The Management of Information Systems Occupations : A Research Agenda

It is accepted, generally, that Information Systems (IS)personnel have specific needs and present a unique set of problems formanagement. This position is challenged. It is our contention thatIS personnel exhibit relatively few differences when compared withother, similar, occupational groupings. This does not imply, however,that the unique aspects of IS work are unimportant, or that attentionneed not be focused on understanding the determinants of particularbehavioral outcomes. Rather, it suggests, that the effectivemanagement of the IS human resource may well rest more on generalmanagement practices than is commonly believed.This paper identifies managerial complaints about IS personneland provides a summary of research findings. A model, based onaccepted principles of worker behavior, intended to integrate much ofthe previous work, is presented. The IS staff is classified intocategories and propositions about each are developed. Specificresearch questions are formulated which, when answered, will providemore insight into the unique aspects of IS work and will identifymanagerial strategies for improving employee performance and wellbeing