Preparing the Information Technology Workforce For the New Millennium Janet L Bailey, Ph.D. University o f Arkansas at Little Rock 2801 S. University Ave. Little Rock, AR 72204-1099 (501) 569-8851
[email protected] Greg Stefaniak, Ph.D. University of Arkansas at Little Rock 2801 S. University Ave. Little Rock, AR 72204-1099 (501) 569-3164
[email protected]
Dr. Janet Bailey is an Assistant Professor of Management Information Systems at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. Her area of specialization is telecommunications and networking. She has 20 years of industry experience in the information systems field in both the mainframe and microcomputer environment. Her current research activities include studies on the identification of skills needed by information technology professionals and the impact of technology on human interactions including virtual teaming. Dr. Greg Stefaniak is an associate professor of Radio, TV, and Film at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. His research interests are identification of the soft skills needed by individuals in all technology-related fields. Dr. Stefaniak is active in developing interdisciplinary programs that incorporate both technology and soft skills training.
ABSTRACT In an era when information technology (IT) is an integral part of society, many organizations are finding it difficult to hire adequate numbers of information technology personnel. Computer systems have permeated virtually every facet of organizations, creating a demand for individuals with IT skills at every level. The situation is complicated by the fact that finding personnel with the appropriate skills mix is even more problematic. As we move into the new millennium, IT roles are shifting at a rapidly increasing pace. Technical skills alone are not sufficient for success in the IT profession - soft skills like communication, problem solving, and teamwork are increasingly important. Recognizing that no curriculum can provide all training needed by every employee in every position, the issue then becomes to identify which specific sets of knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) are most important to IT organizations. This paper presents the findings of an initial case study undertaken to identify the necessary KSAs that can be used in the development of academic and industry training programs. The focus of this paper is on the findings for soft skill KSAs. Keywords: Soft skills, business skills, IT job categories, workforce shortage. INTRODUCTION Modern organizations are increasingly faced with challenges that did not exist 20 years ago. Globalization, distributed work environments, and increased competition have all complicated the process. Information technology is the lifeblood of organizations and, as such, is key to organizational survival. No longer are these systems developed or supported in a vacuum. IT personnel interact with customers, users, and other team members on a regular basis and must be able to communicate with each of their constituents. The need is greater than ever before for a holistic approach that combines technical and non-technical skills inside the organization. A holistic approach to dealing with external constituents is also needed. Cooperation between IT companies is becoming more important as a common need exists for skilled employees. "For the first time in U.S. history, businesses will fold =- not because their products are bad or their
funding fell through, but because they're not good at recruiting and retaining talent." (Pekala, 2001) Recognizing the problems associated with IT workforce issues, Congress established the 21 st Century Workforce Commission to evaluate the status of the IT workforce around the country. The 17 members of the Commission were charged with identifying and recommending how best to prepare Americans to succeed in today's IT job market. The Commission believes that "the current and future health of America's 21 st Century Economy depends directly on how broadly and deeply Americans reach a new level of literacy ... that includes strong academic skills, thinking, reasoning, teamwork skills, and proficiency in using technology." (21 st Century Workforce Commission, 2000) In 1999, the U.S. Department of Commerce's Office of Technology estimated that by 2005, the country would require more than one million new IT workers (U.S. Department of Commerce, 1999). In April 2000, the Information Technology Association of America (ITAA), after polling 700 IT and non-IT company hiring directors, projected a much larger IT workforce and a larger gap in positions and available IT workers. They estimated that at least 10 million people are a part of the IT workforce with 9 million of those employed by non-IT companies. Estimates indicated that 1.6 million new IT workers would be needed by April 2001 and that 840,000 IT jobs would be unfilled (ITAA, 2000). Furthermore, information technology is the fastest growing industry in the country (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 1999). Moreover, the lack of qualified IT workers and high turnover rates (U.S. Department of Commerce, 1999) is a global issue (SIM, 1998) affecting the U. S., Asian (Guth, 1998) and Canadian markets (Wareham, 1999). The IT industry realizes that corporations, academic institutions, and governments must take action to resolve this critical issue (SIM, 1998). However, while the private sector is the one that most closely understands the problem, many IT companies have tended to think of themselves rather than the industry as a whole (McMurchie, 1998). At the same time, academic institutions have traditionally found it difficult to respond quickly to change (Sibley, 1998). One way to address the workforce shortage is to bring IT companies and IT academic
departments together (Williamson, 1997) so that curriculum and programs can be developed which prepare employees with the skill sets the industry truly needs (Bresnick, 1998). In its 1998 position statement, the Society for Information Management (SIM) stated that corporations, academic institutions, and governments must "take decisive action now" in order to address the workforce shortage. In short, SIM stated it is necessary that industry and academia form alliances for recruiting and training new and existing employees (SIM, 1998; Sibley, 1998). More and more employers are in agreement. Keith Reimer, Vice President of Sales, Compuquik summed up the situation. "As employers, our greatest challenge today is to find and develop a well-trained workforce. What better way to prepare your future workforce than to be involved in the content and progress of their skill base?" (ITAA, 2000) Reimer is not alone. Steve Leven, Senior Vice President, Texas Instruments, Inc. stated, "What has become clear to Texas Instruments and other companies is that we cannot stand by and hope that the situation will improve. We need to be involved to help ensure that our schools are teaching kids what they need to know while making sure that they graduate with the skills they need to succeed in a technology and information-rich society." (ITAA, 2000) The challenge is not an easy one; it is a struggle to incorporate opportunities that foster the development of necessary non-technical skills into traditional technical academic curriculum (Parker, Bailey, & Mitchell, 1999). Harris Miller, President of ITAA stated that the ITAA findings indicated that technical skills must be combined with 'employable skills' - written and oral communications, project management, problem solving, and analytical skills. As the Commission met with business leaders, IT employees, educators, and community activists around the country, they were encouraged by the innovative and cooperative solutions being implemented in local communities (ITAA, 2000). To assist with the skill development process determined to be so important to industry, employees, and society in general, additional research is necessary to assist in determining how industry and academia can ensure appropriate kinds of training are available. The research should study the needs of varying geographic locations as the importance of various job skills has been shown to
be geographically influenced (Athey & Plotnicki, 1992). Most industry observers agree that innovative private and public initiatives are needed to increase the supply of qualified workers (Sibley, 1998). In keeping with this philosophy, a joint initiative between industry and academia was formed to conduct the present study. The purpose of this study was three-fold. The first was to identify the KSAs needed by successful IT professionals. The second was to rank the KSAs in order of importance. The third was to incorporate the most highly desired skills into an academic/training curriculum. Identifying the current KSAs needed by industry and developing responsive university curriculum is the first step in addressing two of the major IT challenges: shortage of IT professionals and a less than optimum mix of skills. This research is an initial step to ensure a proper fit between academic programs and industry personnel needs. Such a fit is necessary to increase employee and industry productivity, quality and satisfaction. WORKFORCE SHORTAGE The technology workplace is changing at an exponential pace. The result is illustrated by the following quote.
"Just a few years ago, Java was coffee, C was a passing grade, and web masters had eight legs. Today, experts in Java computing and C programming command a premium in the labor market, and an army of human web masters keeps information updated on the rapidly expanding World Wide Web. The labor market for IT workers is expanding and shifting rapidly, driven by the unrelenting advancement and diffusion of information technology. New skills are constantly in demand, and IT occupations are evolving in new directions. As a result, employers are having difficulty obtaining the
numbers of adequately trained IT workers they need." (U.S. Department of Commerce, 1999).
advertisements for IT positions indicate a much higher focus on technical skills than non-technical skills (Todd, McKeen & Gallupe, 1995; Trower, 1995; Litecky, Prabhakar & Arnett, 1996). Unfortunately, technical skills sets are often highly specialized and may quickly become obsolete. For this reason, Todd et al. (1995) suggested that organizations would be better served to focus on a generalized set of technical skills rather than focusing on any one technology. Other employers agree and told the 21 st Century Workforce Commission that they would prefer to hire "smart" people without any IT credentials and provide them the necessary technical training (21 st Century Workforce Commission, 2000). This statement is in contrast to findings by Byrd and Turner (2001) that organizations associate IS success in their organizations more with highly technical skills than non-technical skills. Despite the differences in opinion, unquestionably a well-rounded IT employee must possess a good mix of both technical and non-technical skills. "Graduating a student with adequate IT skills will not necessarily guarantee his or her success in that environment. Employers demand more." (Mair & Gambill, 1996)
Research conducted over the last three decades has shown that non-technical skills were critical for individuals in programming, systems analysis, database administration, and other IT positions (Shrout, 1970; Henry, Dickson & LaSalle, 1974; Benbasat, Dexter & Mantha, 1980; Vitilari, 1985; Aiken, Martin & Joseph, 1994; Cougar et al., 1995; Lee, Trauth, & Farwell, 1995). Leitheiser (1992) found that in 1990, although marginally so, interpersonal skills had a higher mean importance score than the technical and business skills. His research also indicated that projections by employers were that interpersonal skills would continue to carry a higher importance rating through 2000 although the importance of all skills was anticipated to increase over the same period of time. Information system curriculum guidelines, at both the undergraduate and graduate level, recommend the inclusion of managerial, business, and interpersonal skills (Cougar et al., 1995; Davis et al., 1997; Gorgone & Gray, 2000). In fact, of the nine characteristics listed in the IS '97 Guideline for Undergraduate IS Curriculum, five fall in the nontechnical category (Davis et al., 1997).
METHODOLOGY In keeping with the IT shortage felt around the country, CEOs from a group of Arkansas information technology companies approached the University of Arkansas at Little Rock for assistance with the regional shortage. Utilizing a field study design, the university formed a committee of nine researchers to collect data from multiple sources. It was determined that a field study approach was appropriate because the study topic needed to be broadly defined, the study needed to be conducted in the field with industry participants, and the complexity of the study required multiple rather than singular sources of data (Yin, 1994). Data from multiple sources is higher in quality than data from single sources (Yin, Bateman & Moore, 1983) and multiple data collection methodology is common in theory-building and foundational research (Eisenhardt, 1989).
Inadequate non-technical skills can lead to adverse consequences for both IT companies and IT employees. For example, it has been shown that people "who fail to develop skills other than mastery over current technological tools are much more likely to become technologically stagnated in an interactive, social setting." (Parker, Bailey, & Mitchell, 1999) It has also been found that poor communication between users, developers, and managers can be a major factor in the failure of information system projects (Chen, Nunamaker, & Konsyski, 1987). Furthermore, the literature indicates that dysfunctional teams are generally costly to IT companies in time and monetary resources and that technology itself is no substitute for an effective, cohesive team (Bailey, 1997).
Over a three-month period, from the end of December 1998 through the middle of March 1999, data was collected through web-research, site interviews, and focus groups as well as a web-based
These findings should in no way minimize the importance of technical skills. In fact, studies of 7
survey. Five major Arkansas IT companies participated in site interviews and focus groups. Three hundred and twenty-five IT professionals responded to the web-based survey. Site interview participants consisted of four to five company representatives including top-level supervisors, training directors, senior managers, as well as several CEOs. To get a broader view of the skills requirements mentioned in the structured interviews, the focus groups were designed to include division heads and other mid-level IT managers from the five IT companies. The web survey was conducted over a two and a half week period and was available to all non-managerial IT professionals in the state of Arkansas. The respondents consisted of IT employees with a wide range of experience, skills, and abilities. To insure that the process truly determined IT industry needs, data from each tier was examined, analyzed, and validated by industry CEOs and other top-level executives before being applied toward the next tier. The first step used web-research to identify IT job clusters or categories. During this phase, literature was reviewed to identify major job categories within the IT industry. Additionally, researchers used content analysis to evaluate and categorize webbased electronic postings of job-descriptions and traditional hard-copy job descriptions provided by the IT companies. This data was further supplemented with information gleaned from the second step. The second step involved five site visits. During this phase, two teams of four to five members conducted semi-structured interviews with four to five company representatives including top-level supervisors, training directors, senior managers, and in a few cases the company CEO. Research team members acted in one of four prescribed roles: facilitator, "what about" questioner, probing questioner, and recorder. The facilitator insured that the group process ran smoothly and that the discussion remained on the task. The "what about" questioner insured that all the predefined questions were asked. The probing questioner insured that
issues generated by respondents were thoroughly investigated. The recorder kept a written record of all questions and corresponding responses. Six questions were used to direct the discussion. What type of work does your company do? What kinds of jobs do you have in the company? What type of education would be appropriate for these positions? If you had to divide each of the jobs into four or five major job functions, what would they be? What type of person would you most like to see in this organization? Considering the kinds of jobs that you believe will be important in the next 5-10 years, what do you think will be the knowledge, skills, and abilities needed for those jobs? The written record of responses was analyzed using content analysis. The third step utilized focus group sessions. The participating companies selected twenty division heads and mid-level managers. The selected individuals attended one of two group sessions to clarify job cluster definitions and to develop a detailed list of the soft skills and business concepts needed by IT professionals, in general, as well as the specific technical KSAs needed in each job cluster. Focus group members met at an electronic group decision support center to brainstorm and categorize ideas. A professional facilitator provided the necessary technical support and insured that the sessions focused on the issues at hand. The results were content analyzed to remove duplication and to create a questionnaire suitable for administration via the web. In the fourth and final step, the questionnaire was administered via WebSurveyor. The survey instrument consisted of four main sections: demographic information, non-technical soft-skills, business concepts, and technical KSAs. The technical KSAs were subdivided into job clusters. All respondents completed the demographic, softskill, and business concepts sections. Individuals responded to the technical section that corresponded with their area of expertise. For example, computer programmers responded to the technical section for computer programmers, database administrators responded to the technical section for database administrators, and both computer programmers and database administrators responded to the soft and
business skills questions. Data from the web survey was quantitatively analyzed to determine the most desired KSAs in each job category.
skills and twelve are business skills. Tables 1 and 2 show individual knowledge, skill, and ability items listed in order of importance.
This paper focuses on the identified job clusters and the non-technical soft and business skills identified by the IT industry. Information regarding the technical KSAs findings and the complete questionnaire may be found at http://www.ualr.edu/~itreport/.
The respondents were asked to indicate whether they found each skill to be extremely important (EI), very important (VI), somewhat important (SI), not very important (NVI), or not important (NI). This is indicated on the tables as well as the median values (MED) of the responses. Because many of the skill items were close in their median values, an adjusted/weighted measure of (EI+VI)/2 was applied. This is followed on the tables by the number (N) of IT professionals who responded to the individual items, as not all respondents answered all questions.
RESULTS Eight job clusters were identified during the first and second tiers of research: computer programmers, systems/business analysts, computer engineers, database administrators, computer support specialists, network specialists, telecommunication analysts, and Interact specialists. What follows are the definitions of these job clusters. IT managers participating in the focus groups developed these definitions:
•
Computer programmers write, test, and maintain programs.
•
Systems analysts, also referred to as business analysts, provide liaison support between users and other IT professionals.
•
Computer engineers develop new hardware and system software.
•
Database administrators design, develop, maintain, manage, and coordinate changes to databases.
•
Computer support specialists provide technical assistance, support, and advice to clients and users.
•
Network specialists design, install, and support an organization's distributed computing systems.
•
Telecommunications analysts are responsible for the interaction between computers and communication equipment.
•
Internet specialists design, maintain Web sites and servers.
develop,
and
In all, 325 IT professionals, with representatives from each of the eight job clusters, reviewed 32 nontechnical skills generated from the IT site interviews and focus groups. Twenty of these skills are soft
Soft SMIIs Table 1 identifies the twenty soft skills that were reviewed in the survey. Nine of the twenty soft skills had medians of 0 or 1, over 100 respondents who found the skills to be extremely important, and had an adjusted/weighted score of 137 or more. These highly valued soft skills are problem solving, listening, teamwork, adaptability to technology and/or programming language changes, application of knowledge, time management, visualizaton/conceptualizafion skills, verbal communication, and multi-tasking abilities.
Problem solving is the ability to identify and solve problems when and where they occur. An IT company's relationship with its clientele either involves solving client information technology problems or exploring client opportunities. Thus, it is understandable that the ability to solve problems is a central IT industry need. Listening is the ability to verbally comprehend clients' and others' situations, commands and problems. Without the ability to truly listen, problems cannot be solved and opportunities cannot be explored in an optimum manner. In fact, poor listening can harm an IT company because time, energy, money, and client/company rapport can be lost. Overall, as a skill, listening has traditionally been one of the most neglected communication skills (Glenn &Pood, 1989).
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Problem Solving Process (decision tree, problem identification, analysis, solving)
196
109
16
3
0
0
152.5
325
Listening
153
152
18
0
0
0
152.5
323
Team Work (long term)
154
148
22
1
0
0
151.0
325
Adaptability to New Technology, new languages
154
143
27
1
0
0
148.5
325
5
Transferring Knowledge to Application
115
179
29
1
0
1
147.0
324
6
Time Management
128
162
33
2
0
1
i
145.0
325
7
Visualize/Conceptualize
111
173
41
0
0
1
I
142.0
325
:
8
Verbal Communication
111
171
41
1
0
1
141.0
324
9
Ability to Multi-task
135
140
45
5
0
1
137.5
325
10
Business Culture (priorities, schedules, selfinitiating)
90
172
56
6
0
1
131.0
324
11
Inter-team Communication
72
190
58
3
0
1
131.0
323
12
Interpersonal Skills
73
183
65
4
0
1
128.0
325
13
Constructive Criticism (delivery and receipt)
86
166
67
5
0
1
126.0
324
14
Organizational Skills
62
185
74
2
0
1
123.5
323
15
Stress Management
73
155
84
10
2
1
114.0
324
16
General Writing Skills
47
158
111
7
0
1
102.5
323
i
Leadership (interactions with peers, servant leadership) Technical Writing
40
147
126
11
1
1
93.5
325
28
138
138
18
2
1
83.0
324
19
Diversification (different cultures)
21
91
143
56
14
2
56.0
325
20
Presentation Skills
17
93
174
37
1
2
55.0
322
17 18
i i
I I
TABLE 1: Soft Skills
Transferring k n o w l e d g e to application is the ability to see c o n n e c t i o n s b e t w e e n ideas and facts and to think creatively, including outside the box, to solve p r o b l e m s and to explore opportunities. E f f e c t i v e p r o b l e m solving and o p p o r t u n i t y searching requires taking the abstract as well as past e x p e r i e n c e s and applying those to n e w situations, be they p r o b l e m s or opportunities.
T e a m w o r k is the ability to w o r k with others to solve p r o b l e m s and to explore opportunities. IT tools and client problems and opportunities are often so varied, complex, and swiftly changing that the situation requires a group o f p e o p l e to e f f e c t i v e l y w o r k together.
Adaptability is the ability and willingness to change o n e ' s k n o w l e d g e and use o f n e w technologies and p r o g r a m m i n g languages. IT hardware and software are constantly changing with n e w materials and upgrades. IT professionals require a positive attitude so that they m a y be willing and able to adapt to these changes.
Time management involves the ability and willingness to e f f e c t i v e l y use time t o w a r d the solving o f p r o b l e m s and the exploring o f opportunities. T i m e m e a n s m o n e y for m a n y an organization, including IT companies. Also, getting a p r o b l e m solved and fully exploring an o p p o r t u n i t y
10
in a timely fashion can mean a major competitive advantage to a client.
"Be the customer" mentality is the ability to see things from the customer's point of view. Having such a mentality allows the IT professional to better work with a client and thus increase the possibility that better business solutions may be developed. This ability translates into increased customer service and satisfaction which, in turn, is a key element in maintaining and improving an IT company's competitive advantage. (Bailey, 1997)
Verbal communication is the ability to truly say what is needed in a clear and concise manner. Without the ability to speak clearly and concisely, problems cannot be solved and opportunities cannot be addressed in as effective a manner as possible. In fact, like listening, poor verbal communication skills can harm an IT company because time, energy, money, and client/company rapport can be lost.
Investigative skills (probing questions) are the ability to ask the kinds of questions which solicit meaningful responses, or feedback that is direct and usable. Problem solving and searching for opportunities require a sound understanding of what exists and what is sought. Without effective investigative skills, what truly exists and what is truly sought may not be fully communicated or fully understood.
Ability to multi-task is the ability to deal with and to move quickly and smoothly between numerous issues and projects in a short time frame. The IT industry involves a wide variety of interfacing problems, opportunities, solutions, and tools. The ability o f IT professionals to quickly and smoothly interface with these elements is a major attribute to any vibrant, cost-effective operation. Business Skills Table 2 identifies the twelve business skills that were reviewed in the survey. Four of the twelve business skills had medians of 1, over 50 respondents who found the skills to be extremely important, and had an adjusted/weighted score of 94 or more. These highly valued business skills are "be the customer" mentality, investigation, idea initiation, and project management skills. Rank
Desired chaeaeteristies .......
:
0
Idea initiation is the ability to be creative in problem solving and opportunistic situations. The IT industry constantly faces new and different situations, problems, and tools. Thus, it is not surprising that IT companies need people who can generate new and different solutions to existing and future problems and opportunities.
1
"Be the customer"Mentality
El 96
V1 158
InvestigativeSkills (probing questions)
97
Idea Initiation 5
Project Management InterviewingSkills
6 7 8 9 10 11 12
2 ..... . . . . . . . .
3
.4 •
[
: :
i
NVI 6
127.0
325
153
63
10
0
125.0
323
55
157
99
8
2
54 28
135 70
108 126
23 72
4 26
106.0 94.5
321 324
MediationSkills Use of Capital (risk and return)
9 2
70 43
168 126
69 119
8 33
49.0 39.5 22.5
322 324 323
Role Playing Marketing
6 9
37 32
133 136
115 110
33 34
21.5 20.5
324 321
Readinga Budget(and understanding) Basic Accounting ReadingFinancial Statements
4 9 2
33 26 17
112 122 99
136 117 147
35 48 58
18.5 17.5 9.5
320 322 323
2: Business
11
Skills
MED i (EI+VI)/2
.......
SI 62
T A B L E
NI 1
: :
N
respondents provide their names, email addresses, and company names would greatly reduce the probability for this to be even a minor concern.
Project management is the ability to plan, organize, direct, produce, and evaluate an activity which meets a goal. The IT industry needs creative thinkers who are also structured so that a solution can be developed in an effective and timely fashion.
The study was limited to IT companies in Arkansas, thus generalizability is limited. Research by Athey and Plotnick (1992) found that technical skills varied significantly by region. Additional research is needed to determine whether or not this is also the case with non-technical skills.
L I M I T A T I O N S AND ASSUMPTIONS There are numerous limitations inherent to the approach used in this study (Cook & Campbell, 1979; Buckley, Buckley & Chiang, 1976; and Campbell & Stanley, 1963). Most of these limitations were identified prior to conducting the research and necessary precautions were taken prior to data collection whenever possible.
A limitation not identified prior to the study was the separation of soft, business, and technical skills. Thus it is not known how IT employees view the relative importance of soft, business, and technical skills. An expanded study is being developed to correct this problem. It should be noted, however, that during only one site interview did participants volunteer information on the importance of technical skills. When questioned, interview participants agreed technical skills are important but are easier to teach to employees than non-technical skills.
The natural lack of control in field settings was a limitation considered before data collection. However, a goal of the study was to glean as detailed and comprehensive a set of data as possible without leading IT professionals in any way. Thus, the noted limitation was actually a strength in this study because the approach met the study's broad data needs, compared with what could have been gleaned from a more tightly controlled and closely defined approach.
CONCLUSIONS "Greater collaboration between schools and corporations is needed to narrow the gap between what schools teach today and what is needed by industry tomorrow. Business involvement in curricular and course development should be encouraged." (SIM, 1998) Based on researcher experience, the IT industry is more than willing to work closely with academic entities in the development of programs which will reduce the IT workforce shortage and improve the mix of desired skills.
A second considered limitation was the selfreporting of data and its potential for bias. However, this was a minor concem because it was believed the IT professionals had nothing to gain or to lose by misrepresenting information. Other data collection concerns dealt with the use of a web survey. One such concern was the size of the instrument, which was 309 questions in length. It was believed that such a large number of questions would be so time consuming that only a few IT professionals would be willing and able to respond to the survey. Thus, to reduce the number of questions to a more manageable level, links were placed on the initial web page so that respondents could go directly to job categories that matched their areas of expertise.
People with technical, soft, and business skills appear to have solid opportunities in IT companies. The need for soft and business skills is great, so much so that some IT companies indicate that they would hire individuals with minimum technical skills so long as they demonstrate solid soft and business skills (Teeter, et al., 1999).
Another survey data collection concern involved the possibility that a respondent could bias the results by responding more than once. It was believed that the length of the survey and the requirement that
12
relative importance of soft, business, and nontechnical skills.
Based on the findings of this study, it is clear that IT companies and academic institutions need to make a concerted effort to include comprehensive and indepth packages of soft and business skills in their IT training and curricula programs. Incorporating comprehensive, holistic, and long-term team exercises and projects, which include solving customer problems, can accomplish this.
The findings presented in this paper are not intended in any way to minimize the significance of technical skills - the need for which are unquestionably important. However, as indicated during site interviews, technical skills are a base-line measurement - necessary but insufficient alone. "The most valuable ' t o o l ' . . . still resides within the [IT professional]. Technological advances cannot) ... replace the liT professional's] cognitive abilities" (Schenk, Vitalari & Davis, 1998).
An innovative IT minor curriculum program is being taught at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. The minor, based on the findings of this initial study, incorporates classroom teaching of the most highly desired soft skills, business skills, and technical skills (i.e. C programming, Microsoft Office products, and web design tools). The program is designed for students majoring in noncomputer related programs. The students are admitted into the minor as a cohort group and as a group complete a three-semester 18-hour sequence of one six-hour course per semester. The focus is on mastery of both non-technical and technical competencies. The course content is held constant. The time is varied according to student learning speed. Each course is team taught by an interdisciplinary group of faculty. Industry leaders continue to serve in an advisory capacity and guest lecture in areas of specialization. The authors may be contacted for additional information about the IT Minor program.
REFERENCES Aiken, M., Martin, J. & Joseph, G.P. (1994). "Requisite skills of business school graduates: Perceptions of senior corporate executives," Journal of Education for Business, 69(3), 159-164. Athey, S. & Plotnicki, J. (1992). "A Comparison of Information System Job Requirements in Major Metropolitan Areas," Interface, 13(4), 47-53. Bailey, J.L. (1997). Computer-Supported Collaborative Work and It's Application to Software Engineering In a Case Environment. Published dissertation, University of North Texas.
The study has also generated curricula modifications in two UALR technical programs: Management Information Systems (MIS) and Radio, Television and Film (RTVF). The MIS program is incorporating additional soft skills training on the identified soft and business skills through modification of lecture and experiential learning assignments. The RTVF department has created a new one-hour course specifically designed to train majors in soft skills.
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Future research is planned to extend the present study to participants from across the United States to determine whether regional, market, and other differences exist across the eight job clusters. The study will also be designed to collect data on the
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