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IS Characteristics

IS Characteristics. Conflict with Hofstede?. Agenda. Hofstede’s Dimensions Cougar and Zawacki’s Work Background, Hertzberg, Job Motivation Potential Conflicts?. Hofstede’s Dimensions. Power Distance (US Moderate, maybe low?) Uncertainty Avoidance (US Moderate, maybe high, maybe low?)

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IS Characteristics

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  1. IS Characteristics Conflict with Hofstede?

  2. Agenda • Hofstede’s Dimensions • Cougar and Zawacki’s Work • Background, Hertzberg, Job Motivation • Potential Conflicts?

  3. Hofstede’s Dimensions • Power Distance (US Moderate, maybe low?) • Uncertainty Avoidance (US Moderate, maybe high, maybe low?) • Individualism (US Very High) • Masculinity (US High) PD: “Know your place”UA: “Decision making under uncertainty”IN: “Valuing the contribution of the individual”MA: “Assertiveness; focus on objects rather than relationships”

  4. Cougar and Zawacki’s Work • From 1980, has been replicated dozens of times in different countries. • Based on the JOB DIAGNOSTIC SURVEY, diagnosing job tenure • Underlying model is that people are motivated to stay in jobs that appeal to their psychological characteristics (but see Hertzberg, next slide)

  5. Previous Work on Job Satisfaction • Other than Maslow, the big name is Hertzberg • Hertzberg hypothesized that staying in a job is related to how satisfied one is in working in it and that there were two types of satisfaction factors • Motivators: positive • Hygiene Factors: negative

  6. Typical Motivator (M) Behavior Satisfaction increases are not possible without a minimum level of a hygiene factor. Hertzberg’s Theory of Satisfaction Satisfaction = M * H An increase in the motivator is accompanied by an increase in satisfaction in some pattern. + Sufficient to induce increases in satisfaction Necessary to have any satisfaction at all. Motivation Level of Input Factor - Typical Hygiene (H) Factor Behavior

  7. + + Motivation Satisfaction + - Productivity Hertzberg’s Implicit Model Motivators Hygiene Factors

  8. Early Results • Money was seen as a hygiene factor and even more strongly in technical jobs • Job interest, challenge, content was seen as a motivator • Different job categories rated working conditions differently • Hertzberg’s work was done in the 1960s before IT was very “sophisticated”

  9. Interpreting Hertzberg • In the 1960s, most IT people were very young and very mobile. • Salaries were relatively high, job security very high, shortage of trained staff high • Need for money wasn’t strong as a motivator • Most IT people were technical, mathematically oriented, little business experience

  10. But… • While IT people were motivated to work, they were NOT motivated to stay with their current employer. • This phenomenon is called “turnover” or, more positively, “job retention” • Research attention turned from just satisfaction and productivity to motivation and retention…

  11. * At 25% annual turnover, two years after the release of software that took a year to write, only 42% of the original staff is still around and these are likely to be the least sharp! When the rate goes up to 35%, two year post implementation retention falls to 25%!! Shortages • Turnover in the 1960s , 70s and 80s approached 25% ANNUALLY! • Job retention was really important, given high costs of turnover • Research focused on how to retain IT staff as a critical need for management.

  12. Shop Management Style Work Environment IT Work Satisfaction/ Motivation Productivity Retention Cougar and Zawacki’s Model Programmer Personality Given the personality of the programmer, what can management do to increase productivity and retention?

  13. What They Found • Job satisfaction is related to “personality” • Personality may be described, in part, by two values or skills or needs • Social Need Strength (SNS): others • Growth Need Strength (GNS): achievement • In the IT shop (programmers), they found this: • SNS: The lowest of all employment groups • GNS: The highest of all employment groups

  14. Are the Results Still Valid? • Possibly not • First, the scores of women differed from those of men • Second, while shortages still exist in IT, it is not just the extremely technical who go into IT for a career • Third, IT employees are no longer “just kids”; they are older and have a different portfolio of skills and values

  15. What Does this Mean? • If SNS is still low, then individualism might be enhanced and power-distance might be even further attenuated compared to general culture (CTNC) • If GNS is still high, uncertainty avoidance might be relatively low CTNC • Masculinity might be extremely high; it’s not clear what the effect would be, especially as IT is no longer exclusively a “male” domain and as competitive in the way it once was.

  16. Hofstede’s Dimensions Revisited in the IT Shop. • Power Distance (US Moderate, IT very low) • Uncertainty Avoidance (US Moderate, IT very low) • Individualism (US Very High, IT extreme) • Masculinity (US High, IT extreme)

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