain about a lack in soft skills among graduates from tertiary education institutions. No agreement exists about what these skills actually are, which are of importance, and how acquiring these soft skills should be approached in higher education. The aim of this paper is to research the perceptions of lecturers, industry, and students on soft skills development of students and to identify important soft skills that need to be developed. The paper starts with a problem statement emphasizing the importance of soft skills and the possible lack thereof. This is followed by a literature review, a description of the methodology followed for this research, the results, conclusion, and the references. The research was done at a university in South Africa. Questionnaires consisting of open questions were distributed to lecturers, industry, and students respectively, and qualitative analysis was done on the results. Results show that stakeholders feel that soft skills of students are not developed adequately, that there is some uncertainty about who should be responsible for developing soft skills, and that the development of soft skills is seen as a difficult task. A list is compiled of the most important soft skills according to literature, lecturers, industry, and students. This list can be used in further research on the soft skills of IT-students. Recommendations are made for the teaching and learning of soft skills.

Entry Level Systems Analysts: What Does the Industry Want?

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.

Towards a Rosetta Stone for translating data between information systems

Information systems are an important organizational asset and offer numerous benefits. However, organizations face continued challenges when upgrading ageing information systems, and the data contained within, to newer platforms. This article explores, through conversations with information systems professionals in four organizations, the potential development of a ‘Rosetta Stone’, which can translate data between systems and be used to help overcome various challenges associated with their modernization. Despite mixed feedback regarding the Rosetta Stone concept from interviewees, solutions highlighted in literature combined with participant feedback presented theories for its development, primarily as a tool to enable meaningful interpretation of data, rather than direct translation. The conclusion reflects on data collected to recommend a framework for how the tool might be developed and has the potential to be of significant interest to practitioners, open-source communities and organizations.

A Multilevel Approach to Examine Employees’ Loyal Use of ERP Systems in Organizations

A successful enterprise resource planning (ERP) system ultimately requires loyal use—proactive, extended use and willingness to recommend such uses to others—by employees. Building on interactional psychology literature and situational strength theory, we emphasize the importance of psychological commitment, in addition to behavioral manifestation, in a multilevel model of loyal use. Our empirical test of the model uses data from 485 employees and 166 information system professionals in 47 large Taiwanese organizations. Individual-level analyses suggest that perceived benefits and workload partially mediate the effects of perceived information quality (IQ) and system quality (SQ) on loyal use. Cross-level analyses show that IQ at the organizational level alleviates the negative effect of an employee’s perceived workload on loyal use; organization-level SQ and service-oriented organizational citizenship behaviors (SOCBs) of internal information systems staff reduce the influence of employees’ perceived benefits. Overall, our findings suggest that IQ, SQ, and SOCBs at the organizational level influence employees’ loyal use in ways different from their effects at the individual level, and seem to affect individuals’ cost–benefit analyses. This study contributes to extant literature by considering the SOCBs of the internal information systems group that have been overlooked by most prior research. Our findings offer insights for managers who should find ways to create positive, salient, shared views of IQ, SQ, and SOCBs in the organization to nourish and foster employees’ loyal use of an ERP system, including clearly demonstrating the system’s utilities and devising viable means to reduce the associated workload.

Knowledge boundary spanning and productivity in information systems support community

An information systems (IS) support community represents a knowledge-intensive network where IS professionals interact with end-users to resolve system use problems during the IS post-implementation stage. For IS professionals in the support function, providing support for multiple information systems to multiple business units requires knowledge about different domains (business units or technical systems). In this paper, we take a network perspective to empirically evaluate the effects of an IS worker's network position and knowledge boundary spanning on productivity. Drawing upon theories of experiential learning and knowledge boundary, we perform social network analysis and linear mixed effects modeling to analyze archival data comprising 36 IS workers and 23,450 support requests made by 4568 end-users during the first 13months post SAP/R3 implementation in a large U.S. organization. Our findings reveal that IS workers' network centrality and boundary spanning positively influence productivity. Surprisingly, their boundary-spanning experience plays a substantially more important role than network centrality. This study makes important contributions to theory and practice in individual experiential learning in knowledge-intensive networks.

The Impact of Opinion Leadership on Purchases through Social Networking Websites

Social media is used as a platform to not only make connections and share user-generated content but also to advertise products. We study the role of opinion leadership on the social media networking website of Facebook for product advertisements through news feeds and wall postings. We found that perceived benevolence of the opinion leader posting advertisements was significantly associated with increased intentions to purchase and also increased purchase behavior. Also, although the Theory of Planned Behavior variables of increased attitudes, social norms, and behavioral control were significantly associated with increasing purchase intentions, only purchase intentions was significantly associated with purchase behavior. Type of friend was significantly associated with purchase intention but no relationship occurred for purchase behavior. Management information systems professionals involved with the development of social networking websites should consider perceived benevolence as an area of importance for interesting consumers to explore and use newly developed aspects of social networking websites. Marketers should ensure that their advertisements on social networking websites are perceived by consumers as benevolent.

Použitelnost elektronických formulářů veřejné správy

Tento přispěvek se zabýva testovanim a hodnocenim formulařů veřejne spravy z pohledu jejich použitelnosti. Jeho cilem je navrhnout vhodnou metodiku, jak testovat použitelnost elektronických formulařů vcetně jejiho popisu a tuto metodiku distribuovat odbornikům v oblasti informacnich systemů veřejne spravy. Nejprve jsou vyjmenovany metody inženýrstvi použitelnosti a vybrana vhodna metoda pro testovani a samotne hodnoceni použitelnosti elektronických formulařů. Pote je navržena metodika testovani použitelnosti elektronických formulařů využivajici zvolenou metodu. V posledni casti přispěvku je navržena a realizovana připadova studie, ktera využiva navrženou metodiku. Hlavnim přinosem teto prace je navrženi metodiky a navrh doporuceni pro navrh nových elektronických formulařů veřejne spravy. Klicova slova: Inženýrstvi použitelnosti, uživatelske rozhrani, veřejna sprava, informacni systemy, kvalita software. DOI: https://doi.org/10.18267/j.aip.63

Abstract MP59: Mediating the Medical, Economic and Social Impact of HF: There is an APP for That

The continued rise in cost of Heart failure (HF) management, begs the question, why can advances in science and medicine not stem this rising cost? Why do patients fail to adhere to prescribed medications and lifestyle recommendations? Lack of effective training for patient/families challenge successful transition to home due to conflicts generated by pressure within the patient’s home environment reinforced by societal attitudes about food. This pilot was designed as a multidisciplinary project, including information systems professionals, clinicians, and patients working together to develop/evaluate a customized mobile phone application (app). Using, home based monitoring of daily weights, blood pressure, heart rate, blood glucose, and a dash board of cumulative data accessed daily by clinicians. A built in algorithm identifies patients’ risk for re-admission based on changes in their vital signs or self-reported symptoms defined by clinical staff as representing best practices pathways decision points. 7 patients with a clinical diagnosis of HF who had documentation of at least one HF related admission in the past 14 months were recruited to trial the App. Patients have been followed for 120 days with an endpoint of 365 days. Data points for outcomes are: HF related hospitalizations; emergency department and urgent care visits, weight, blood pressure, and Minnesota living with heart failure quality of life. Preliminary data analysis shows mean compliance rate for daily measurements = 68.5%. Utilization has prevented one HF readmission, changed one admission from an acute ICU readmission into a short stay guided HF admission, accomplished by early identification of symptoms that unmanaged would have resulted in a more serious and lengthy admission. This integrated innovative system has demonstrated improved accountability and outcomes in the enrolled participants. Patient input at 120 days resulted in system revisions. Data collection will restart and continue to the 365 day end point.

Exhaustion from Information System Career Experience: Implications for Turn-Away Intention

While the U.S. economy is recovering slowly, reports tell us that the supply of information systems (IS) professionals is declining and demand is once again on the rise. With organizations challenged in their efforts to hire additional staff, IS professionals are being asked to do even more, often leading to burnout, turnover, and turnaway intentions. Building on Ahuja et al.'s (2007) work on turnover intentions and using the job demands-- resources model of burnout as an organizing framework for the antecedents to exhaustion from IS career experience (EISCE), this illustrative research note draws attention to exhaustion in IS professionals that spans an individual's professional career. Findings indicate that IS professionals' perceived workload (demand) was associated with higher levels of EISCE, whereas fairness and perceived control of career (resources) were associated with lower levels of EISCE. The influence of EISCE on affective commitment to the IS profession (ACISP) was found to be negative and, ultimately, ACISP fully mediated the effect of EISCE on the intention to turn away from an IS career. The results suggest the importance of studying IS professionals' perceptions regarding the demands and resources associated with working in the IS field when testing exhaustion across IS career experience.

Student Attitudes toward Information Systems Management as Major and Career Options

 Abstract—In today's world of fast paced technology growth and the ability in incorporating information technology (I.T.) into business, students who desire careers in Information Systems Management (ISM) are declining. The decline is due to a number of causes, including outsourcing of jobs and recent lackluster economic activity. Information Systems Management is a major where students study how to analyze, design or prescribe and manage systems which integrate data a company creates into value-addedand usable information for use at the management level. Information Systems professionals' foci include but not limited to, managing databases for a company and ascertaining that data captured and maintained within the databases and systems provides integrity and value. Careers in Information Systems Management has high job security in today's marketplace and a higher than average salary. But, there is a stigma associated with those career options and it is preventing current generation of students from considering the major. There has been such a severe shortage of trained professionals within the field of Information Systems Management that companies have to continue to outsource because there are relatively few or no qualified individuals available domestically for hire. The main reasons for the decline are students' misperception of Information Systems Management as a field of study and that young college entrants are not educated aboutits career possibilities and future prospects in the field.

Editorial

Editorial

Accounting Students’ Choice on Accounting Information Technology Careers

The important role of accounting information systems professionals, motivate researchers to analyze further the interest of students to the profession in the field of accounting information systems. The aim of this study explores the factors that influence students to choose and do not choose a profession in the field of accounting information systems. This research was conducted using questionnaires. The population was undergraduate accounting students. Sample research was done randomly. This research shows that the interest in undergraduate accounting students for a career in the field of information systems is very small and this research also appears that the academic supervisor is one of the dominant factors influencing student choice in choosing a career in the field of information systems. Beside this, this study also found that respondents are not interested in a career in accounting information systems more due to that field of information systems is not a career they aspire.DOI :https://doi.org/10.21632/irjbs.7.3.178-188Keywords: Accounting Information System, Accounting Career, Students

I medici sentinella per una efficace sorveglianza ambientale e sanitaria

[Sentinel general practitioner as a key element for an effective environmental health surveillance] The concepts of Epidemiological Surveillance and Environmental Public Health (EPHT) are outlined. In addition to the clues of their importance in different settings, it is claimed their usefulness in view of a sustainable, healthy and competitive society where environment and health are pillars of wellbeing and productivity, especially in a time of socio-economic and even cultural crisis. Public-health decision makers can use this timely, accurate and systematic data to inform and draft policies that reduce environmental health burdens and prevent disease efficiently and cost-effectively. Indeed tracking can also support the response to increasing community concern about point sources of pollution (e.g. incinerators and landfill sites) and also contributes to the statutory obligations of several member states around environment and health surveillance. Surveillance systems might enhance collaboration among public health and environmental agencies, health-care providers, information-system professionals, academic investigators, and industry. However, surveillance does not substitute direct physician reporting of unusual or suspect cases of public health importance. As matter of fact many experiences of Sentinel General Practitioner have been carried all around the world, and also in Italy some relevant experiences have proven the importance of the information, competencies and prestige also in the field of Environmental-Health which General Practitioners are universally reputed to hold. Some proposal are provided to settle a National network of Environmental Health Sentinel Practitioner.

Perceptions of ethics in IS: how age can affect awareness

Purpose – This aim of this paper was to highlight the awareness of ethical issues across the group of information systems (IS) professionals from a range of geographical regions. Design/methodology/approach – An initial survey was conducted that informed in-depth interviews with 26 IS professionals from across the globe. The study identified that around 70 per cent of the sample were over 50 years old. This provided an opportunity to consider age-related differences in perception regarding ethical awareness of both current and emerging technologies. Findings – The project revealed that the more mature IS professionals had a significantly higher level of awareness and perceived understanding regarding the importance of ethical issues than the younger IS professionals. Research limitations/implications – The research was limited to IS professionals and so the findings do not generalise further. Future research would be beneficial to find out if the higher level of ethical awareness is also evident across older people in general or whether it is specific to technology professionals. Practical implications – IS professionals need to be exposed to high standards and expectations of ethical behaviour from senior colleagues, as well as embedding this within technical education. Social implications – Caution with regards to youth culture and youthitisation of the workforce needs to be exerted to avoid rash decision-making and short-termism, which could undermine progress and development. A change in the view of employers to older workers will also require a change in attitudes across Western society, particularly as demographics continue to skew towards an aging population. Originality/value – This paper provides new insight into the ethical awareness of older employees and goes some way to dispel the myths surrounding stereotypes of older workers as being fearful of technology and resistant to change.

Editorial – Cultural Bias in Reviews and Mitigation Options

Editorial – Cultural Bias in Reviews and Mitigation Options

Fatores-chave do processo de maturidade nas empresas caribenhas de língua inglesa

A comunidade de sistemas de informação (SI) tem sofrido com a produção de sistemas de baixa qualidade. A melhoria do processo de softwares (SPI) tem sido aceita como um dos paliativos para superar este problema, sendo a maturidade do processo um elemento-chave; no entanto, a maioria dos estudos sobre a maturidade processual e os determinantes da qualidade IS foram realizados em grandes empresas, em países desenvolvidos. Este estudo avaliou os principais determinantes da maturidade nos processos, em empresas de desenvolvimento de software pequenas, no Caribe, e de língua Inglesa (ESC). Usando as práticas estabelecidas na integração do modelo de maturidade da capacidade (CMMI), como a linha de base para a análise, verificou-se que o monitoramento e controle do projeto, juntamente com a verificação e validação, são os principais determinantes da maturidade processual nas ESC. Essas descobertas podem ajudar os profissionais de IS, em sua busca por produzir produtos de software de qualidade superior, e também fornecem uma plataforma para o refinamento do modelo de pesquisa, proposto por pesquisadores da área de IS.

RFID Implementation in Australian Hospitals

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) is a mobile technology that was explored in hospitals in the last decade for improving process efficiencies. However, in the Australian context, this technology is still regarded as an innovation that health ICT practitioners and hospitals are reluctant to trial. This technology, although non-intrusive, is perceived as disruptive by hospitals. Information Systems professionals in the ICT sector and Health Informatics practitioners in Australia are exploring best practices for implementation. In this research paper, I report on findings from empirical research that was conducted in Australia, based in two large hospitals1, to better understand the factors involved in the successful implementation of RFID in Australian hospitals. Findings from this study are presented and endorsed by health ICT practitioners and informatics professionals as current implications for the field.