Agile and generic work values of British vs Indian IT workers: a culture-clash case

PurposeAfter deciding to become agile, many information technology (IT) units struggle; they underestimate the needed managerial expertise to alter their current culture toward an agile one, particularly when cross-cultural (f)actors are involved. Given that work values are the key to an organizational culture, the study derived a set of agile work values of culturally diverse IT professionals together with a set of well-known generic work values. Consequently, the authors illustrate that managers in charge of the transition to an effective agile culture must pay serious attention to the specific value constellations of its often highly diverse workforce.Design/methodology/approachA literature review resulted in an initial list of agile work values. Then, mainly through a Delphi round, 12 agile-specific work values were established. These were survey rated, along with the validated set of 18 generic work values, by 102 British and Indian IT professionals in a digital service and consulting firm that was requested by its client to become agile. The observations made in 14 feedback group-interview-type dialogs enriched the surveyed data further.FindingsIn the current exploratory study, four generic value dimensions were complemented by two agile-specific ones: team communication and shared responsibility. Among the British and Indian (on-site and offshore) workers, only 2 of the 30 current work values were shared while 7 significant value differences were found, explaining the noted employee bitterness, productivity losses and client disengagement. This situation was reflected in the many discrepancies between the professionals' ideal agile way of working and how their unit was currently functioning.Originality/valueThe multi-method study shows an over-optimistic approach to becoming agile in a common cross-cultural context; insights are gained on how to optimize agile ways of organizing IT work when British IT workers collaborate with Indian IT workers. It may benefit many agile practitioners and managers working with(in) cross-culturally mixed and partly remote teams.

Participation impacts IT workers’ organisational commitment through the mediating roles of internal communication adequacy, burnout and job satisfaction

Purpose The author said it was important to study organisational commitment in knowledge-based sectors like IT, where the quality and commitment of employees was critical. In addition, IT workers can easily find new jobs and high turnover is costly for organisations. His goal was to establish the antecedents of EOC Design/methodology/approach Data came from a public IT company (PITC) owned by a large Midwestern US university. PITC employs around 300 people in IT-related services, including engineers, technicians, and systems support personnel. There were 111 completed surveys. Around 61% had a bachelor’s degree and 23% had a postgraduate diploma. Findings The results showed that the three proposed mediators – ICA, burnout and job satisfaction ? were all significantly correlated with organisational commitment. But the data also indicated that there was no direct relationship between EWP and EOC. Instead, the relationship was found to be indirect. Originality/value There are several important implications for IT managers: first, when participative communication practices fail to increase the adequacy of internal communication, employees? understanding of their jobs, they are unlikely to foster EOC. Second, for EWP to positively impact EOC, it has to reduce employees? emotional exhaustion to the extent that it also increases their job satisfaction. Third, employees should be involved in the design of participation communication practices.

Role of Empowerment and Interpersonal Relations in Reducing Cynicism and Politics Among Indian IT Workers

This article tests a model describing the relationship between organizational cynicism and perceptions of organizational politics (POPS) and the mitigating role of empowerment and interpersonal relationships in satisfaction with work and managers. Data were collected from 361 employees of an Indian information technology (IT) services organization. The analysis of the model showed that empowerment of employees and interpersonal relations among employees alleviated the negative spiral of organizational cynicism and POPS. Lower levels of interpersonal relationships accentuated the organizational cynicism–POPS relationship.

Job Satisfaction of IT Workers in East Asia

The purpose of this study is to explore the drivers of job satisfaction of IT workers in the East Asian context, particularly in Taiwan, Japan, and China. Using data collected from IT workers, decision tree inductions were employed to identify the predictors of job satisfaction. Results indicate that the level of education has no effect on job satisfaction. Overall, higher uncertainty avoidance results in lower job satisfaction, and more experienced IT workers appear to be more satisfied. In Taiwan, longer serving IT workers, who are likely to hold more senior positions and spend more time on the job, are more satisfied with their jobs. Similarly, in Japan, older IT workers are more satisfied. In China, job satisfaction of IT workers differs across job roles and industries. It is recommended that management practices and policies in Taiwan focus on bridging gaps between longer serving and newer IT workers in terms of their ability to handle ambiguous work situations; whereas in Japan, these should focus on providing work flexibility and stress management programs to allow room for family support. In China, these should be tailored to specific job roles and industries in view of their different experiences with job satisfaction determinants.

From fun-lovers to institutionalists: uncovering pluralism in IT occupational culture

PurposeThe study aims to explore whether there is diversity of occupational culture among IT workers. Prior work conceptualizes IT occupational culture (ITOC) as based around six distinctive values (ASPIRE) but has not explored whether there is variation in ITOC.Design/methodology/approachSurvey data from 496 New Zealand IT workers was used to create factors representing IT occupational values based on the ASPIRE tool. Hierarchical cluster analysis and discriminant analysis were applied to identify distinctive segments of ITOC.FindingsFour ITOC segments were identified: fun-lovers, innovators, independents and institutionalists. These differed in the relative emphasis ascribed to the ITOC values with each segment being distinguished by 1–2 dominant values. Segment membership varied according to level of responsibility and birth country. Institutionalists and innovators had higher concern about organizational and IT issues than fun-lovers and independents. Job satisfaction was lowest among innovators and highest along institutionalists.Research limitations/implicationsThis study challenges the concept of a unified ITOC, suggesting that ITOC is pluralistic. It also theorizes about interactions between ITOC, individual motivation and values and national culture.Practical implicationsManagement needs to be cognizant of the fact that IT occupational culture is not homogeneous and different IT occupational segments require unique management approaches, and that their own values may not match those of others in IT work. By understanding ITOC segments, managers can tailor support, assign tasks appropriately and design teams to optimize synergies and avoid conflict.Originality/valueThis study reveals the existence of ITOC segments and theorizes about the relationship of these to innovation-orientation, job satisfaction, individual motivation, work styles and national culture. The combination of cluster and discriminant analysis is a valuable replicable inductive method that is underrepresented in Information Systems (IS) research.