Information & Management 19 (1990) 237-247

North-Holland
237
Research
Knowledge, skills and abilities of
information systems professionals:
past, present, and future *
Paul H. Cheney, David P. Hale
and George M. Kasper
I nformation Syytems and Quan%tatioe Sciences, College of Busi-
ness Administration, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, Texas
79409, LSA
This study provides information and direction regarding
the skills needed by current and future information systems
(IS) professionals. Based on information gathered in 1978,
1987, and 1988 through structured interviews with a total of
one-hundred-eighty senior information systems managers re-
sponsible for planning, training, and hiring IS personnel, the
trends in the current and future usefulness to project managers,
systems analysts/ designers, and programmers of twenty di-
mensions of knowledge, skill, and ability are evaluated. The
results indicate that senior IS managers believe that human
factors and managerial knowledge, skills, and abilities have
and will continue to increase in importance for all IS profes-
sionals, particularly for project managers. The findings also
confirm the increasing need to personnel with knowledge of
advanced technologies and an increased awareness of the value
of information as a corporate resource. Collectively, the results
suggests a clearer division of labor among IS professionals,
precipitated by advances in technology and their application to
ever increasingly complex and ill-structured problems.
Keywords; Information science education, Curriculum, Project
and people management, Training, Staffing, Information sys-
tems occupations, Information systems skills, ACM model
curriculum, Information systems personnel management.
* Some of the data presented in this paper is reported in
Information Systems Professions: Skills for the 1990s. in
the Proceedings of the Twenty-Second Annual Hawaii I nrer-
national Conference on System Sciences, January 3-6, (1989).
Vol. 1, 331-336.
Paul Cheney is currently the Area Co-
ordinator and Professor of Manage-
ment Information Systems in the Col-
lege of Business Administration at
Texas Tech University. He received
his Ph.D. in MIS from the University
of Minnesota in 1977 and had taught
at Iowa State and the University of
Georgia prior to joining Texas Tech
University in the summer of 1988. He
has published over 30 articles in such
journals as Decision Sciences, MI S
Quarterly, and I nformation and Man-
agement. He has also conducted numerous professional devel-
opment seminars and consulted widely for firms such as FORD,
IBM, AT&T, and EXXON.
David P. Hale is Assistant Professor of
Information Systems and Quantitative
Sciences at Texas Tech Universitys
College of Business Administration.
He received his Ph.D. in Management
Information Systems from the Univer-
sity of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in 1986.
His research interests include col-
laborative problem-solving systems
and software engineering. His papers
on joint human-computer problem-
solving systems, data base manage-
ment systems design, decision-group
connectivity, and software maintenance have appeared in
Management I nformation Quarterley, J ournal of Management
I nformafion Systems, and several conference proceedings.
George M. Kasper is Associate Profes-
sor of Information Systems and
Quantitative Sciences at Texas Tech
University College of Business Admin-
istration. He received the Ph.D. from
the State University of New York at
Buffalo. His primary research interests
are decision support systems and ex-
pert system-aided decision making.
His research has been published in
such journals as Decision Support Sys-
tems, J ournal of Management I nforma-
tion Systems, I nformation and Manage-
ment, Decision Sciences, and others. Dr. Kasper has also
served as a visiting member of the Faculty of Informatics,
Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands, and has
worked and consulted for both government and private in-
dustry.
0378-7206/ 90/ $03.50 0 1990 - Elsevier Science Publishers B.V. (North-Holland)
238 Research I nformation & Management
1. Introduction
Although employment in the information sys-
tems (IS) field is expected to continue to grow
rapidly through the mid-nineteen-nineties, much
of the work currently done in these professions is
changing. The changes force IS educators and
practitioners to constantly evaluate and upgrade
their professional skills. Much uncertainty sur-
rounds these decisions. Individuals must decide,
almost daily, what seminars and tutorials will best
position them for career advancement. Managers
must make the same decision for groups of
workers, as well as match tasks with the skills of
personnel and make long-term resource allocation
decisions based on their perception of tomorrows
IS environment. In addition, educators must
monitor curricula to ensure that students have the
skills needed to meet the expected challenges of
tomorrows work environment.
The purpose of this article is to provide infor-
mation and direction regarding the skills needed
by current and future IS professionals. Informa-
tion was gathered in 1978, 1987, in 1988 through
structured interviews with a total of one-hundred-
eighty senior IS managers responsible for plan-
ning, training, and hiring IS personnel. Although
the data gathered in 1978 [4] and 1987 [5] has been
reported, neither a comparison of this data (show-
ing the change in skills required of project
managers, systems analyst/ designers, and pro-
grammers over the last decade - collectively, these
three categories are referred to as IS workers in
the remainder of this article), nor the 1988 data
showing labor force and skill requirement projec-
tions for these professionals in the future (1995)
has been published.
2. Previous J ob Skills Research
For more than 30 years, job skills obsolescence
has been a recurring theme in the human resource
management literature, often achieving promi-
nence in the wake of major changes in the en-
vironment (such as technological leaps, economic
globalization, and energy shortages). Some authors
have investigated the organizational and personal
factors that contribute to skills obsolescence
[10,12]. Others have studied several methods for
counteracting skill obsolescence, such as: job rede-
sign [9], continuing education, and retraining.
However, little of this work has been empirical.
Obsolescence occurs when personnel and job
requirements that were congruent at one time no
longer match, due to a change in the job, a change
or lack of change in the individual, or both. In
most staffing and selection models, jobs require
particular knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs)
for the effective performance of tasks and duties.
Knowledge refers to the content or technical infor-
mation needed to perform adequately in a job and
is normally obtained through formal education,
on-the-job training, and information media, such
as manuals [18]. Skiffs are the specific psychomo-
tor processes necessary to meet the current re-
quirements of a specific job. They are manifested
through behaviors such as conducting an effective
information gathering interview, writing a well-
structured COBOL program, or developing a
structured system specification. Skills also include
the facility to select from among a repertoire of
possible actions those that are most appropriate
for a particular situation. Abilities refer to the
cognitive factors that represent present capabili-
ties or achievement levels [18]. The productive
potential of employees varies through differences
in the types and levels of acquired KSAs.
Although jobs are most often defined in terms
of tasks, duties, elements, responsibilities, or be-
haviors that are necessary to obtain an organiza-
tions goals, they have also been characterized by
the KSAs that are inferred as necessary to per-
form the required behaviors [12]. Given that the
employees KSAs were at one time congruent with
the demands of the job, obsolescence occurs when
the jobs current demands, duties, and responsibil-
ities are no longer supported by the stock of KSAs
of the job holder. The driving force behind chang-
ing job requirements is most often change in the
external environment; for the IS industry, this
typically means change in technology. Likewise,
the job holder changes by making re-training deci-
sions and gaining experience that result in ad-
ditional KSAs that are more or less congruent
with the demands of technological development.
3. The Study
The specific KSAs that will be needed in the
future are unknown, however, the purpose of this
I nformation & Managemeni P. H. Cheney et al. / IS Siaffing Requirements 239
study is to help individuals, managers, and educa-
tors make more informed decisions as to what
may be needed. This requires an examination of
technological trends and projections. To provide
IS personnel, managers, and educators with infor-
mation on which to base their professional deci-
sions, a total of one-hundred-eighty senior IS
managers were interviewed at three times during a
ten year period (1978, 1987 and 1988). The
closed-form structured interviews collectively re-
flect changes in the perception of senior IS
managers about the KSAs needed by IS workers.
The job categories of project managers, systems
analysts/designers, and programmers were select-
ed because of their predominance in terms of their
numeric size and KSA requirements. Senior IS
managers were interviewed because they are re-
sponsible for planning and hiring these IS workers,
and are arguably best positioned to predict future
personnel needs and requirements.
3. I. I nterviewees
By design, the demographics of those inter-
viewed (position title, years of IS experience, and
industry) did not differ substantially across the
sample periods. Table 1 presents an analysis of the
senior IS managers interviewed in this study by
title for each of the three sample periods.
As these data show, a majority of the inter-
viewees are senior level MIS executives. Although
the term chief information officer (CIO) was not
common in 1978, when the first phase of the study
was initiated, most of those interviewed are senior
IS executives in their company, and report directly
Table 1
Interviewees by Job Title
Job Title Number of Interviewees
by Job Title per Sample
1 2 3
1978 1987 1988
VP of IS 8 5 24
Director of IS 6 9 28
Data Center Manager 9 6 2
Director of IS Development 22 14 15
Information Center Manager 0 10 0
Technical Support Manager 0 12 10
Total 45 56 79
Table 2
Percent of Industries Represented by Sample Period
Industry Percent of Industries
by Sample a
Manufacturing
Service
Government
Retailing/Wholesaling
Banking/Insurance
1 2 3
1978 1987 1988
54% 27% 17%
13% 29% 40%
19% 18% 10%
9% 14% 17%
6% 13% 17%
a Due to rounding, to columns do not sum to 100%.
to the chief executive officer, an executive vice
president, or a group vice president. Regardless of
their specific title, the interviewees are heavily
involved in determining the strategic direction and
goals for MIS within their respective organiza-
tions.
In terms of the distribution by professional
experience, there was little difference among those
interviewed across the three sample periods. Col-
lectively, seventy-four percent of the interviewees
had over ten years of IS experience. In fact, forty-
three percent of those interviewed had in excess of
fifteen years of IS experience. This extensive expe-
rience within the IS field was consistent with the
position and responsibilities of senior IS managers.
To prevent the results from being dominated by
the needs of any one industry, at the exclusion of
others, an attempt was made to interview managers
from a diverse set of industries. Table 2 shows the
percentage of different films per industry repre-
sented in each of the sample years.
Although availability necessarily influenced in-
terviewee participation, the data show that a broad
cross-section of business is represented, including
the service, manufacturing, and not-for-profit sec-
tors. The interviewees were employed by corpora-
tions with national and international offices and
distribution channels. It should also be noted that
as a percentage of the sample, the participation of
IS managers representing manufacturing organiza-
tions has decreased over time .
r This reflects the 25% decrease between 1976 [6] and 1988 [7]
in the percent of the work force employed by the manufac-
turing sector in the American economy.
240 Research Information & Management
3.2. Identification of Knowledge, Skills, and Abili-
ties
The set of knowledge, skills, and abilities
(KSAs) selected for the first (1978) interviews was
derived from the recommendations made by the
first two ACM model IS curricula (1972 [l] and
1973 [S]). Based on the major topics in these
curricula, thirty-six KSAs were identified. These
were then distributed to five IS faculty to confirm
that they accurately reflected the intent of the
recommendations. Based on responses, twelve
KSAs were dropped from the original list and two
were added, resulting in a total of twenty-six for
the first (1978) sample. In 1982, the ACM revised
their model IS curriculum report [17] to reflect a
decrease in the role of quantitative management
KSAs for many job classifications. Based on this
report, no new KSAs were added, but six of the
original twenty-six KSAs were eliminated. The
remaining twenty KSAs were evaluated by the
participants in the interviews conducted in 1987
and 1988. A complete list of these KSAs is pre-
sented in Appendix A. A more complete descrip-
tion of the interview instrument can be found in
[4] and [5].
3.3. The Interviews
At the beginning of the structured interviews,
senior IS managers were asked how many em-
ployees they had in each of several areas. For the
interviews conducted in 1988, respondents were
also asked to estimate the anticipated number of
employees needed in 1995. Next, they rated the
importance of the twenty specific KSAs on a
Lickert scale of 1 to 5, with 1 meaning not
useful and 5 meaning essential for each of the
three major IS worker job categories. These are:
Project Manager - one who coordinates the teams
effort and determines how the teams resources
should be allocated to produce a working system
that complies with a given set of specifications on
time and within budget;
Systems Analyst/Designer - one who defines the
users information needs and designs systems to
generate the required information, including defi-
ning the content and structure of input forms,
output reports, and files; and
Programmer - one who is responsible for program
creation (development and documentation).
The interviewees responses were recorded by
the interviewer, and, when necessary, questions
were clarified. Following the structured portion of
the interview, the interviewee was given an open-
ended opportunity to suggest additional KSAs
and to rate these on the same 1 to 5 scale.
Throughout the three sample periods of the
study, the actual job descriptions and duties asso-
ciated with the job categories have remained
fundamentally the same, despite slight changes in
job titles. For example, in 1978, many systems
analysts/designers were simply called systems
analysts even though they performed technical
design tasks along with analysis activities.
4. Data Analysis
The studys results are presented in two sec-
tions. In the first section, the 1988 collected data
showing current and projected labor force require-
ments are presented. The second section reports
the change in the perceived value of KSAs for IS
workers over the 1978-1987 period and the 1987-
1995 projections, which were collected in the 1988
survey.
4.1. Labor Force Requirements
During the 1988 interviews, interviewees were
asked the number of employees currently working
Table 3
Current (1988) and Projected (1995) Work Force by Area
IS Area 1988 a 1995 b % change
COBOL Programmers 11,151 6,480
FORTRAN or BASIC 300 300
PASCAL and C 2,050 4,180
Database Management 1,480 2,180
4th Generation Languages 1,105 7,401
Systems Programmers 401 600
Data Communications 401 1,400
Systems Analysts/Designers 2,840 4,150
Operators 850 400
Data Entry 330 0
Information Center Personnel 2,400 4,100
Total 23,308 31,191
-43%
0%
104%
41%
570%
50%
249%
46%
- 53%
- 100%
71%
34%
a Current employment figures.
Projected employment figures.
Information & Managemeni P.H. Cheney et al. / IS Staffing Requirements 241
in each of several areas and the project their
personnel needs in these areas for 1995. Table 3
compares by area the current work force reported
by the 1988 interviewees with those they projected
for 1995.
These results indicate that the senior IS
managers except a net increase in demand for all
areas of IS personnel with the exception of those
with knowledge limited to traditional high-level
languages (such as COBOL and FORTRAN), and
computer operations, while data entry clerks are
projected to be eliminated. They also expect the
demand for workers with knowledge of more
powerful procedural (Pascal and C) and non-pro-
cedural languages to increase dramatically, and
the aggregate number of programmers to in-
crease because of a substantial growth in the pop-
ularity of fourth generation languages (4GLs).
The results also indicate that there will con-
tinue to be a substantial demand for database and
systems programmers. The advantages of database
management systems have been known for years,
but the cost of converting existing applications has
prevented many companies from fully utilizing
this technology. Many of the interviewees indi-
cated that their firms use a phase-in/phase-out
approach as the means of converting to database
management system (DBMS) technology; that is,
when new applications are designed to replace
existing ones, DBMS technology is used, but mod-
ification of existing programs to employ DBMS
technology is not actively pursued. As more soft-
ware applications are designed to utilize DBMS
technology, the demand for database specialists
will increase. Another factor affecting the demand
for database specialists is the increasing and
widespread use of DBMSs such as IBMs DB2.
Many of the database specialists who support
microcomputer-based products are located in the
organizations end-user support centers (informa-
tion centers) or in user departments. Consistent
with this, the interviewees project an increased
demand for information center personnel through
1995. However, because not all companies repre-
sented by the interviewee had formally chartered
information centers, the reported number of infor-
mation center personnel includes resident end-user
support experts in functional areas.
IS personnel that specialize in the use of 4GLs
are in demand, and the interviewees expect that
this trend will accelerate dramatically. The need
for 4GL specialists may be tied to the movement
toward using microcomputers for an increasing
number of small applications, and the use of
database management systems, which facilitate the
utilization of 4GLs. In addition, some 4GLs such
as Applied Data Researchs Empire and Informa-
tion Builders Focus are used as prototyping tools
and are rapidly replacing procedural languages
[13,15,19].
Consistent with the trend in most organizations
to integrate computer and communication facili-
ties, those interviewed report a continued and an
anticipated increase in the demand for data com-
munication specialists. The dramatic increase in
demand for this specialty is motivated in part by
the economies-of-scale that integration affords, as
well as the move toward distributed IS [3,8,11,14,
161. In fact, eighty-six percent of those interviewed
in 1988 reported that their firms have extensive
distributed IS networks.
In general, these projections are remarkably
consistent with those of the United States Bureau
of Labor Statistics (BLS). For example, the BLS
expects a seventy-two percent increase in the need
for all types of computer programmers over the
1984-1995 2 time period, whereas those inter-
viewed in this study expect a collective sixty-one
percent increase in the demand for traditional
(COBOL, FORTRAN, Pascal) programmers over
the 1988-1995 time period. Likewise, the BLS
predicts a sixty-eight percent increase in the de-
mand for systems analysts over the 1984-1995
period and the senior IS managers interviewed
in this study expect their demand to increase by
forty-six percent from 1988 to 1995.
4.2. Changes in KSAs by Job Category
Based on the interviewees value ratings for
each of the twenty KSAs within each of the three
job categories, t-tests were calculated on the
pooled sample variance and the significance of the
change over time was determined using statistical
significance alpha levels of 0.01 and 0.05. Signifi-
* The BLS provides three projections for 1995 employment for
each occupation. The 586,000 figure represents moderate
growth in the employment of programmers, ranging from a
low of 559,000 to a high of 609,000 workers by 1995 [2].
3 The BLS expects the number of systems analysts to range
from a low of 498,000 to a high of 539,000 by 1995.
242 Research Information & Management
cant t-values by KSA, within job category, are
shown in Table 4 for the 1978 and 1987, and the
1987 and projected 1995 comparisons. Significant
positive t-values indicate that the KSA has in-
creased in importance (the 1978 and 1987 com-
parison), or that it is expected to increase in
importance (the 1987 and projections for 1995
comparison). Conversely, significant negative t-
values suggest that the KSA hs or is expected to
decrease in importance, depending upon the com-
parison. For clarity of presentation, the specific
values of non-significant changes are not given.
For completeness, both the significant and non-
significant t-values are presented for all KSAs in
Appendix A.
These results show that the current and future
Introductory Computer and Information Systems
Concepts is appropriate for IS workers. The value
Table 4
Significant Changes in the Value of IS Workers KSAs
KSA Categories Project
Manager
Systems
Analyst/
Designer
Programmer
1. Information Gathering
Techniques
2. Systems Design
Topics
3. File Design
4. Planning and Control
of System Projects
5. Human Relations in
Systems Development
6. Human Factors in Equipment
Design and Work Layout
7. Introductory Computer and
Information Systems Concepts
8. Application Programming
Languages
9. Job Control
Language
10. DBMS
11. Operating
Systems
12. Mainframe
Hardware
13. Micro/Minicomputer
Hardware
14. Telecommunications
Concepts
15. Computer Security
Controls and Auditing
16. Software Package
Analysis
17. Computer
Operations
18. Legal Aspects
of Computing
19. Computer
Simulation
20. Statistical
Decision Theory
2.406 * * - 3.913 * -5.507 *
3.100 *
_ _
-5.415 *
_
_
_
-4.010 *
_
_ - 5.794 *
_ -3.951 * - 3.211 *
2.011 * * -2.011 * * - 3.001 *
_
_ -5.637 *
_ _
_
-3.341 *
2.801 * 3.111 * 2.998 *
_ _ _
_ _ _
_ - 2.042 * * -3.540 *
- 3.814 * - 3.011 * _
_ _
_ _
-2.011 * *
_ _ _
_ 7.140 * 6.145 *
-4.263 * -7.180 *
- 3.941 * -2.140 ** -3.101 *
-3.847 * -2.142 ** _
-6.401 * -4.333 * _
_ _
- 2.001 * * _ _
-2.952 * -2.650 * * _
4.980 * 7.114 * 6.804 *
-5.959 * -2.341 ** - 2.723 *
3.801 * 4.900 *
_
-4.328 * 4.218 * 2.403 * *
3.881 * 7.100 * 2.080 * *
- 2.080 * * 5.183 * _
_ _ _
-5.107 * 2.039 * * -2.145 *
2.001 * * 3.853 * 2.011 * *
3.531 * 4.608 * 2.723 *
5.130 * 2.011 * * 2.001 * *
4.005 * 5.802 * _
6.145 * 4.001 * 2.141 * *
* alpha = 0.01; * * alpha = 0.05; For each KSA, the first row of t-test values is based on the range from 1978 to 1987 and the second
row on the change from 1987 to that projected for 1995.
Information & Management
of Operating Systems, however, has decreased and
is predicted to decrease in importance for all
categories. Likewise, Mainframe Hardware is ex-
pected to be less valuable for both project
managers and systems analysts/designers in the
future, but the current level of Mainframe Hard-
ware is expected to remain the same for pro-
grammers. With the exception of project managers,
Planning and Control of Systems Projects is cur-
rently and is predicted to be a less valuable KSA
for systems analysts/designers and programmers.
Similarly, Systems Design Topics is currently and
is predicted to be less valuable for programmers,
but retain its current level of importance for pro-
ject managers and systems analysts/designers.
The need for ever increasing KSAs in Computer
Simulation and Statistical Decision Theory is evi-
denced by the consistently significant positive
coefficients across IS worker categories. Although
the value of Software Package Analysis decreased
for project managers during the 1978-1987 time
frame, the value of this KSA increased for both
programmers and systems analysts/designers and
is predicted to increase for all job categories. The
most dramatic changes have occurred in the per-
ceived value of Telecommunications Concepts,
Computer Security Controls and Auditing, and
Legal Aspects of Computing. The KSAs are not
only expected to be very valuable in the future,
but many of them represent complete reversals
from what was perceived in the 1978-1987 com-
parison.
4.2.1. Project Manager
Within the project manager job category, Infor-
mation Gathering Techniques, Computer Simula-
tion, and Statistical Decision Theory are and are
expected to continue to be valuable. Conversely,
Operating Systems and Mainframe Hardware are
perceived to be of significantly less value for pro-
ject managers now and in the future than they
have been. Compared with the 1978-1987 results,
dramatic positive reversals in the value of Tele-
communications Concepts, Computer Security Con-
trols and Auditing, Software Package Analysis, and
Legal Aspects of Computing are expected. Those
KSAs that are predicted to be less valuable to
project managers are Application Programming
Languages and Micro/Mini Hardware, although
the reverse is true for Planning and Control of
System Projects and Human Factors in Equipment
P.H. Cheney ef al. / IS Staffing Requirements 243
Design and Work Layout, which are expected to
become more valuable.
4.2.2. Systems Analyst/Designer
Software Package Analysis, Legal Aspects of
Computing, Computer Simulation, and Statistical
Decision Theory are and should be valuable KSAs
for the systems analyst/ designer. Conversely,
Planning and Control of System Projects, Applica-
tion Programming Languages, and Mainframe
Hardware are and should be significantly less
valuable. Compared with the 1978-1987 change,
dramatic positive reversals in the value of Tele-
communications Concepts and Computer Security
Controls in Auditing are expected. One KSA should
be less valuable in the future - Operating Systems.
The opposite is true for File Design, Human Fac-
tors in Equipment Design and Work Layout, and
Database Management Systems.
4.2.3. Programmer
Software Package Analysis, Legal Aspects of
Computing and Computer Simulation are and are
expected to be valuable to programmers. Con-
versely, Systems Design Topics, Planning and Con-
trol of Systems Projects, and Operating Systems,
are perceived to be significantly less valuable.
Compared with the 1978-1987 changes, dramatic
positive reversals in the expected value of File
Design, Human Factors in Equipment Design and
Work Layout, and Legal Aspects of Computing are
anticipated. The KSA that is expected to become
less valuable to programmers is Job Control Lan-
guage, although the reverse is true for Telecom-
munications Concepts and Statistical Decision The-
oy .
5. Discussion
It must be emphasized that IS workers did not
rate the importance of KSAs in their work; in-
stead senior IS managers rates them. As a result, it
is likely that IS workers would have answered
these questions differently. However, as a practi-
cal matter, the perceptions of senior IS managers
are the most meaningful, because their judgment
is most important in planning and hiring.
In general, by 1995 the interviewees expect
knowledge of telecommunications concepts, file
and database design, human relations, and human
244 Research I nformdon & Management
factors to be increasingly important. The continu-
ing importance of telecommunications concepts is
the product of advancements in data communica-
tions, office automation, and network support.
Based upon post-interview debriefings, file design
was interpreted by the interviewees to mean
database design, which (with the growing impor-
tance of DBMS KSA) explains its increase in
importance. Computer security controls and audit-
ing are also viewed as being increasingly im-
portant, indicating an increasing awareness of the
need for improved controls. The increase in im-
portance of telecommunications, file design, hu-
man factors and relations, and computer security
parallels the increasing demand for end-user com-
puting; they may reflect the expertise needed to
support this activity.
5. I. Project Manager
For project managers, Information Gathering
Techniques were valued more and Computer Oper-
ations less by the interviewees in 1987 than they
were in 1978. Both shifts may have resulted from
the fact that scheduling and computer operations
were more of an issue for senior IS managers in
1978 than for their 1987 counterparts. In the 10
year period there has been an increased emphasis
on the separation of operations and systems devel-
opment functions; project managers are less in-
volved in computer operations. The demands
placed on information requirements analysis to-
day may explain why the current senior IS
managers consider Information Gathering Tech-
niques more valuable for project managers than
did their predecessors, and why the value of this
KSA is expected to continue to increase.
One of the most interesting results for project
managers concerns the perceived declining impor-
tance of several technically oriented KSAs (i.e.,
Operating Systems, Applications Programming
Languages, Mainframe Hardware, and Micro/
Mini Hardware). Senior IS managers expected
either no significant change, or a decline in their
importance for future project managers. Perhaps
project managers are, at last, being viewed more
as managers and less as technicians. This may also
reflect a division of labor and maturity within
modern IS departments.
The senior IS managers belief in the increasing
importance of both Computer Simulation and
Statistical Decision Theory for project managers is
also informative. This may reflect an increasing
emphasis on decision support systems (DSS) and
expert systems (ES) in todays organizations. Con-
sistent with the emergence of these technologies,
Software Package Analysis is also expected to be-
come increasingly important to the project
manager. The latter is not surprising, because the
movement toward purchasing rather than custom
building software products has been the trend for
two decades and has increased in the nineteen-
eighties with the proliferation of personal com-
puters. The interviewees predictions are consistent
with a continuance of this trend.
5.2. Systems Analyst/Designer
According to the senior IS managers, the trend
for systems analysts/designers is toward an in-
creased knowledge of people and problem-solving
KSAs (e.g., Statistical Decision Theoty, Human
Factors in Equipment Design and Work Layout,
Legal Aspects of Computing), and away from de-
veloping application software. As the purchase of
packaged software technology becomes the norm,
Software Package Analysis is and is expected to
become an extremely valuable KSA for systems
analysts/designers. Consistent with the view of
using technology to find solutions, Telecommuni-
cations Concepts and Database Management Sys-
tems are also increasingly more important now
and in the future than they were in the past.
5.3. Programmer
For programmers, the interviewees believe that
Telecommunication Concepts and Database Man-
agement Systems are expected to have the greatest
increases in importance. This may reflect the in-
creasing emphasis on data communications, dis-
tributed processing systems, and the utilization of
DBMSs. As the division of labor among computer
personnel increases, many basic KSAs are no
longer the direct responsibility of computer pro-
grammers; this includes Operating Systems. Per-
haps this is the result of new operating systems
and application development languages that rnini-
rnize the programmers need for such knowledge,
skills, and abilities.
I nformation & Managemenf P. H. Cheney et al. / IS Staffing Requirements 245
6. ACM IS Model Curriculum Comparison
The ACM IS model curriculum is used as a
reference to identify possible discrepancies be-
tween practitioner and academic perceptions of
the KSAs needed by IS workers. Three editions of
the IS model ACM curricula have been published:
in 1972 [l], 1973 [8], and 1982 [17] *. Although
the 1972 and 1973 curricula emphasize technologi-
cal knowledge, they explicitly recognize the educa-
tional requirements of two types of college
graduates: (1) technically trained systems desig-
ners, and (2) managerially oriented IS analysts.
More detailed than its predecessors, the 1982 cur-
riculum recommended that undergraduate and
graduate programs emphasize the integration of
people, management, and technological KSAs. The
curriculum contains the following major changes:
_.
integration and increased emphasis of manage-
ment and communications KSAs;
_~
inclusion of data management and data com-
munications courses;
__
inclusion of the American Assembly of Col-
legiate Schools of Business (AACSB) common
body of knowledge as a foundation; and
_
introduction of a capstone MIS policy course.
The interview responses support many of the
KSAs recommended in 1982. In general, the re-
sults of interviews indicate that human factors and
managerial KSAs have and will continue to in-
crease in importance, especially for project
managers. This suggests that senior IS managers
are beginning to view the role of project managers
as more managerial than technical in nature, re-
quiring greater data gathering, planning and con-
trol, and human relations. This change in perspec-
tive is also occurring for systems analysts/
designers and even programmers, who are increas-
ingly being viewed as the users of systems design
and development technologies and prototyping
tools. The advent of these powerful non-proce-
dural tools has resulted in a shift from merely
building systems to providing value and func-
tionality. The interviewees suggest that all IS
workers increase their software package analysis
4 The ACM Model Curriculum for undergraduate education is
currently under revision. An exposure draft of the third
edition is expected to be released in the spring of 1990.
KSAs. THe advent of these technologies and their
application to increasingly complex and ill-struc-
tured problems has resulted in both a greater
division of labor among IS workers and the need
for greater insight into the application domain
and general management process.
The desire to automate increasingly complex
and ill-structured problems, and the additional
demands that this places on project leaders may
be reflected in the senior IS managers belief that
project managers must have a greater exposure to
planning and control techniques. These topics are
normally included in an Information Resource
Management course or some other management of
MIS capstone course, as suggested by the ACM
curriculum. Although these results may not con-
firm the need for an individual course, the increas-
ing importance of these topics suggests the need
for more extensive coverage of these areas in the
IS curricula and professional continuing educa-
tion.
The desire to automate increasingly complex
problems may also account for the belief that
more KSAs are needed for all IS workers in statis-
tical decision theory, computer simulation, data-
base management systems, and telecommunica-
tion. This is consistent with the ACM curriculum
recommendation to increase the emphasis on deci-
sion-making and management techniques by in-
cluding the AACSB common body of knowledge.
These results are also consistent with the senior IS
managers response to the open-ended portion of
the interview, in which the most frequently sug-
gested KSAs were the improvement of oral and
written communication abilities and knowledge
of business - accounting, marketing, finance, and
manufacturing.
These changing needs reflect a shift from
centralized, single-mainframe systems to distrib-
uted, heterogeneous computer clusters, and from
procedural to non-procedural languages, possibly
indicative of the emergence of end-user computing
as a major form of IS usage. Consistent with this,
those interviewed suggested that IS workers in-
crease their KSAs in software package analysis,
database management systems, telecommunica-
tions, human relations, human factors, computer
simulation, computer security, and statistical deci-
sion theory. These are all critical to the success of
any end-user support system.
246 Research
7. Summary and Conclusion
The results of the study provide information
and direction regarding the skills needed by cur-
rent and future IS professionals. Based on infor-
mation gathered from senior information systems
managers in 1978, 1987, and 1988, the trends in
the current and future usefulness to IS workers of
twenty dimensions of knowledge, skill, and ability
were evaluated.
The results indicate that senior IS managers
believe that human factors and managerial knowl-
edge, skills, and abilities have and will continue to
increase in importance for all IS workers, particu-
larly project managers. The findings also confirm
the increasing need for personnel with KSAs of
advanced technologies, such as database manage-
ment systems and data communications. This sug-
gests an increasing belief of the value of informa-
tion as a corporate resource. The emergence of
more distinct sets of KSAs for information workers
may indicate a clearer division of labor. The spe-
cialization may also be attributable to the collec-
tive advancements in technology, systems analysis,
and systems design techniques; the development
of project management procedures that exceed the
KSAs of any single individual; and an apprecia-
tion by senior IS managers of the increasingly
complex nature of todays application areas.
In conclusion, development and maintenance
of the KSAs needed to meet job requirements are
important topics for both the IS practitioner and
educator. Due to rapid changes in IS technology,
there is much uncertainty in selecting appropriate
topics for professional development. This article
provides insight into the evolution of KSAs for IS
workers. The results suggest that although IS per-
sonnel must remain abreast of technological ad-
vancements, there is an increasing need for human
factors, problem-solving, and business related
KSAs. This evolution is also contributing to a
clearer division of labor among IS professionals.
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Appendix A
KSA Categories Project
Manager
Systems
Analyst/
Designer
Programmer
1. Information Gathering 2.406 * * - 3.973 * -5.507 *
Techniques 3.100 * 1.441 1.004
2. Systems Design 1.394 - 1.170 -5.475 *
Topics 0.740 0.901 -4.010 *
3. File Design 1.354 - 1.133 - * 5.794
1.805 3.140 * 3.114 *
4. Planning and Control 1.248 - 3.951 * -3.211 *
of System Projects 2.011 * * -2.011 ** -3.001 *
5. Human Relations in 1.898 1.030 -5.637 *
Systems Development 1.011 0.671 0.600
6. Human Factors in Equipment - 0.847 0.012 -3.341 *
Design and Work Layout 2.801 * 3.111 * 2.998 *
7. Introductory Computer and - 0.042 - 0.641 -0.595
Information Systems Concepts 0.601 0.401 -0.310
8. Application Programming 1.015 - 2.042 * * -3.540 *
Languages - 3.814 * -3.011 * 1.035
9. Job Control - 0.486 0.276 - 1.131
Language - 1.201 - 0.488 -2.011 **
10. DBMS 1.402 1.865 - 0.051
1.041 7.140 * 6.145 *
11. Operating -4.263 * - 1.741 -7.180 *
Systems - 3.941 * -2.140 * * -3.101 *
12. Mainframe - 3.847 * -2.142 * * - 1.913
Hardware - 6.401 * -4.333 * - 0.081
13. Micro/Minicomputer 1.939 - 0.093 -0.781
Hardware - 2.001 * * 0.080 0.040
14. Telecommunications - 2.952 * - 2.650 * * 1.704
Concepts 4.980 * 7.144 * 6.804 *
15. Computer Security -5.959 * - 2.341 * * - * 2.723
Controls and Auditing 3.801 * 4.900 * 1.800
16. Software Package -4.328 * 4.218 * 2.403 * *
Analysis 3.881 * 7.100 * 2.080 * *
17. Computer - 2.080 * * 5.183 * 1.771
Operations 0.433 - 1.047 0.444
18. Legal Aspects -5.107 * 2.039 * * -2.745 *
of Computing 2.001 * * 3.853 * 2.011 * *
19. Computer 3.531 * 4.608 * 2.723 *
Simulation 5.130 * 2.011 ** 2.001 **
20. Statistical 4.005 * 5.802 * 1.883
Decision Theory 6.145 * 4.001 * 2.141 * *
* alpha = 0.01; * *
alpha = 0.05; T-test Results Showing Differences in the KSAs. For each KSA, the first row of f-tests is based on
the change from 1978 to 1987 and the second row the change from 1987 to that projected for 1995.