Enabling IT Professionals to Cope with Technological ... · Business Process Management Research...
Transcript of Enabling IT Professionals to Cope with Technological ... · Business Process Management Research...
Matthias Boehm Carl Stolze Alexander Fuchs Oliver Thomas
EnablingITProfessionalstoCopewithTechnologicalChange
throughSkill‐basedCoaching
LivingLabBusinessProcessManagementResearchReport,Nr.8,Dezember2013
RESEARCH
www.living‐lab‐bpm.de
Living Lab Business Process Management Research Report
Herausgegebenvon
Prof.Dr.OliverThomasUniversitätOsnabrückFachgebietInformationsmanagementundWirtschaftsinformatikKatharinenstraße3,49074OsnabrückTelefon:0541/969–4810,Fax:–4840E‐Mail:oliver.thomas@uni‐osnabrueck.deInternet:http://www.imwi.uos.de/Bibliografische Information der Deutschen Nationalbibliothek
DieDeutscheNationalbibliothekverzeichnetdiesePublikationinderDeutschenNational‐bibliografie;detailliertebibliografischeDatensindimInternetüberhttp://dnb.d‐nb.deabrufbar.
ISSN2193–777X
Zitationshinweis
Boehm,M.;Stolze,C.;Fuchs,A.;Thomas,O.(2013):EnablingITProfessionalstoCopewithTechnologicalChangethroughSkill‐basedCoaching.In:Thomas,O.(Hrsg.):LivingLabBusinessProcessManagementResearchReport,Nr.8,Osnabrück,LivingLabBPMe.V.DasWerkeinschließlichallerseinerTeileisturheberrechtlichgeschützt.JedeVerwertungistohneZustimmungdesLivingLabBusinessProcessManagemente.V.unzulässig.DasgiltinsbesonderefürVervielfältigungen,Übersetzungen,MikroverfilmungenunddieEin‐speicherungundVerarbeitunginelektronischenSystemen.
Copyright©2013LivingLabBusinessProcessManagemente.V.LivingLabBusinessProcessManagemente.V.UniversitätOsnabrückKatharinenstraße349074Osnabrückwww.living‐lab‐bpm.de
Enabling IT Professionals to Cope with Technological Change through Skill‐based Coaching
MatthiasBoehm,CarlStolze,AlexanderFuchs,OliverThomas
ChairinInformationManagementandInformationSystems,UniversityofOsnabrück
Katharinenstraße3,49074Osnabrück(Germany){mattboeh|cstolze|imwi|othomas}@uni‐osnabrueck.de
http://www.imwi.uos.de/
Theconstantadvancementintechnologyposesunprecedentedcomplexityandchallengestocompanies.Informationtechnology(IT)isattheforefrontofthistrend.SkillstoassessandembracemodernITarebecomingamajorfactorforinnovationandsuccess. ITprofessionalshavetostayeitheruptodateor fail.All professionals working in the IT field are affected by this trend, from thesoftwareengineer implementinganewsolution to theheadof the ITdepart‐ment(ChiefInformationOfficer,CIO).Thepurposeofthisarticleistoconcep‐tualize skill‐based coaching as a new approach for helping IT professionalscopewithtoday’schallenges.Weconducttwoin‐depthcasestudies.Inthefirstcase,anagilesoftwaredevelopmentprojectata food industrycompanyis in‐vestigated.Inthesecondcase,astructuredteachingandcoachingprogramof‐feredbyanuniversityisanalyzed.Thecoachingcubeisusedtocomparebothcases.Throughmeasuringa significant increase in skills the suitability of theconceptisshown.Basedontheresultsofthecasestudies,skill‐basedcoachingisconceptuallydescribedandexplained.Resultsshowthatskill‐basedcoachingis a feasible approach to empower ITprofessionals andenable them toworkwithmodernandfuturetechnologies.
1 Introduction
Intimesofrecessionandeconomicinstability,companiesfaceuniquechallengesonadai‐ly basis. For the year 2015 the alignment of a plethora of differentdevices, people, andtasksaswellastheneedforinnovationwillbeamongthemostimportantandindisputa‐ble trends (Andriole 2012). Professionals have to keep track of technological develop‐mentsanddecide if andhowtoadopt them if theywant tocopewith these trends.Thespeedofprogressintechnologymultipliesthecomplexityandincreasestheneedforper‐sonnelwithappropriateskills(Bullenetal.2007).Additionally,professionalspermanent‐ly have to advance their skill set and consequently develop IT leadership skills (UrffKaufeldetal.2009).Thereisaneedtobuildsuitablestrategiesandplanstomeetthefu‐turedemandsthatthesechangeswillbring(Atos2012,p.11).However,companiesareof‐tennotabletotraintheirstaffontheirown;hence,newteachingandcoachingapproachesarenecessary(Boehmetal.2011b;Stolzeetal.2011).
Atrendtowardcoachingcanbeobserved.Inthepastfiveto10yearsmorethan30%of all companies – from small micro‐firms to global acting enterprises – used coachingconsciously or unconsciously (Bax et al. 2011; Stephan et al. 2010). At the same timecoaching is seenasapopularmethodamong trainers in termsof single, group, or team
2 MatthiasBoehm,CarlStolze,AlexanderFuchs,OliverThomas
Living Lab BPM Research Report 8 2013 |
coaching(Jooetal.2012).Inthepast,nexttostrategyormanagementconsulting,coach‐ing established itself as a person‐oriented form of consulting service (Bax et al. 2011).Coachingshouldnotonlybeseenasanadvisoryserviceinthecontextofcompany‐widechangeprocessesbutalsoastheguidanceofindividualpersonsintheirpersonalandjob‐relateddevelopment(Schreyogg2003). Incontrast topsychotherapy, the targetgroupofcoachingishealthyindividuals(Baxetal.2011).Therehasbeenanattempttoclarifytherolesofcoaching,alongwithadescriptionofcoachingmodels,bestpractices,andrelatedmatters(WitherspoonandWhite1996).Eventoday,coachingisstillafieldwithresearchopportunityandneed.Noconsensusaboutthecoretypesofcoachingapproacheshasbeenreachedsofar;whileHoerretal.(2009)discussthreemaintypes,WitherspoonandRan‐dall(1996)suggestfourtypes,forexample.Uptonow,mostresearchconsideringcoach‐inghasbeenwrittenfromahumanpsychologyperspective,particularlywhenincorporat‐ingpsychotherapeuticapproaches.Therefore,otherdisciplines’contributions(suchasIn‐formationSystems)hasbeenweak,althoughtheywouldbenecessarytoderiveanddevel‐opamoreholisticunderstandingofcoaching(Gray2006,p.475).
The required skills of IT professionals depend on their specific tasks and also varyoverthetimeoftheircareer(Luftman2004).Softwareengineersarerequiredtopossessextensiveprogrammingexperience.AnemployeeworkingattheITservicedeskoran(in‐ternal) ITconsultantneedsmorecommunicationskills.Movingupthecareer ladder, theChiefInformationOfficer(CIO),asheadoftheITdepartment,hastohavemoremanagerialcompetences.UsingITinlearningoftenhasbeendiscussedintheliteratureandinpractice(Alavi and Gallupe 2003), but learning the use and application of IT has not been dis‐cussed. In addition, technological advancements emerge todaywith such a high velocitythattheindividualemployeecannotmanagethesedevelopmentsonhisorherown(HuberandWatson2013).Accordingly,ithasbeenrecognizedthat:
“The IT profession is rather unique in that new developments occur unrelentingly, butoldertechnologiesneverseemtogoaway!Eventhoughlegacysystemscouldeasilybere‐placedbynewertechnologies,thebusinesscaseforreplacingthemisdifficulttomake.Asa result, organizations continue to operate systems and applications coded in older(sometimesancient)languageswhileinterfacingthemwithnewertechnology.Aslongasolder technologysurvives, theneed forexpertise tomanage these technologiesremains.Frequently,themostcriticalskillswithintheITprofessionalranksarethosethatrelatetotheseoldertechnologies.”(McKeenetal.2009,Rn.807)
InmanycasesITprofessionals–especiallythoseworkinginseniorpositions–donothaveenoughtimeforpersonallifelongtraining,forexampletoattendacourseatauniversity(Boehm et al. 2013a). Instead, new forms of coaching such as skill‐based coaching aremoreandmoreapplied(Segersetal.2011).However,aclearunderstandingofwhattheseapproacheslooklikeismissing(Hoerretal.2009).Althoughweconductedacomprehen‐sive literature review, we could not identify any article dealing with the application ofcoachingwithintheITenvironment.Whilethereareactuallycareertrackoptions,suchas,forexample,thoserecommendedintheIS2010modelcurriculum(Topietal.2010),onecancriticizethattheyareimplementedonlybyveryfewuniversities(Belletal.2013,Rn.90).Therefore,newmethodsandapproachesforthedevelopmentofITprofessionalsarerequired(Boehmetal.2011b).
Conceptualizingskill‐basedcoaching in the ITenvironment is therefore thepurposeof thisarticle.Using themethodofcasestudyresearch(Yin2009), twocaseshavebeendeeplyinvestigated.Theresultswillhelpotherresearchersaswellaspractitionerstobet‐
EnablingITProfessionalstoCopewithTechnologicalChangethroughSkill‐basedCoaching 3
Living Lab BPM Research Report 8 2013 |
terunderstandandapplytheconceptofskill‐basedcoaching.Ourresearchhasbeenguid‐edbythefollowingquestions:
(RQ1)HowcanITprofessionalsbeempoweredtocopewithtechnologicalchangebyskill‐basedcoaching?
(RQ2) How can skill‐based coaching as a practical phenomenon be scientifically ex‐plained?
Toanswertheresearchquestions,ourarticleisstructuredasfollows.AfterprovidingthetheoreticalbackgroundofskillsofITprofessionalsandITleadershipdevelopmentaswellascoachingapproaches,wedescribeourresearchmethod,includingtheresearchframe‐work,datasources,datacollection,anddataanalysis.InsectionIV,thetwocasesarepre‐sentedbydiscussingtherespectivecontext,processes,andresults.Asummaryisalsogiv‐enforeachcase.Next,thetwocasesarecriticallydiscussedandcompared.InsectionVI,theresultsarediscussedandourresearchquestionsareanswered.Finally,aconclusionandoutlookaregiven.
2 Background
2.1 Skills of IT Professionals
Skillsarebroadlydefinedaslearningbasicconcepts,strategies,methods,behaviors,atti‐tudes,andperspectivesforbusinesssuccess(Gray2006,p.478).Theterm“skill”isoftenused interchangeably with “competence” (Peppard 2010, p. 98). The difference is thatwhileskillsaredefinedastheabilitytoapplyknowledgeanduseknow‐howtocompletetasks and solve problems, competencies are the proven ability to use knowledge, skills,andpersonal, social, and/ormethodological abilities, inworkor study situations and inprofessional and personal development (European Parliament and European Council2011).Inshort,competencecanbeconceptualizedasthedualityofskills(knowledge)andexperience(Bassellieretal.2003).
Skillscanbedividedintotechnical(hard)skillsandpersonal(soft)skills.WhennewITpersonnelarehired,softskillssuchas leadershipskillsarebecomingmoreandmoreimportant incomparison tohardskillssuchasprogramming (Josephetal.2010;Groys‐bergetal.2011).However,thedifficultquestiontoansweriswhattheappropriateskillsare;universities“shouldimparttoenable[…]undergraduatestudentstodevelopthebe‐haviorsandpractices theyneed to succeed,both short termand long term” (HuberandWatson2013).Modelcurricula,asforexampletheACM/AISIS2010Curriculum(Topietal.2010), try togivea(high‐level)recommendations in thiscase.However, teachingsoftskillsisespeciallydifficultandoftenneglected.Inordertoovercomethisproblem,HuberandWatson (2013) suggestusingmethodsofmentoring,networking, and long‐termca‐reerdevelopmentforbuildingsoftskills.
A variety of different professionals are usuallyworkingwithin the IT environment.Theyhavedifferentpersonalbackgrounds,educationpaths,andexpectations.McKeenetal.(2009)exploredthenumberandtypesofITskillsthatareimportantcurrentlyandinthefuture.Accordingtotheirstudy,thefollowingroles/titleshavebeenderived:
“Roles/titles that emphasize business and managerial skills include ac‐
count/relationshipmanager,businessanalyst,businesstechnologyspecialist,project
4 MatthiasBoehm,CarlStolze,AlexanderFuchs,OliverThomas
Living Lab BPM Research Report 8 2013 |
manager, senior platform manager, development manager, strategy consult‐ant/manager,andvariousadministrativeroleswithinIT.
Roles/titles thatemphasize technicalskills includetechnicalspecialist, systemspro‐grammer,programmeranalyst,network/communicationanalyst,storageanalyst,se‐curityanalyst,enterprisearchitect,dataarchitect,developer,qualityassurance,data‐basedevelopmentmanager,applicationmaintenance,productionsupport,datamin‐ing/analytics,andinternetmaintenanceanddevelopment.”(McKeenetal.2009)
Itisobviousthatthereisagreatvarietyofdifferentroles/titlesforITprofessionals.Thelistpresentedabovemaynotevenbeconclusive. In the lastdecades, literatureoften fo‐cusedononerole: thechief informationofficer (CIO).She/he is thecorporateexecutivewhoisparticularlyresponsibleandaccountablefortheirfirm’sITmanagementpractices(Smaltzetal.2006,p.207).Alotofresearchhasbeenconducted,forexample,ontheroleoftheCIOinorganizations(seeforexample(BroadbentandKitzis2005;Joia2010;Smaltzetal.2006;Carteretal.2011;Groveretal.1993;Chenetal.2010)).Researchersalsoin‐vestigate leadership quality and how it affects firm performance (Armstrong and Sam‐bamurthy 1999; Chen et al. 2010; Preston and Karahanna 2009) or career orientationsandcareerpaths (Austinetal.2009;BroadbentandKitzis2005;DawsonandKauffman2011),forexample.However,Smaltzetal.(2006)saidthattherehasbeenlimitedempiri‐calresearchontheCIOrole.Therefore,Boehmetal.(2013b)conductedanempiricalanal‐ysisonskillsofCIOsandhowtheyareinterrelated.Inafirstworkshopskilllistsfoundintheliteraturewereworkedonwitheightexpertsfrompractice.Twenty‐twoCIOsfromdif‐ferent that industriesassessedtheir skills in the itemsof thecompiled list.Boehmetal.(2013b) foundthatCIOshavethehighestskills invirtualizationandmanagement in theinformation age aswell as the highest skills in interpersonal skills, leadershipmanage‐ment,andprojectmanagement.Abacklogdemandwasidentifiedinthefieldsofcoaching,ITtraining,managingsecurity,complianceandrisk,andITgovernance. Inotherstudies,client‐facing capabilities, such as business domain capabilities (Bullen et al. 2007) orcommunicationskills(EnnsandMcDonagh2012)havebeenidentifiedasimportantskillsforITprofessionals.
ForstructuringthevarietyofdifferentskillsofCIOs,Boehmetal.(2011b;2013b)de‐veloped a framework based on a comprehensive literature review as well as empiricalanalysisofcontinuingeducationofferingsandworkshopswithprofessionals.Theauthorsconstitutethatskillsareingeneralhighlyinterrelated.Figure1showsthenetworkofdif‐ferentskillsbydepictingthecalculatedcorrelationvaluesbetweenskills.Onlythesignifi‐cant links are shown. Three groups of skills have been identified:methodology courses(orange),personalskillsmodules(green),andup‐to‐dateskills(blue).ManagementintheInformationAgeintegratesaspectssuchasInterneteconomicsandmanagementbasicsaswellasconsultingmethodsandapproaches.InthefieldofISFundamentals,thebasicsofIS/IT,enterprisesoftware,businessintelligence,andoperationsresearcharecovered.En‐terpriseArchitectureManagementdiscusses all aspectsofBusiness ITalignment and ITservice management. Process‐oriented approaches and methods belong to the field ofBusinessProcessManagement.TheITConsultingskillsfocusonknowledgeandmethodsrelatedtobusinessandITadvice.Withinthe fieldofManagingSecurity,ComplianceandRisk subjects such as IT security, legislation, contracts, and risk management are dis‐cussed.SustainabilityandEthicsdealwithgreenIT,managementethics,andsocialaspectsof informationmanagementaswellas interculturalstudies.Thepersonalskillscoveras‐pectsoninterpersonalskills,leadership,andconflictmanagementaswellasprojectman‐agement.ITgovernance,cloudcomputing,outsourcing,virtualization,(process)modeling,
EnablingITProfessionalstoCopewithTechnologicalChangethroughSkill‐basedCoaching 5
Living Lab BPM Research Report 8 2013 |
customerandemployeesatisfaction,coaching,EnterpriseResourcePlanning,andITtrain‐ingareelementsoftheup‐to‐dateskillset.TheseskillsarealsoseenashighlyrelevantforITprofessionals in the literature (cf. forexample (Chan2011;Corbett1994;Ekimci andOzkan2009;Groysbergetal.2011;UrffKaufeldetal.2009;Werr2005)).
Figure1.SkillCorrelationNetworkforCIOs(Boehmetal.2013b)Boehmetal.(2013b)identifiedinterrelationsandfoundgapsthathavenotyetbeeniden‐tified(cf.Figure1).Forinstance,therelationshipbetweencloudcomputingandoutsourc‐ingisoftennotseen,andthereforeitcouldbeconcludedthattrainingisnecessary.Thisgapshouldbeovercomeinthefuturebyestablishingabetterknowledgetransferbetweenresearchandpractice.Fromthesestudiesonecanconcludethatthereisademandfornewcoaching approaches to overcome these gaps and enable IT professionals to copewiththeirfuturetasks.OnehastonotethatthestudybyBoehmetal.(2013b)focusedsolelyonCIOs.However,researchershavenotyetanalyzedotherprofessionals’roles/titles.
InordertobeabletounderstandtheskillsthatarerelevantforITprofessionals,itisimportant to understand the environmental and situational surroundings an IT profes‐sionalisconfrontedwitheveryday.ITpersonnelresearchviewstheITprofessionals’con‐textaslayers(cf.Figure2)(AngandSlaughter2000).Eachlayerrepresentsahigherlevelofanalysis.
Figure2.ContextualPerspectiveofITProfessionals(AngandSlaughter2000)
IT Professional
Staffing Motivation Development
IT Human Resource Practices
IT Roles
Strategy Structure Life Cycle and Size IT Work Process
Internal Organizational Context
Technology Trends IT Labor Markets Legal ConditionsNational Culture and
Globalization
External Environment Context
6 MatthiasBoehm,CarlStolze,AlexanderFuchs,OliverThomas
Living Lab BPM Research Report 8 2013 |
TheexternalcontextforITprofessionals(cf.Figure2)consistsoftechnologicaltrends,ITlabormarketconditions,lawsandregulations,andnationalcultureandglobalization(AngandSlaughter2000).Technological trendsare,asmentionedabove, themostcriticalas‐pect for IT professionals because of the fast evolution of IT. Consequently, the relevantskillsetforITprofessionalsalsoconstantlychanges.TheconditionsoftheITlabormarketaffectITprofessionalsinawaythat,duetotheproliferationofIT,thedemandforhighlyskilledpersonnelishigh.Inthepastyears,aso‐called“warfortalent”(Beulen2008)hasbeendescribed,meaningthatthelabormarketcanbecharacterizedbyasurplusofcom‐paniesofferingjobs,andITprofessionalscanpickajoboutofseveralofferings.However,this situation is not comfortable for both sides because especially highly skilled profes‐sionalsarerare(KeimandWeitzel2006).ThelegalenvironmentalsoinfluencestheskillsetofITprofessionals.Astechnologybecomesmoreandmoreessentialforsurvivalofanorganization, questions of liability and governance also become more important. Addi‐tionally, the number of disputes relating to contractual issues (for example aroundout‐sourcingrelationships)aswellasthenumberofgovernmentalregulationshasincreased[Littleetal.Littleetal.1999].NationalcultureandglobalizationalsoaffectITprofession‐als.TodayglobalteamsworktogetheronthesameITprojectacrossnationalbordersandcontinents.This is fuelledby theentryof thosenewly industrializedanddevelopingna‐tions (e.g.,BRICS states:Brazil,Russia, India,China, andSouthAfrica) into theglobal ITmarket(Angetal.2011;Beulen2008).Globalandvirtualteamsrequireagainanothersetof skills – predominately communication and leadership skills (Kayworth and Leidner2002).
ImportantelementsoftheinternalcontextofanITprofessional(cf.Figure2)areor‐ganizational strategy, structure, life cycle and size, and the IT work process (Ang andSlaughter2000).OrganizationswhereITisseenasanutilityservicerunatthelowestcost,andtheITstrategywillresultinlimitedopportunitiesforpromotionandcareerdevelop‐ment(AngandSlaughter2000).Theimpactoftheorganizationalstructureissimilar.De‐pendingonthelocationoftheITfunctionwithintheorganization,professionalsneedei‐therbroaderornarrowerskills(Angetal.2011).Furthermore,itisobviousthat,depend‐ing on the stage of the organizational life cycle (start‐up, growth, maturity, or decline(BairdandMeshoulam1988))andorganizationalsize,therequiredskillsetofITprofes‐sionalsdiffers.Finally,thequalityoftheprocessoftransforminguser(customer)specifica‐tions into information technologies and systems requires specific skills (Beulen 2008).There isaneed forroutinizedandpredictableprocessaswellasabetter foundation forthe development of client‐facing capabilities, such as projectmanagement and businessdomaincapabilities(e.g.,communication)(Bullenetal.2007).
In conclusion, the IT professional in the center (cf. Figure 2) does not only have tocopewithdirectinfluencessuchasstaffing,motivation,andpersonaldevelopment,butal‐sowithexternalandinternalcontextbeyondher/hisinfluence.Additionally,anindividualITprofessionalcannotunitealltheoreticallyexistingdifferentskillsatahighlevelinoneperson.OrganizationshavetoplantheirITstaffingonthebasisofananalysisofskillsthatare currently and in future important (McKeenet al. 2009).Onepossibilitywouldbe tomap important skills to different time frames while considering specific organizationalstrategies,theroleofITwithintheorganization,andthetechnologicalenvironmentoftheorganization(AngandSlaughter2000).
EnablingITProfessionalstoCopewithTechnologicalChangethroughSkill‐basedCoaching 7
Living Lab BPM Research Report 8 2013 |
2.2 IT Leadership Development
ThequestionishowtheITleadershipdevelopmentofprofessionalswhoareincorporatedintodailyoperational tasksofensuringongoingbusinessprocesses (Luftman2004)canbeenabled.Ingeneral,differentstrategiesforcareerdevelopmentarediscussedandtheselectionof theappropriateoffering is ratherdifficult (McKeenetal.2009;Boehmetal.2013a).ThisistrueparticularlyforyoungqualifiedprofessionalsintheITfield.
ThegrowingimpactofITdecisionsonorganizationsandthecomplexityoftheworktobedoneimplythatallITprofessionalsshouldtodaybeexpectedtoactasleadersinde‐pendentlyoftheirofficialrole/title(SmithandMcKeen2005;Silveretal.1995).Thetrenddiscussed as intrapreneuring –meaning personnel behaving like an entrepreneurwhileworkingwithinanorganization(Pinchot1985)–alsocanbeseenasanevidenceforthis.EmpowermentofITprofessionalssothattheycanmanageIT‐relatedproblemsbythem‐selves isalsocrucial for thesuccessof thecompany(Shrednicketal.1992).AneffectiveleadershipteamiscrucialforanyITdepartmenttodeliveranysignificantbenefitstotheorganization(McKeenandSmith2003,p.295).
ITleadershipdevelopmentisacomplexprocessanddoesnotsolelycovertheattend‐anceof seminars (SmithandMcKeen2005). IT leadersneedabalancedmixofdifferentskillscomprisingbusinessskills,technologyskills, leadershipandmanagementskills,or‐ganizationalandculturalskills,andfiscalmanagementskills(Lutchen2004).Developingtechnologyskills,forexample,requirespermanentlymonitoringnewtrendsandtechnolo‐gies.Thisisquitechallengingbecauseseveralinstitutionsidentifydiversetrendsthatareto be covered in research and practice (Gartner Inc. 2011; Hopkins 2011; Luftman andDerksen2012).According toGartner Inc.,media tablets in combinationwithbringyourowndevice(BYOD)strategies,next‐generationanalytics,andbigdataintermsofbusinessintelligenceaswellascloudcomputingareamongthetop10strategictechnologies(Gart‐nerInc.2011).ForresterResearchinvestigatedthisfieldbyasking208ITexecutiveswhichtechnologiesaremostimportantfortheirbusiness.Accordingtothatstudy,businessintel‐ligence, mobile apps, and business processmanagement are seen as themost valuabletechnologies(Hopkins2011).AsurveybyLuftmanandDerksen(2012)of195U.S.‐basedorganizationsrevealedthetop10ITmanagementissuesin2012.Theseare,amongothers,costreduction,ITandbusinessalignment,businessagility,andspeedtomarket.Bycom‐paringthesethreestudiesonerecognizesthat,dependingontheperspectiveandappliedmethod,eveninthissmallsampledifferenttrendsareidentified.Onlyforasmallnumberoftrendsisthereamatchbetweenthestudies.ThismakesitevenmoredifficultforITpro‐fessionalstogetanoverviewofrelevanttrendsandchoosegoal‐orientedcontinuingedu‐cationofferings. In a study,Bassellier et al. (2003) empirically evaluated the connectionbetweenskillsandexperience(summarizedascompetence)withITleadership.Accordingtotheirdata, ITcompetencecanbeaccountedforone‐thirdof thevariance inITprofes‐sionals’leadershipintentions.UrffKaufeldetal.(2009)investigatedtheeffectivenessofITleadership.Intheirstudy,theyfoundthat:
“Akeyattributeofaneffectiveleaderwasfoundtobetheawarenessofandsensitivitytothedynamicsofthebusinessenvironment,thepeople,tasksandorganisationalstructure,whichenablesa leadertouseparticularcompetenciesto invoketheappropriatebehav‐iourortrait.Itshouldbenotedthatinmostcasesitissimplyalackofanyofthesechar‐acteristicsthatmaketheleaderineffective.”(UrffKaufeldetal.2009)
Formal training is seenas the least effective andmost expensiveway tobuildbetter ITleaders[Kesner,2003].EnhancingtraditionalIScurriculumguidelinesthroughactiveen‐
8 MatthiasBoehm,CarlStolze,AlexanderFuchs,OliverThomas
Living Lab BPM Research Report 8 2013 |
gagementwithan industryadvisoryboard isoneproposedsolution that,however,onlymakes an impact in the long run (Huber andWatson 2013). Smith andMcKeen (2005)suggestacomprehensiveleadershipdevelopmentprogramconsistingof(formal)training,processes practice integration, and a supportive environment. Establishing an environ‐mentis,accordingtotheauthors,themostimportantaspectbutalsothemostdifficultas‐pect.Well‐articulatedandinstantiatedvalues,aclimateoftrust,empowerment,clearandfrequent communication, and accountability are central constituents of this type of cul‐ture.Afterrealizingthisenvironment,theleadershipdevelopmentprogramhastobeinte‐grated into thedailywork.Basedon these layersof IT leadershipdevelopment, trainingcanbeconducted.Moreandmore,traditionalformaltrainingapproachesarereplacedbynewteachingandcoachingapproaches(McKeenetal.2009).
2.3 Teaching and Coaching Approaches
Today’scoachingisrootedinbusinesslifeandismostoftenusedthere–incontrasttoap‐proachessuchassupervision(Jooetal.2012).However,theword“coach”ismucholder.Itwasfirstused inthe16thcenturytodescribeaparticularkindofcarriagethatconveyedpeopletowheretheywantedtobe(Gray2006,p.476).Fromtheretheunderstandingofthetermevolvedtowardthepersonaldevelopmentsphere.Inthe1970sand1980scoach‐ingconqueredtheU.S.managementspheresaspurposefulanddevelopment‐orientedper‐sonnelmanagement.Sincethemid‐1980scoachingwasmoreandmoreunderstoodastheguidance of managers through external consultants. In the 1990s the coaching conceptgained traction outside the U.S. – for example, in Europe. Differentiation and wide ac‐ceptanceofdifferentapproachescreatedaboomingmarket.Atthesametimecoachingin‐crementally developed into a blurred generic term for amultitude of different formsofguidanceandtraining(BöningandFritschle2005;Steiningeretal.2009).Thetypicaltar‐getof coaching is enablingpeople tohelp themselves (Jooet al.2012). It isnota singleeventbutacontinuousprocess(WitherspoonandWhite1996,p.125).Coachingisappliedin miscellaneous situations and settings, such as the delegation of tasks by a manager(DeanandWebb2011),theimplementationofsustainableITinfrastructures(Boehmetal.2011a), or the restructuring in global companies toward centralized shared services(Westermanetal.2011).
Often,coachingisdiscussedasaconceptrelatedtomentoring.Intheliterature,differ‐entunderstandingsaboutthisrelationshipcanbefound.Kram(1983)definesmentoringasasuperordinateconcept.Sheexplainsthatcoachingisapartofthecareerfunctionfilledbymentors.Swapetal.(2001)developedasimilarunderstandingbasedonmanagementandcognitivepsychologyliterature.Accordingtothem,mentoringfocusesonthetransferof the tacit dimensions of knowledge. Coaching is seen as an extension of mentoring.McKeenetal.(2009)arguethatcoachingfocusesontheimprovementoftheindividualjobperformance;mentoringcoverseverythingelse.Theysuggesthiringexternalcoachesandperformingmentoringinternally.Inthefollowing,wewillusetheconceptofMcKeenetal.(2009)todiscusstheconceptofcoaching.
Teachingandcoachingarealsocloselyrelated.Bothtargetempoweringindividualstocompletepresentedtaskswithknowledgeandskills(Fitzgerald1992).Oftenthetermsareusedinterchangeably.However,thebasicdifferenceisaboutthecommunicationpatterns:teachingfocusesonthepresenter,asingleperson,orgroupspeakinginoneway.Incon‐trast, coaching is a two‐way communication process between coach and client (Hunter2006).Inanycase,teachingandcoachingshouldresultintheactualapplicationoftheac‐quiredknowledgeorskillsandtherebychangedbehavior(Fitzgerald1992).Thereisan‐
EnablingITProfessionalstoCopewithTechnologicalChangethroughSkill‐basedCoaching 9
Living Lab BPM Research Report 8 2013 |
otherdifferencebetweencoachingandteaching.Withincoachingthereisoftenlessfocusontheacquisitionofnewknowledgeandskillsratherthanintheenhancementofprevail‐ingskills(Hunter2006).Fortheteacher,respectivelyforthecoach,comprehensiveskillsandmuchpracticearerequired inordertobeabletounderstandtheclientandunleashhis/herpotential(WitherspoonandWhite1996,p.125).
In order to structure and to better understand the coaching industry, Segers et al.(2011)developedaframework(theso‐called“coachingcube”)basedonanextensiveliter‐ature review (cf. Figure 3). The framework offers the three dimensions agenda (what),coach(who),andapproaches(how)tocharacterizeacoachingendeavor.Whiletheleftcu‐be in Figure 3 shows the complete coaching cube, the right part shows the empiricallymostlikelycombinations.Theauthorsidentifiedinanempiricalstudythe15mostlikelytobeobservedcombinationsinrealityoutofthepotential60.
Figure3.CoachingCube(left:complete;right:mostlikelycombinations)(Segersetal.2011)The coaching agenda (cf. Figure 3) distinguishes a focus on specific behaviors (skillscoaching),afocusonanemployee’sspecificperformancepotential,jobrequirements,etc.(performancecoaching),oramoreholisticviewwithafocusonintimate,personalques‐tions(developmentorlifecoaching).Thepersonwhoprovidesanswerstothequestions–namelythecoach–canbeeitheranexternalcoach,aninternalcoach(whoisoutsidelinemanagement), or a linemanager. Additionally, self‐coaching is included as a possibility.TheapproachestocoachinghavebeencategorizedbasedontheEmotionality‐Rationality‐Activity‐Awareness‐Context(ERAAwC)modelfromL’Abate(1981): Emotionality:Focusontheimportanceofexperienceandpersonalfeelings. Rationality:Focusonrational‐emotiveandreality‐orientedapproachesstressingthe
importanceoflogicalprocesses. Activity:Focusonactivity,observation,modeling,andrewards. Awareness:Focusonemphasizingmediation,drawing,guidedimagination,roleplays
etc. Context:Focusonparadoxicalassignments,organizationsetups,orprocessobserva‐
tion.
10 MatthiasBoehm,CarlStolze,AlexanderFuchs,OliverThomas
Living Lab BPM Research Report 8 2013 |
Asdescribedabove,Segersetal. (2011)distinguishbetweenskill,performance,andde‐velopment/lifecoachingasapproaches. In the literature,othercategorizationshavealsobeendescribed.Hoerretal.(2009)presentthreemaintypesofcoaching: Interventioncoachingoccurswhentheindividualisthoughtbyotherstobeinneedof
improvementanddevelopmentbymeansofanintervention. Developmentcoachingiswhenanindividualreallyseekstodevelopandgrowhimself
orherselfinacertainareaorinmultipleareasorinnewroles. Skill‐basedcoaching occurswhenan individual activelypursuesa coach inorder to
learnnewskills.WitherspoonandWhite(1996)suggestfourtypes: Coachingforskills,withafocusonspecificskillsrequiredforacurrentjob; Coachingforperformance,withabroaderfocusonapresentjob; Coachingfordevelopment,focusedonlearningforafuturejob; Coachingfortheexecutive’sagenda,directedonlearningbroadlyrelatedtotheexecu‐
tive’sowninterests.Themaindifferencebetweenskill‐basedandothercoachingapproachesiswhatshouldbechanged(WitherspoonandWhite1996).Manyformsofcoachingaimatthedevelopmentofnewbehavioralpatternsofthecoachedperson.Examplesforthisareovercomingper‐formance issues, the pursuit of a person’s own agenda, or personal development. Skill‐based coaching approaches focus more strictly on the development of certain, definedskills.Althoughcriticssometimesarguethatskill‐basedcoachingdoesnothavethesamelong‐termeffectasotherformsofcoaching(Gray2006),theskillgainedcanmakeacru‐cialdifferencefortheclient.Additionally,skill‐basedcoachingcanbeoftenfoundinprac‐ticebuthasnotbeeninvestigatedindepthsofar(Segersetal.2011).
3 Research Method
3.1 Research and Methodological Framework
Researchininformationsystemscanbecharacterizedaspluralisticintermsofmodelsandmethodsusedforresearch(BanvilleandLandry1989,p.58).Thereisarichtraditioninthe ISdisciplineespeciallyconcerningqualitative research (forexample (KernandWill‐cocks 2002; Mingers 2003; Remenyi and Williams 1996; Silverman 1998; Lee 1989)).Amongmethodsofqualitativeresearch,casestudyresearchismostwidelyusedbecauseof its suitability to understand the relationship between technology, innovation, people,and organizations (Darke et al. 1998).However, applying thismethod in the field oftenshowspracticaldifficulties.Oftencasestudieslackrigorousness(DubéandParé2003).Intheircomparativeanalysisof85casestudies,Sarkeretal. (2012) foundoutthat inone‐thirdofthecasesonlyaverygenericjustificationforselectingcasestudyresearchisgiven.Furthermore,morethanhalfofthearticlesutilizeonlyonecaseunit.
Inotherdisciplinessuchas,forexample,engineeringanddesign,whicharecloselyre‐latedtoIS,casestudyresearchisespeciallyemployedtoinvestigatepracticalphenomenato derive theoretical constructs (Boehm and Thomas 2013; Sarker et al. 2012). For thesamereason,wechosetoemployaqualitativemethodologicalapproachbasedontwocasestudies.Unlikeahypotheses‐testingdeductiveapproachthisinductiveprocedurewillhelp
EnablingITProfessionalstoCopewithTechnologicalChangethroughSkill‐basedCoaching 11
Living Lab BPM Research Report 8 2013 |
us to investigate the field in depth and generate theories for later testing (Eisenhardt1989).Intheexploratorycontextofourresearch,weregardcasestudiesasthebest‐fittingmethodtoexplorethetopicathand.
Theempiricalinquirywithincasestudyresearchexaminesapresentphenomenonindepthandwithin itsreal‐lifesetting(Yin2009).Severalresearchersadvocate thismeth‐odologyforinvestigatingactualevents,includingorganizationalandmanagerialprocesses,becauseitallowstheresearchertoretainthemeaningfulandholisticcharacteristicsofre‐al‐lifeevents(Darkeetal.1998;Yin2009).Althoughtheremaybealackofgeneralizationbyusing thismethodology, it is a relevant tool for the identificationof heuristics, emer‐gencetrends,orweaksignals,whichamorequantitativeapproachcouldnotdisclose(Jick1979).
For analyzing teaching and coaching approaches, a comprehensive reviewmodel isnecessary(AlaviandGallupe2003).Aconceptualframeworkisthestartingpointforcasestudyresearch(Yin2009).Therefore,weelaboratedaresearchframework(cf.Figure4).WeadoptedthemodelofAlaviandGallupe(2003),whichisoriginallybasedontheVirtualLearningEnvironmentmodelbyPiccoliet al. (2001).Accordingly, thehumandimension(administrators, participants, and instructors) and the design dimension (content, tech‐nology,interaction,etc.)arethemajordimensionsforassessingtheeducationalsuccess.
Figure4.ResearchModelThe first set of participants consists of administrators who are involved in managerialpractices.Theyareconfrontedwiththeneedtodevelopstrategies,createsupportstruc‐tures,andadjustorganizationalculturesthatenableateachingandcoachinginitiativetobesuccessful.
Participants are all kinds of ITmanagers, consultants, and other professionalswhoworkintherespectivecontext.Theyhavevariouslearningstylesanddemographicback‐grounds. Participants have different expectations concerning their learning experience.Becauseoftheheterogeneityinthisgroupitisdifficulttounderstandtheirrequirementsconcerningskill‐basedcoaching.Operationalpracticessuchasthequestionoftherightlo‐cation, groupdynamics,distanceor face‐to‐facemeetings, and support issues are a con‐cernforparticipants.
Instructorsdesignanddeliverskill‐basedcoachingapproachestoparticipants.Devel‐oping new coachingmaterial, implementing assessment techniques, and delivering newapproachesarethemaintasksoftheseinstructors.Theycovercoachingpracticessuchas,
Administrators- CIOs- Program Directors- Project Managers
Participants- IT Managers- IT Consultants- IT Professionals
Instructors- Practitioners- Consultants- Coaches
Educational Success- performance- satisfaction- competencies
Actors(Human Dimension)
(engage in)Practices
(Design Dimension)(to achieve) Outcomes
(Effectiveness)
Managerial Practices- strategies- structures- culture
Operational Practices- location- group dynamics- distance or face-to-face- support
Coaching Practices- internal/external- mandatory or voluntary- experience- method
Assessment
Assessment
Assessment
12 MatthiasBoehm,CarlStolze,AlexanderFuchs,OliverThomas
Living Lab BPM Research Report 8 2013 |
forexample,thequestionofinternal/externalcoaching,mandatoryorvoluntarycourses,andtheexperienceofparticipantsaswellastheselectionoftherightmethod.
Basedonourresearchmodel(cf.Figure4)wedecidedtoanalyzeskill‐basedcoachingfromthreeperspectives:management,operations,andcoaching.Additionally,wehighlightthe importance of the assessment perspective in order to ensure educational success intermsofperformance,satisfaction,andcompetencies.Tobeabletoderivesignificant in‐formation,wedecided to conduct long‐termanalysis,meaning that in each case at leastoneyearofinvestigationwasplanned.
3.2 Data Sources and Case Selection
Derivingaclearsamplinglogicforcaseselectionisessentialforensuringtheoreticalrele‐vance and substantive significanceof the research (Dubé andParé2003).The selectionprocessshouldnotrestentirelyonconvenienceoreaseofaccessibility(Yin2009).Basedon theserecommendations,wedeveloped the followingrationales forour researchpro‐cess: Abilitytoanswerresearchquestions:Thecasestudysiteshavetobeabletodeliver
valuable data for answering our research questions. Therefore, it is necessary thatskill‐basedcoachingisactuallyappliedinthespecificsettingforasufficientperiod.
Appropriatebasicconditions:Thecircumstancesinwhichthecasestakeplacehavetobeappropriatefordeliveringusabledata.Organizationsshouldhaveasufficientfirmsizeandnumberofemployees.
Highvarietyof sites:Forensuringahighergeneralizabilityof theresults, casesitesshouldbedifferent.Thisalsohelpstoshowthebroadpossibleareasofapplicationofskill‐basedcoaching.
Facilitating of cross‐case analysis: Case sites have to be comparable in terms of re‐searchperiod,availableresources,levelofanalysis,andpersonalcontact.Ameaning‐fulcross‐caseanalysis(Yin2009)shouldbepossiblebasedontheavailabledata.
Relevanttopic:Caseshavetocoverhighlyrelevantandup‐to‐datetopicsoftheISdis‐cipline.Thisrationaleaimstoensuretherelevanceofthederivedresearchresults.
Privilegedand long‐termcontact: Inorder todeeply analyze skill‐based coaching, aprivilegedcontacttoallstakeholdersandsubjectsofinvestigationisrequired.Accessrestrictionshavetobeminimized.Additionally,apersonalandlong‐termpartnershipwiththerespectiveinstitutionsishelpful.
Aftersettinguptherationales,possiblecasesitesweresearchedforanddiscussedamongtheresearchers.Finally,wedecidedtousetwocasesthatallfulfillourrequirements.Ta‐ble1givesanoverviewofthetwocasesandexplainswhytheyhavebeenchosen.Withinthefirstcase,weintensivelyinvestigatedasoftwaredevelopmentprojectatanindustry‐leadingGermanfoodretailcompany.Formorethanoneyear,wewereactivelyinvolvedinthe project and therefore got a deep look into all developments. This case represents aclassicalfieldforISresearchinwhichastrongneedforbetterprocessesbecauseofprob‐lemswithclassicalmethodssuchasthewaterfallmodelhavebeenobserved(Kitchenhametal.2009).Inordertoshowthebroadapplicabilityandvarietyofsettingsofskill‐basedcoaching,wesearchedforasecondcase.Inthecasewehavechosen,astructuredteachingandcoachingapproachisconceptualizedandimplementedbyauniversity.Weworkedto‐getherwiththeresponsiblepeopleandaccompaniedtheprojectfornearlytwoyears.Alt‐houghthiscasecoversacombinedteachingandcoachingapproach,thecoreideaofitis
EnablingITProfessionalstoCopewithTechnologicalChangethroughSkill‐basedCoaching 13
Living Lab BPM Research Report 8 2013 |
basedontheprinciplesofskill‐basedcoaching.Therefore, thecasehasbeen included inthisstudy.Thecombinationofteachingandcoachinginthesecondcaseisthereforeverysuitabletoshowthebroadrangeofapplicabilityofskill‐basedcoaching.
Table1.RationalesforCaseSelection
CaseSISDEV:AgileDevelopmentwithCutting‐edgeTechnologies
CaseIC:StructuredTeachingandCoachingProgram
Ability to answerresearch ques‐tions
Skill‐based coaching is applied in asoftwareengineeringproject.
Skill‐basedcoachingisutilizedincon‐junction with a structured teachingapproach.
Appropriate basicconditions
Project takes place in internationalleaderinfoodretail.Theorganizationhas3,500employees.
IT professionals who participate inthe program come from a variety ofdifferent organizations from variousindustries. The program vendor is amajorGermanuniversity.
High variety ofsites
Focus on a classical software engi‐neeringproject.
Focus on a new teaching and coach‐ingapproach.
Facilitating ofcross‐caseanalysis
Researchperiod(1‐2years),availableresources(interviewsanddocuments),levelofanalysis (in‐depth investigation), andpersonal contactarecompara‐ble.
Relevanttopic Software engineering as a classicalfield within the IS discipline (Kitch‐enhametal.2009).
Continuing education as a field of ISresearch that has gained more andmore importance over the time(Steiningeretal.2009).
Privileged andlong‐termcontact
Theauthorshaddirectpersonalcon‐tact to the internal CIO and the pro‐ject team as well as the externalcoach.
Programtookplace incloseproximi‐ty to the authors. Direct connectionwas established to theprogramven‐dor.
3.3 Data Collection
TheperiodofintensivedatacollectionlastedfromDecember2010toDecember2011forCaseSISDEVandfromJanuary2011toJanuary2013forCaseIC.Multipledatacollectionmethodshavebeenutilizedduringthosetimeperiodsaimingatexploitingthesynergeticeffectsofcombiningthemandinvestigatingaspecificconceptfromdifferentperspectives(Yin2009;Capaldo2007).Thisprocedure isalsocalledtriangulation(Webbetal.1966;Jick1979).Threemainsourcesofevidencewereutilized: Focused Individual Interviews:We interviewed all involved stakeholders including
project managers, team members, software developers, consultants, and coaches.Hence,alllevelsofhierarchywithintheareaarerepresented.Theinterviewswithkeystakeholders lasted between 60 and 90 minutes and were based on an interviewguide,whichconsistsof structuredandunstructuredquestions.Conversationshavenotbeenrecordedinordertoensureanaturalmanner.Researcherstooknotesdur‐ing each interview and typed the transcripts immediately after each interview. Alt‐houghweacknowledgethatrecordingandtranscribingincreasesthecredibilityandauditabilityofastudy(Sarkeretal.2012),wehave–similartoSilvaandBackhouse(2003)–aclearreason: Intervieweesmightnot feelcomfortabletalkingabouttheirpersonal skills and related issues in the organization knowing that they would be
14 MatthiasBoehm,CarlStolze,AlexanderFuchs,OliverThomas
Living Lab BPM Research Report 8 2013 |
taped.Follow‐upquestionswereexplored througha combinationof face‐to‐face in‐terviews and telephone conversations. In total, 10 individuals were interviewed inCaseSISDEVand43interviewsincaseIC.
Observation:Wewereabletodirectlyobserveactionsofallstakeholdersthroughoutnumerousfieldvisits.Thisincluded,forinstance,observingtheworkingprocedures.Eachvisit lasted for at least threedaysand includedat least two researchers.Withthis,in‐depthobservationscouldbemade,whichwereusedtogainanappreciationofhowskill‐basedcoachingworksinpractice.Atbothsitesweattendedperiodicmeet‐ings,programmingsessions,and–incaseIC–alsotheactualevents.Extensivefieldnotesweretakenbyeachresearcher.
Documents:Wegatheredseveralmaterialsincorporatedassupplementarysourcesofevidenceproducedby and about the case companies, includingdigital publications,CD‐ROMs,catalogs,andminutesofmeetings.FurtherinformationwasgatheredfromtheInternet,businesspressarticles,andindustrialjournals.Thisdocumentaryinfor‐mationhelpedustoreconstructeachcasestudysettingingreatdetail.
Throughoutthedatacollectionprocess,allrecordshavebeenmaintainedinastructureddatabase.Notesfromtheinterviews,fieldobservations,anddocumentstudieshavebeentaken independently by each attending researcher. Furthermore, it is important to notethat all involvedpartners fromboth case sites developed a close relationship to the re‐searchersandconsequentlyevenseniormanagement,includingthedirector,werefavora‐blydisposedtowardcollaboratingwiththeteam.
3.4 Data Analysis
Thetaskwithindataanalysis is toprocessthecollectedempiricalmaterial(Sarkeretal.2012,Rn.8).As is typical in inductiveresearch(Eisenhardt1989),weadoptedan inter‐pretiveapproachfortheanalysisofthedata(KleinandMyers1999;Walsham1993).Alltranscripts, documents, and field notes have been read in order to derive issues andthemesrelatedtoskill‐basedcoaching.Hereby,theresearchersproceededtothefirststepindependentlyofeachother.Next, all authorsconjointlydevelopedadraft reportof thefindings.Thispreliminaryversionofthecasestudieswassharedwithkeystakeholdersofthe respective cases. The feedback we received from discussing the draft reports withthemwasincorporatedintothefinalcasestudy.Bydoingso,wecompletedthehermeneu‐ticcircle(KleinandMyers1999).Informantsofthecasesitesapprovedeachcasereportforthesecondandlasttime.
Next to the case studies, the researchers also maintained individual summaries ofeachcaseincludingasynthesisoftheskill‐basedcoachingconcept.Inthenextphase,au‐thors developed individual preliminary propositions concerning the conceptualization.Thenresultswerecombinedandusedtocomparethemwithexistingliteraturetosharpentheinsight.Incaseofconflict,anunbiasedthirdacademicresearchersettledthedispute.
3.4.1 Research Reliability and Validity
Aswithanyqualitative research, casestudyresearchshouldprovidereaderswithsomeassuranceregardingthereliabilityandvalidityoftheiranalysis(Sarkeretal.2012).Inor‐dertoenhancetherigorandvalidityofthestudy,wefollowedtheprinciplesofcasestudyresearch. The literature described several useful guidelines (Creswell and Miller 2000;Gibbertetal.2008;Yin2009): triangulation(usingmultiplemethods),maintenanceofaclearchainofevidence(maintainingadatabasewithtraceableinformation),useofmulti‐
EnablingITProfessionalstoCopewithTechnologicalChangethroughSkill‐basedCoaching 15
Living Lab BPM Research Report 8 2013 |
plesources(research‐basedonmorethanjustonekindofsource),orrelevanceofthere‐search(focusingonimportanttopics).Theseguidelineshavebeenimplementedusingourrationalesforselectingcasesandourutilizedmainsourcesofevidence(cf.therespectivesub‐sectionsofthissection).Nevertheless,asLee(1989)alreadyemphasized,casestudiesinISresearchhavefourbasicproblems:
1. Howtomakecontrolledobservations2. Howtomakecontrolleddeductions3. Howtoallowforreplicability,and4. Howtoallowforgeneralizability.Concerningthefirstproblem,Lee(1989)arguesthatcaseresearchoftendoesnotensurecontrolledobservationsusing, forexample, laboratoryorstatisticalcontrols.Wetriedtosolvethisissuebyusingnaturalcontrols.Weinterviewedthesamepeopleintheirdiffer‐entroles.Bydoingso,wecouldholdonefactor(people)constantandvarythesituation.With respect to problem two,we derived controlled deductions, for example, involvingverbalpropositions.Basedonthis,wecandescribelogicaldeductions.Problemthreepre‐sents an obvious difficulty, because any observed situation in the real‐world setting ishighlyunlikelytorecur.Therefore,otherresearchersmightnotverifythefindingsofourconcretecases.Thesolutionforthisproblemis–accordingtoLee(1989)–thattheotherresearchercouldapplythesamemethodologyandtheoriesinadifferentcasesite.Hence,althoughthecasestudyitselfisnotreplicable,thecasestudy’sfindingsare.Finally,gener‐alizabilityisthefourthproblem.Sarkeretal.(2012)arguethatfindingsarenotgeneral‐izable,butthetheoryortheconceptscanbeappliedtoothersettings.Therefore,wetriedtoacknowledgethelimitedgeneralizabilitybuttriedtobalancethisdisadvantagewiththeotheradvantagesofqualitativestudies.
Gibbertetal.(2008)emphasizedthatcasestudiesneedtorevealinternalvalidity,ex‐ternalvalidity,constructvalidity,andreliability.InFigure5theappliedprinciplesincon‐ductingourcasestudyresearcharesummarized.
Figure5.AppliedCaseStudyPrinciples
16 MatthiasBoehm,CarlStolze,AlexanderFuchs,OliverThomas
Living Lab BPM Research Report 8 2013 |
Especially thevalidityof case researchhas tobeensured.Therefore,weutilized the sixprinciplesproposedbyKlein andMyers (1999) tovalidateour research.Table2 showshowourresearchstandsagainstthesecriteria.
Table2.ValidationCriteria
CriteriabyKleinandMyers(1999,p.72) OurResearch
1.HermeneuticCircle
All humanunderstanding is achievedby iterat‐ing between considering the interdependentmeaningofpartsandthewholethattheyform.
By using an iterative process of draft prepara‐tionandapprovalthroughkeystakeholders,thehermeneuticcirclecanbeseenascompleted.
2.ContextualizationTomake sense, the interpretations require thehistoricalandsocialcontext.
Before visiting case sites, the respective con‐textshavebeenstudiedandanalyzedusingvar‐iousdocuments.Thecontextofeachcaseispre‐sentedintheresultssection.
3. Interaction between the researchers and thesubjectsThesubjectsoftheinterviewsareofferingtheirinterpretationsofthephenomenonunderstudy.The social interaction between researcher andintervieweesinfluencethestudy.
Closepersonalcontactwiththestakeholderwasestablished during the field studies. Interviewpartnershavebeencarefullyselectedbasedup‐on our knowledge of the historical and socialcontext. To complement interview transcripts,weusedfieldnotesfromobservationsandotherdocumentarysources.
4.AbstractionandgeneralizationThegeneralizationofparticularstoabstractcategories;generalizationtosocialtheories.
Interviewguidelinesandothermechanismsen‐sured comparability and generalizability of thefieldwork.Applyingourresearchframeworktothe case studies facilitated the general concep‐tualizationofskill‐basedcoaching.
5.DialogicalreasoningThe confrontation of the original assumptionsandpreconceptions.
Draftsof thecasestudiesweresharedanddis‐cussed with informants. The authors incorpo‐ratedthesecommentsintothepreliminaryver‐sions of the cases. The final descriptions havebeenapprovedbykeystakeholders.
6.MultipleinterpretationsThe relationship among context, power, socialactions,andintentions.
Statements of different people working in dif‐ferent roleswere complementedwith our datafield notes and other documents. This ensuresthecoverageofmultipleinterpretations.
7.Suspicion
Theunravelingofdistortionscreatedbythepo‐litical,social,andhistoricalcontextsofthesub‐jects.
Discussionswithdifferent types of people helpin getting a comprehensive picture. During in‐terviews we investigated different interpreta‐tions.
4 Research Findings
Weconductedqualitativecasestudiestoexplorethecontextofskill‐basedcoachinganditsoutcomes.Inthefollowingwepresentthetwoselectedcases,SISDEVandIC.Followingabriefdescriptionofthecases,weexplorethefacetsofskill‐basedcoachingbypresentingtheprocess.Resultsarealsodepictedforeachcasesite.
EnablingITProfessionalstoCopewithTechnologicalChangethroughSkill‐basedCoaching 17
Living Lab BPM Research Report 8 2013 |
4.1 Case SISDEV: Agile Development with Cutting‐edge Technologies
4.1.1 Context
Thefirstcase,SISDEV,isaboutthedevelopmentofaSalesInformationSystem(SIS)withina3,500‐person‐strongfoodretailcompany.Thedevelopmentgoalwastoenablethecom‐pany’ssales forcetoretrieve,edit,andcreateallrelevant informationaboutsalescondi‐tionswithinthehighlycomplexanddynamicstructureoftheGermanfoodretailindustry.Theseconditionsare– formostcustomers–mutuallynesteddiscountsandabatements.Therefore,thesystem’sspecificationswerenotobviousfromthestart,butratherhadtobe discovered through a comprehensive functional and technical analysis. From a tech‐nicalperspective,thesystemhadtobeintegratedintotheexistingandfutureEnterpriseResourcePlanning(ERP)environmentforinvoicingandaccounting.
SeveraldifferentITprofessionalsweremoreorlessexplicitlyinvolvedintheproject.TheCIO of the companywasmostly concerned about introducing a new company‐wideERPsystem.The leadof theSISDEVprojectwashandedoverto itsdeputy,whoalsoranthe ITdepartment’snewlyestablishedprojectoffice.TheCIOthereforedidnothaveanyformal rolewithin theSISDEVproject.Although this structure lookedstraightforward, itwasneverexactlydefinedwherethebordersbetweentheprojectofficeandthemainITdepartmentwere. Also, the skill sets of those involvedwere not clear at the beginning.Therefore,beforeconducting theactual coaching,wedetermined theactual skill levelofthosesupposedtoworkontheSISDEVprojectthroughobservation.
What was most problematic was the lack of flexible and agile procedures andknowledge ofmodern cutting‐edge programming approacheswithin the IT department.Overmanyyears itsemployeeshadgottenusedtotheirdailyroutineworkwithoutcon‐sideringnewprocedures,softwaredevelopmentapproaches,orprogramming languages.Anothercontributingfactortothemiserywasthefactthatexternalserviceprovidersandconsultantssucceededinsellingproductsorservicestothecompanythatdidnotperfectlyfitthecompany’sneeds.Alackofabilitytosteertheseproviderswasidentified.TheCIO,forexample,startedhiscareerinanotherfieldandwasthereforenotatrainedITprofes‐sional,whilehisdeputydidnothaveanypreviousexperiencewithaprojectofthisscale.Besides,theITdepartmentofferedonlylimitedcustomerorientationtowardtheotherde‐partmentswithinthecompany.Thus,thehistoricallygrownlegacysystemlandscapemadeitdifficulttomeetcurrentrequirements.Finally,thelackoflong‐termorientedITdecisionmakingbecameobviouswhennolong‐termimpactmonitoringcouldbefound.Ingeneral,updatedITmanagementskillswerestronglyrequired.
Throughoutourobservationwefocusedon10stakeholdersintheproject:BesidestheCIOandtheviceCIO,weinterviewedandmonitoredtheactionsoftwoendusers,twoex‐ternalcoaches,andfoursoftwaredevelopers/membersoftheITdepartment(cf.Table3).
18 MatthiasBoehm,CarlStolze,AlexanderFuchs,OliverThomas
Living Lab BPM Research Report 8 2013 |
Table3.Overviewonin‐depthmonitored/interviewedProjectStakeholders
No. ProjectRole Position
1 ‐ CIO2 ProjectManager ViceCIO3 EndUser1 SalesDepartment4 Coach1 ExternalConsultant5 Developer1 SoftwareDeveloper/ITDepartment6 Developer2 SoftwareDeveloper/ITDepartment7 Developer3 SoftwareDeveloper/ITDepartment8 Developer4 SoftwareDeveloper/ITDepartment9 EndUser2 SalesDepartment10 Coach2 SoftwareEngineeringConsultant
4.1.2 Process
Atthestartofthedevelopmentendeavora“classic”waterfallmodelwaschosen:require‐mentanalysis,design, implementation,verification,andmaintenance followastrictpro‐ceduralfashion(Royce1970).Duetouncertaintiesandchangesintherequirementsspeci‐fication,ittookninemonthsfromtheinitialrequirementanalysisuntilafirstrunningver‐sionofthesoftwarewasdeployed.Althoughtheanalysiswasconductedindepth–atleasthalfthetimehadbeenspendonit–theresultwasnotsatisfyingatall:TheimplementedSIShad insufficientresponse times.Endusersdescribed theusabilityas “laborious”and“not task‐compliant.” The IT department (especially Developers 1 and 3) evaluated theapplicationas“hardtomaintain”becauseofitscomplexuseofhard‐wiredcodefragmentsbetweendifferentapplicationlayersindifferentprogramminglanguages.
ThoughSISwasdeployedandusedproductively,therewasstillaneedforapreferablyquickbutsustainablereplacement–especiallyfortheuser‐facingfrontend.Whenprojectresultswereevaluated,theinsightthataclassical,plan‐drivenapproachisnotappropriatefordealingwithuncertainandchangingrequirementsregardingfunctionalityandusabil‐itybecameobvious.Thus,adifferentmethodologywascontemplated.
Anexternalconsultantwasemployedasacoach.Askill‐basedcoachingforagilesoft‐waredevelopmentapproacheswaschoseninordertohandlethisspecificsituation.Agilesoftwaredevelopmentreliesonadifferentopiniononhowsoftwaredevelopmentshouldbe realized. Instead of creating big, upfront requirement specifications, the process ofsoftwaredevelopmentandthesoftwareproduct itself isassumedtobeunpredictable. Incontrast to traditional,plan‐drivenapproacheschange iswelcomeandsupposed tosup‐portthecustomer’scompetitiveadvantage.ExtremeProgramming,Scrum,AdaptiveSoft‐wareDevelopment, and FeatureDrivenDevelopment are common examples ofmethodsfollowingthisnewparadigm.TheyallembracetheprincipleslaiddownintheAgileMani‐festo,whichrelativizestheestablishedfundamentalsoftraditionalapproaches(Cunning‐ham2001): Individualsandinteractionsoverprocessesandtools, Workingsoftwareovercomprehensivedocumentation, Customercollaborationovercontractnegotiation,and Respondingtochangeoverfollowingaplan.Within four weeks of coaching a small team of four developers achieved the re‐implementationofanewSISfrontendfromscratchusingagilemethods.Deliveringhalf‐
EnablingITProfessionalstoCopewithTechnologicalChangethroughSkill‐basedCoaching 19
Living Lab BPM Research Report 8 2013 |
bakedbutrunnableandtestablepiecesofsoftwareatshorttimeintervals(rapidprototyp‐ing)ensuredearlyandcontinuousend‐user feedback.Thispracticehelpedtomeettheirspecialrequirementsregardingresponsetimesandusability.
Afterthispromisingresultontheend‐userside,theprojectmanagerinvestigatedhowto improve the back end components aswell. Eventually, instead of reusing the just re‐implemented front end, a radical restart was chosen. An external software engineeringconsultancy provided a holistic skill‐based coaching into the agile technology Ruby onRails.Workshopswereused to teach fundamentalknowledge in systemdesignandpro‐gramming, using the latest technologies and tools to exemplify the educational content.Basedonthis,thecoachessupportedtheparticipantsintransferringthelearnedtheoreti‐calskillstoarealsituationthatwasgivenbytheSISproject.Whileworkshopswereper‐formedastypicallecturesessions,thepracticalcoachingwasdoneinone‐on‐onesessionsusingthetechniqueofpairprogramming.Followingthisapproach,theteamimplementedthesoftwarewithinsixweeks.Thus,notonlytheacquisitionofknowledgebutalsodeliv‐eringasolutionforarealprobleminthatparticularcompanywasachieved.
The integrated SIS solution is currently actively used in mission‐critical areas. Itproved to be sustainable in terms of changeability and enabled the skill transfer to allmembersofthesoftwaredevelopmentteam.
4.1.3 Results
Theapplicationwascompletely implementedandput intooperationsixweeksafter thedecisionhadbeenmadetodevelopitfromscratch.
“WefirstcouldnotbelievethatitwouldbepossibletorewriteasystemascomplexasSISsoquicklyfromscratch.”‐‐Adeveloper
All requirementsweresatisfied thanks tocontinualand timely feedback. Inaddition theendusers’satisfactionincreasedbecauseoftheirinvolvementinthedevelopmentprocess.
“Whatweallaskedourselvesinthesalesdepartmentwas:WhydidtheITdepartmentnotgoforthissolutioninthefirstplace?Whydidtheynotshowusprototypesearlier?Thenthedisasterofthefirstattemptcouldhavebeenavoided.WeknowourrequirementsarecomplexbutweknowiftheyaresatisfiedwhenweseeanactualpieceofsoftwareratherthansomePowerPointdeck.”‐‐Anenduser
Finally,thesystemwashandedovertothecompany’sITdepartment,whichisnowabletomaintainandexpandthesystemeffectivelyandefficiently,becausethesoftwaredevelop‐mentprojectalsoprovided training for thebusiness’ownsoftwaredevelopers.Fromaneconomic perspective the project reduced costs not only due to increased end userproductivity,butalsobygettingridoflicensingfees.AllusedtechnologiesareopensourceandsubjecttopermissivelicensessuchastheMITlicense.Thus,thetypicallock‐in‐effectsofproprietarysoftwarecouldbeavoided.
“Honestly, Iamstillsurprisedabout thesuccessfulandquickreimplementationwithoutusingbig‐name,big‐costtooling.”‐‐TheCIO
Froma skill perspective a change in skill levels couldbeobserved. In order toquantifythis,theinvolvedstakeholdersoftheprojecthavebeenaskedtodocumenttheirskillsus‐ingaquestionnaire.Basedonaself‐assessmentmethod(Vygotsky1962),skillsbeforeand
20 MatthiasBoehm,CarlStolze,AlexanderFuchs,OliverThomas
Living Lab BPM Research Report 8 2013 |
aftertheprojecthavebeenrecordedonascalefrom‐2(deficient)to+2(verygood).Re‐sultsaredepicted inFigure6.Themostsignificantchangescanbedocumentedwithre‐specttoprojectmanagementskillsand,interestingly,insustainabilityandethics.Thesub‐sequent skill increaseessentially comes from the larger feelingofownershipamong theprogrammersaswellastheusers.Togethertheywerenotonlyworkingonsometool,buttheywerealsoworkingon“their”toolandwantedtomakeitaslong‐lastingandsociallyacceptableaspossible.
“Formethisisalsoapersonalsuccessstory.Ialwaysbelievedthatchangemusthavebeenpossible,butdidnotknowhow toachieve it.With thehelpof thecoacheswecouldgetthere.IamalsoproudofmyteamandthewholeITdepartment.Itevolvedinagreatway,butwestillhavea longroadaheadtobecomethe21stcenturyworkplace I imagine.” ‐‐TheViceCIO
Figure6.ObservedSkillLevelsBeforeandAfterCoaching
4.1.4 Summary
Theskill‐basedcoachingapproachprovokedacomplete180° turnof theSISproject. In‐steadoffollowingtraditionalapproaches,theinvolvedpeoplefocusedontheirskillsandthensearchedforanappropriatetechnology.Coachingbytheinvolvedconsultanciesena‐bledandempoweredthecompanyanditsITdepartment.Thepreviously identifieddefi‐citsofskillshavebeenclearlyloweredalthoughtheyhavenotbeencompletelyremovedyet.Infuture,morecoachingisnecessarytodoso.
4.2 Case IC: Structured Teaching and Coaching Program
4.2.1 Context
ThepermanentchangeinbusinessandITisachallengeforallcompanies.Smallandmid‐sizedenterprises (SMEs)especiallyhave tocopewith thisvolatileenvironmentbecausetheydonothavetheresourcestomanageextensivetrainingprogramsontheirown.In‐steadtheyneedtogetready‐to‐useknowledgeinawaythatdoesnotdistractemployeesfromtheirjob.Atthesametimeuniversitiesshouldfostertheexchangeandinventionofnewideas.ThetransferofITknowledgeintoSMEshasbeenpoliticallyadvocatedandhas
EnablingITProfessionalstoCopewithTechnologicalChangethroughSkill‐basedCoaching 21
Living Lab BPM Research Report 8 2013 |
especiallyledtothedevelopmentofastructuredteachingandcoachingprogramintheICcase.
Inprinciple,theprogramthatwasintensivelyinvestigatedforthiscaseworkedasfol‐lows:Astructuredteachingconceptwasdevelopedandofferedincooperationwithmem‐bersofauniversityandsuccessfulCIOs.ITprofessionalsfromdifferentindustriesandper‐sonalbackgroundsparticipated.Afterseveralpresencemeetings,phasesofcoachingwereconducted inwhichpersonaldevelopment isemphasized.Anonlineplatformwasdevel‐oped that facilitatedcontactamongparticipantsandcoaches(CIOsanduniversitystaff).Basedonacomprehensivestate‐of‐the‐artanalysis, thepartiesconjointlycreatedaplat‐form for skill‐based coaching in which the taught skills are derived from experience.Coachingisanintegralpartoftheconceptbecauseteachinglessonsareonlyseenasatrig‐gerforpersonaldevelopment.
Wewereabletoobservethewholeprocessofconceptdevelopmentandimplementa‐tion.Weinterviewedcoachesandparticipantsoveratwo‐yearperiod(cf.Table4).Fieldnotesweretakenduringmeetings.Usageoftheonlineplatformwasalsoanalyzed.Finally,documentsthathavebeenusedfordevelopingtheprogramhavebeeninvestigated.Overthetwoyears,theprogramhasbeenofferedsuccessfullytwice.
Table4.OverviewonExperts
No. Role Position Size Industry
1 Participant(1stround) ITconsultant 4.950 Consulting2 Participant(1stround) CIO 200 Machinery and plant engi‐
neering3 Participant(1stround) Department head of
SystemsEngineering70 ITservices
4 Participant(1stround) CIO 151 Timberprocessingindustry5 Participant(1stround) ITconsultant 1.500 ITservices6 Participant(1stround) ITconsultant 1 ITservices7 Participant(1stround) CIO 30 Timberprocessingindustry8 Participant(1stround) Developer 100 Foodindustry9 Participant(1stround) Projectmanager 200 Consulting10 Participant(1stround) Developer 121 Foodindustry11 Participant(1stround) ITconsultant 2 Consulting12 Participant(1stround) Softwaresupport 19 ITservices13 Participant(1stround) CIO 650 Machinery and plant engi‐
neering13 Participant(2ndround) CIO 2.100 Machinery and plant engi‐
neering14 Participant(2ndround) CIO 3.500 Foodindustry15 Participant(2ndround) Developer 19.000 Publishingindustry16 Participant(2ndround) ITprojectmanager 1.500 ITservices17 Participant(2ndround) CIO 90 ITservices18 Participant(2ndround) ViceCIO 3.500 Foodindustry19 Participant(2ndround) Business Develop‐
mentManager350 Automobileindustry
20 Participant(2ndround) Projectmanager 19.000 Publishingindustry21 Participant(2ndround) CIO 230 Machinery and plant engi‐
neering22 Participant(2ndround) CIO 30 ITservices23 Participant(2ndround) SolutionArchitect 10.000 Logistics
22 MatthiasBoehm,CarlStolze,AlexanderFuchs,OliverThomas
Living Lab BPM Research Report 8 2013 |
24 Participant(2ndround) CIO 450 Automobileindustry25 Programprovider Universitystaff 16 University26 Programprovider Universitystaff 16 University27 Programprovider Projectmanager 16 University28 Coach Lawyer 34 Law29 Coach CIO 21.767 Automobileanddefense in‐
dustry30 Coach Personalcoach 1 Consulting31 Coach ITprojectmanager 14 ITservices32 Coach ITadministrator 200 E‐commerce33 Coach CIO 840 Foodindustry34 Coach CIO 10.000 Logistics35 Coach CIO 3.210 Automobileindustry36 Coach CIO 12.342 Machinery and plant engi‐
neering37 Coach CIO 350 Insurance38 Coach CIO 150 Financialservices39 Coach ViceCIO 200 ITservices40 Coach CIO 600 Research41 Coach CIO 1.200 Insurance42 Coach ITprojectmanager 326.000 Machinery and plant engi‐
neering43 Coach ITprojectmanager 76.400 ITservices
4.2.2 Process
Theobservedprocessforconceptdevelopmentandimplementationwasdefinedbyapro‐ceduremodel.Theprojectteamhadpreviouslydevelopedthismodelasaguidingplanfortheproject.Theproceduremodelconsistsofsupportingactivitiesandcoreactivities.Pro‐jectmanagementandqualitymanagementsupporttheprojectandensureoverallsuccess.Thecoreactivitieswhilesettingupanintegratedcourseconsistofthreephases:initiation,formalteachingandcoaching,andpost‐teaching.Withintheinitiationphase,ananalysisofthestateofthearttakesplace.Thecourseisconceptualizedandfinallysetup.Thislastac‐tivity is the bridge to the formal training and learning phase,which consists of the4E‐CircleofTeachingandCoaching.Enrollment,execution,evaluation,andevolutionarenowrunincycles.Marketingactivities,registrationofparticipants,andotherorganizationalac‐tivitieshavetobedonewithintheenrollment.Theexecutioncontainstheactionsofteach‐ingand coaching.Withina teachingphase,practical information ispresented topartici‐pantsanddiscussed.Throughthis,aself‐coachingphasestartsinwhichnewinputcanbeusedindailybusiness.Whileevaluationcapturesallactivitiesrelatedtotheassessmentofthemodules, the evolution activity ensures that all stakeholders improve the approachconstantly.Iftheactualteachingphaseisover,alifelongself‐coachingandtheapplicationofthetaughtskillshastobeensuredwithinthepost‐teachingphase.Methodsfordoingsohavetobediscussedinthepreviousphaseandarenowapplied.Paralleltothecoreactivi‐ties, comprehensivedocumentation takesplace.This isnecessary,becauseother institu‐tionsanduniversitiesshouldalsobeabletoimplementtheapproach.
EnablingITProfessionalstoCopewithTechnologicalChangethroughSkill‐basedCoaching 23
Living Lab BPM Research Report 8 2013 |
Figure7.ProcedureModeloftheTeachingandCoachingProgramIngeneral,universitiesoffermanydifferentcoursestovariousstudents.Thesecoursesaremostlytaughtbyprofessorsorotherfacultymembers.Nextto“normal”graduateandun‐dergraduatecoursestherearealsocoursestargetedatITprofessionals.Whatisproblem‐aticisthatinmanyofthesecoursesprofessorsteachthesamecontenttheyusefornormalstudents.Theuniquecharacteristicofthenewteachingandcoachingprogramisthatthelecturersarepractitioners.However,theselectionoftheselecturersisverydifficult.Onlythosepractitionersshouldbechosenwhohaveproventhesuccessoftheirprojects.With‐in the IC case, only thosepractitionerswere selectedwhowon industryprizes for theirwork. Using these people has two advantages: Firstly, they have demonstrably proventheirsuccessand,secondly,theyarepeoplewhoareabletopresentthemselvesandtheirworkinaprofessionalway.
The selected practitioners have worked together with faculty members to preparetheir insights frompractice forteachingotherpractitioners.Theaddressedskills ineachmodulehavebeenderivedbasedoninputfromthepractitionersaswellasbasedontheliterature.Figure8showsexemplarydocumentsthatwereusedinthedevelopmentphaseandthatwerealsoanalyzedbytheauthorsofthisarticle.Moduledescriptionsofcontinu‐ing education offerings for IT professionalswere utilized. In addition, a framework thatwasdevelopedbytheprogramdirectorsprovidedmoreinsightintothemarket.Basedonthesedocuments,thestructuredteachingandcoachingapproachwasdevelopedandim‐plemented.Theuniversityteamensuredtheappropriatenessofcontentandmethods.Bydoing so, unique information and best practices could be shared. Even better, lecturerscould also learn from the participants through intensive discussions. The following listshowssomeexemplarytopicsthatweretaught:
HolisticapproachofITmanagement, Cloudcomputing–legalaspectsandcompanydevelopment, Implementationofprocessmanagementinchangeprojects, Socialbusinessstrategies, ERPconsolidationandharmonization,and CoachingmethodsforITprofessionals.
Execution
Evolution
24 MatthiasBoehm,CarlStolze,AlexanderFuchs,OliverThomas
Living Lab BPM Research Report 8 2013 |
Figure8.ExemplaryDocuments(left:moduledescriptions,right:framework)Thenewteachingandcoachingprogramwasexecutedas follows:Foreightconsecutiveweeks,theclassmetonanevening(usuallyfrom5:30pmto9:00pm)onceaweek.Aftertheparticipantswerewelcomed,themainsessionstartedat6:00pmwithapresentationbythelecturer.Afterthepresentationtheformatshiftedtoanopendiscussionround.Thewholesessiontookinmostcasestwohours.Afterwards,allparticipantswenttoanotherroom toget somedistance from the learningenvironment.Horsd’oeuvreswere served.Thena second, importantphaseof theevening started.Networkingamongparticipants,between participants and lecturers, and between faculty members and all other actorstookplace.Anotherimportantpartoftheprogramwasthevirtuallearningenvironment.Here,allactorscoulddiscussquestions,downloadallrelevantfiles,andgetfurtherinfor‐mationonthediscussedtopics.
After the presence sessions, participantswere asked to adopt the taught content intheirdailybusiness.Thenecessaryadviceonhowtodosowaspartofonetheoreticalses‐sion.Additionally,anonlinecommunitysystemsupportedparticipantsinthisphaseasanenabling platform. The systemwas part of a larger socialmedia platform. This solutiongavetheopportunitytoeasilyofferacomprehensivediscussionboardandtoprovideallnecessarydocumentsinaneffortlessway.
In a follow‐up to these self‐coaching sessions, the participantswere interviewed inordertogaininsightsintotheirchangedbehavior.Interviewstookplaceeitherinpersonorviatelephone.Ofcourse,theactivitiesonthecommunitysystemhavebeendocumentedcarefully.
4.2.3 Results
The teaching and coaching program can be seen as awin‐win situation for all involvedstakeholders.Participantsreceiveduniqueinformationandgetincontactwithothercol‐leagues.Lecturersalsogotnewinputfortheirwork.Newcontactstothepracticewereal‐soextremelyvaluablefortheuniversity.
Fieldnotesandinterviewtranscriptscanbeseenasthemostvaluabledocumentsforanalysis.Fromvariousdiscussions,weknowthatcoveringcurrentandfuturetrendsand
EnablingITProfessionalstoCopewithTechnologicalChangethroughSkill‐basedCoaching 25
Living Lab BPM Research Report 8 2013 |
newtechnologyisakeyadvantageofthiskindofprogram.However,familiarizingoneselfdeeplywithspecifictopicsiscrucial.
“Iliketobesurprised,simplybecauseattendingsuchaprogrambroadensmyhorizonandsetsupmyselfmorebroadly.AndthenIwouldnotevensayinadvance,okaythisisatopicthatIwouldliketogivespecialcare,butIjustwanttogetnewinputsthere,newandsim‐pletriggers.”‐‐Aparticipant
ItiscrucialforITprofessionalstogettoknowdifferentperspectivesandwaysinordertoacquireabroadknowledgeandtoworkoutrelevantideasfortheowncompany.Develop‐inga“criticalself‐image,”seeingthe“bigpicture,”and“lookingbeyondtherimofone’steacup”arecatchphrasesthatwereutteredbyallinvolvedstakeholdersasevidencethatitisimportantnottobeleftbehind.DiscussingproblemsrelatedtoITandotherorganizationalissuesisalsoamajorfieldforprofessionals.
“MyITalwayshasastrongfocusonbusiness.It’spartofthevaluechain,especiallyinourarea, in theautomotive industry.Here it isclear that the taskof IT is to implement thebusinessneedsandtoseewhereITcansupportit.Wherearepossiblynewrequirements?CanIcoverthem?HowcanIcoverthem?WhatdoIhavetodoinordertoremaineffec‐tive?”‐‐Aparticipant
Duringourresearchwegottheimpressionthatallstakeholderswerewillingtoimprovetheirownperformancethroughbetterknowledgeaswellasthroughacommunicationandexchangeamonglike‐mindedpeople.Thereasonforthisisthefactthatthescopeofdutiesofeachemployeeenlargeswiththeprogressionoftimeworkinginacompany.Long‐termplanningofthefast‐changingrequirementsintheITsectordoesnotmakesense,accord‐ingtoaprogramdirector.
“Especially in the dynamic IT environment, good people are expensive and rare. Theyshouldnotbebotheredforhourswithbureaucracyandallthosethings,whichisperhapstheoreticallyusefulbutdoesnotgenerategreatutilityinpracticalapplicability.”‐‐Apro‐gramdirector
Discussingtrendsisnottheonlyadvantageofprogramssuchastheoneweinvestigated.Oneoftheinterviewedorganizersremarkedthatnewtechnologiessuchas, forexample,cloud computing are widely discussed in various forms of teaching and coaching pro‐grams.However,oftennopractical experience canbepresentedandonly superficial in‐formationisgiven.Assessmentofqualityofsuchofferingsisthereforeverydifficult.Me‐dium‐sizedenterprisesoftenwaittoolongbeforetheyspendtimeonattendingcontinuingeducationofferings.Otherspermanentlysearchfornewopportunities.
“Wegowithmanynew thingsor simply say that this isnot interesting forus.When itcomestotraining.Firstly,therearewebportalsonthe Internetwithcomprehensive in‐formation.Secondly,thereareexternalconsultantswhocomeintoourorganization.Fur‐thermore,weattendseminars,workshops,webinars,andmuchmore.”‐‐Aparticipant
ITprofessionals ingeneraldonothavemuch time for training.Organizershave tokeepthis inmindwhen designing courses. The investigated skill‐based coaching approachesfulfillsthisrequirementverywellbecauseitcombineseveningsessionswithflexibleper‐sonalcoachingphases.
26 MatthiasBoehm,CarlStolze,AlexanderFuchs,OliverThomas
Living Lab BPM Research Report 8 2013 |
Next to the time issue, also differences in the personal development of the partici‐pantswerehighlightedduringourresearch.Theproblemisthatthereareavarietyofdif‐ferentprofessions in the fieldandconsequentlyvariousstatesofknowledgeandexperi‐ence.Additionally,youngerparticipantsoftenlearnfasterthanolderones.Nevertheless,inthiscase,anotheradvantageoftheskill‐basedcoachingapproachbecomesvisible.
“Younger employeesoftenareable to learnnew things faster.This isaproblem.Olderemployeesusuallyhaveproblemsinunderstandingunknowncircumstancesorneedmoretimeforlearning.Althoughthisfactiswellknown,itisstillaproblemforus.Otherwise,those employeeswhowork for the organization for a long time have special practicalknowledge,forexample,onprocesses.Theexchangebetweenbothkindsofemployeesisabigadvantageofthediscussedcoachingapproach.”‐‐Aparticipant
Theheterogeneitywithinthegroupis thereforeastimulus formutualstimulationof theparticipants.Thisisespeciallytruewhennewtrendsarediscussedandlesstrueforspe‐cial topics suchasprogramming.A coachhighlighted thenetworkingopportunities as afurtheradvantageoftheskill‐basedcoachingapproach.
“Thediscussedteachingandcoachingprogramisaveryspecialformofcontinuingeduca‐tion.Thelinkageisindispensablebecausethelecturerofthepresencemeetingsdoesnotact like ina classicalpresentation.Therefore, Iused to see itmoreasa conceptof ex‐changebetweenexperiencedcolleaguesandcolleagues.”‐‐Acoach
“Theconversioninbreaksandduringthecoachingphasesweremoreimportantthantheactualpresencemeetings. Igot toknowcolleagueswhohave similarproblems.Theex‐changeofexperienceshelpedmeinmydailywork.Ineversawaprogramsimilartothisone.”‐‐Aparticipant
Usagenumbers of the community system show thehighutilization of the provided fea‐tures.Toensure the successof theprogram, the skills of theparticipantshavebeenas‐sessedusingquestionnaires(similartothequestionnaireusedinthefirstcase).Basedonthe self‐assessment method (Vygotsky 1962), skills before and after participation havebeenrecordedonascalefrom‐2(deficient)to+2(verygood).Theresultsfromthefirstruninautumn2011with21participantsaredepictedinFigure9.Byanalyzingthemitbe‐comesobvious that the assessmentof technicalhard skills couldbe raised considerably(0.35pointsonaverage).Thebiggestdifferencecanberecognizedinthefieldsofmanag‐ingsecurity,complianceandrisk,andbusinessprocessmanagementaswellassustaina‐bilityandethics.Thesoftskillshavebeenconstant.Onlywithinprojectmanagementwasaslightgainrecorded.Altogether,asignificantimprovementofskillsusingtheteachingandcoachingapproachwasreached.
EnablingITProfessionalstoCopewithTechnologicalChangethroughSkill‐basedCoaching 27
Living Lab BPM Research Report 8 2013 |
Figure9.SkillsoftheParticipantsBeforeandAfterParticipationFromour fieldnotesweknowthatnotall aspectswereperfectly fulfilled.Somepartici‐pantsrecommendeddiscussingspecificmethodssuchas,forexample,methodsinprojectmanagement;otherswantedto focusmoreonsmallerorganizations insteadofmedium‐sized enterprises, and others complained about foreign technical terms and Anglicisms.Nevertheless,mostparticipantsappreciatedtheprogram.
During the interviews, the project team got valuable information about the self‐coachingphases.Thestructuredteachingandcoachingprogramwasespeciallyhelpfultogive participants the skills to select appropriate new technology. Because of the largeamountofnew trends in the ITbusiness, thiswasveryvaluable for them.Furthermore,participantsnowareabletobetterreflectontheirownwork,havenewwaysofthinking,and can improve internal communication.However,participants argued thatmore focushastobeputonsoftskillsinthefuture.
“I think thatweneed to focusmoreonsoftskills.Morecommunication isnecessarybe‐causethisisoftenaproblemwhenITprofessionalswhoaretechnicallywelltrainedneedtopresent something somewhere.Standing in frontofothersand communicating tech‐nicalsolutionsisoftenveryhardforthem.”‐‐Aparticipant
4.2.4 Summary
The structured teaching and coaching program is another form of skill‐based coaching.Theuniversityactsasanacademicfacilitatorandoffersanenablingplatformforcompa‐nies. Participants are induced to work on new topics and develop new skills by them‐selves.
5 Comparison of Cases
Skill‐basedcoachingcouldbeobservedinthetwoSISDEVandICcases.Bothhavesimilari‐ties and differences in multiple dimensions with regard to management, operations,coaching, andassessment.To gain insights into the topic andderivemeaningful conclu‐sions,westructuredthecharacteristicsofbothcasesinTable5followingthedimensionsofourconceptualresearchmodel(cf.Figure5).
‐2
‐1
0
1
2
Management in the InformationAge
Fundamentals of InformationSystems
IT Consulting
Enterprise ArchitectureManagement
Business Process Management
Managing Security, Complianceand Risk
Sustainability and Ethics
Interpersonal Skills
Leadership Management
Project Management
Before
Aferwards
28 MatthiasBoehm,CarlStolze,AlexanderFuchs,OliverThomas
Living Lab BPM Research Report 8 2013 |
Table5.OverviewinComparison
Dimension Characteristic CaseSISDEV CaseIC
Management
Strategicgoals Integrated ITsystemandbet‐terskillset
Skilldevelopment
Structure On‐demandmeetings,dynam‐
icprocessRegular meetings, laid‐outprocess
Management cul‐ture
Hierarchical,top‐down Participative,bottom‐up
Operations
Location On‐sitemeeting Off‐sitemeeting
Groupdynamics High, very interactive meet‐
ings crossing the hierarchicalculture
High,veryinteractive
Groupsize Upto6 Upto15
Distance or face‐to‐face
Face‐to‐face Face‐to‐faceanddistance
Support Ad hoc documentation, group
lunchProvision of presentations, E‐learning environment withnetworkingfeatures
Coaching Internal/ExternalCoaches
Externalandinternal External
Management iscoached
Yes No
Mandatory orvoluntary
Mandatory Voluntary
Experience ofCoaches
Skillandcodingfocusedexpe‐rience
Project and skill‐focused ex‐perience
Method(“Typeofcoaching”)
Groupwork,hands‐oncoding Group work, best practicesharing
Assessment Indicators Systemuptime,cost,timesav‐ings
Generated revenue, self‐assessedskillgain
First,welookedatthetwocasesfromamanagerialpointofview.Theoverarchingques‐tioniswhichstrategicgoalhadbeenpursued.IntheSISDEVcasearunningITsystemwasthegoal,whileintheICcasetheskilldevelopmentitselfwassetastheobjective.Thenextcharacteristicisthestructure:adynamicprocesswithon‐demandmeetingscomparedtoapre‐structuredseriesofmeetings.Alsothemanagementculturebetweenthecasesisfun‐damentallydifferent.Oneishierarchicaltop‐down,whiletheotherisbottom‐upparticipa‐tion‐driven.Withonlythemanagerialdimensionsbeingcompared,theresultisthatbothcasesaretoacertainextentfundamentallydifferent.
Thisdifferencecontinues in theoperations’ typeof location: in theSISDEVcaseon‐sitemeetings,andintheICcaseoff‐sitesessions.Howeverthegroupdynamicswerehighinbothcasesandveryinteractive.IntheSISDEVcase,theinteractionpatternsalsoover‐cametheprevailinghierarchicalculture.Thesizeofthecoachedgroupsisdifferentagainaswellastheuseofelementsofdistancelearning.ThelatteroneisonlyusedinthecaseICwhile in SISDEV only face‐to‐face meetings could be observed. This goes hand‐in‐handwiththeuseofsupportingmaterialandactivities:whileonecaseonlyhadadhocdocu‐mentation and group lunches, the other case revealed an e‐learning environment withnetworkingfeaturesanddistributionofpresentations.Thismightalsobeinterlinkedwithdifferentlocations–on‐siteandoff‐site.
EnablingITProfessionalstoCopewithTechnologicalChangethroughSkill‐basedCoaching 29
Living Lab BPM Research Report 8 2013 |
Thecoachinginbothcaseswasperformedbyexternalcoaches.IntheSISDEVcaseal‐so internal coaches could be observed in the project as knowledge and skills started tospread.Themanagementofthecase’sendeavoritselfwasonlycoachedintheSISDEVcasewhilemanagement remainedoutsideof thecoaching itself in the ICcase.This is insofarconsequent as in the IC case employeesweremandatorily coached and only voluntarilycoachedintheICcase.Theselectionofcoachesandtheirmainmethodisalsointerrelatedwiththesefactors:coacheswithexperienceincodingdoinggroupworkinhand‐oncodingsessionshadbeenselectedintheSISDEVcase,whileprojectexperienceandbest‐practicesharingingroupworkweretheselectioncriteriaintheICcase.
Froman assessmentperspectivedifferent indicatorshavebeenused. In theSISDEVcase not the skill transfer itself but the achievements with these new skills have beenmeasured. Technical indicators such as system uptime aswell as cost and time savingswereused.IntheICcaseself‐assignedskillgainwasthepremierindicatorwhilegeneratedrevenuesonlyservedasaproxylater.
Inordertocomparethetwocases,weusedthecoachingcubebySegersetal.(2011)tocharacterizethetwocases(cf.Figure10).Case1(SISDEV)addressestheskillsaswellastheperformanceagenda. Itusesanactivity approach.Allpossible coaches canbe foundhere. Incontrasttothis, incase2(IC)thecoachingonlyaddressestheskillsagenda.Ra‐tionalityandContextapproachesareused.Here,onlyexternalcoachesandself‐coachingcanbefound.Theclassificationofthetwocasesisbasicallyinlinewiththehighestproba‐blecombinationsfoundbySegersetal.(2011)(cf.Figure10).However,thereisonedis‐tinctivedifference:Thedescribedcasesuseacombinationofdifferentcoachesandarenotlimitedtoexternalandinternalcoaches.Thedevelopment/lifeagendaisnotaddressedbythetwocases.Basedupontheseresults,thetwocasesdeliverimportantnewinsightsonskill‐basedcoachingapproachesforITindustryprofessionals.
Figure10.AppliedCoachingCube(caseSISDEVleft,caseICright)
6 Discussion
Ourresearchhasbeenguidedbytwoquestionsthatcannowbeanswered.RQ1isabouttheproblemofhowITprofessionalscanbeempoweredtocopewithtechnologicalchangethrough skill‐based coaching. In order to answer this question we conducted two casestudies.TheresultspresentedinsectionsIVandVcanbeseenastheanswertoourfirst
30 MatthiasBoehm,CarlStolze,AlexanderFuchs,OliverThomas
Living Lab BPM Research Report 8 2013 |
researchquestion.Bydescribingandanalyzingthetwocasesonegetsagoodimpressionofhowthisimportantempowermentcanbeachieved.Helpingpeopletohelpthemselvesistherightwaytodothis.Inourfirstcase,coachingqualifiedthecompanyanditsITde‐partment to successfully implement the SIS project.Without the application of this ap‐proach,theprojectwouldnotberealizableontime,withinbudget,andinresourceutiliza‐tion.Anotherformofskill‐basedcoachingwasdepictedinoursecondcase.Thestructuredteachingandcoachingprogramrepresentsanenablingplatformfororganizationstocopewithnewtopicsandthenecessitytodevelopnewskills.Therefore,thetwoverydifferentcases showhow skill‐based coaching can empower IT professionals. Based on these re‐sults,wedevelopedhypothesesthatcanbeassessedquantitativelyinfutureresearch:
H1:CurrentcoachingapproachesareinsufficientfortrainingITprofessionals.
H2:Skill‐basedcoachingisanappropriateinstrumentforITprofessionals.
H3:Skill‐basedcoachingcanbeused indifferentsituations,settings,orgoalsetswithintheITsector.
H4:Skill‐basedcoachingasanovelapproachissuitableanddeliversvaluableresults.
H5:Skill‐basedcoachingensuressustainableresults.
Researchers canbuildonour results and investigate furtherpossible case sites.Makingpractitionersawareofthecapabilitiesofskill‐basedcoachingisalsooneadditionalimpli‐cationofourresearch.Furthermore,duetothedetaileddescriptionofthetwocases,theyhavetwopracticalexamplesathandthatcanbetransformedtotheiractualfieldsofappli‐cation.
Oursecondresearchquestionaimedatexplainingskill‐basedcoachingasapracticalphenomenon.Basedonourresultsand thecomparisonof thecases in theprevioussec‐tions,wederivedaconceptualizationofskill‐basedcoaching(cf.Figure11).Centralstake‐holders are coach and coacheeswhowork together in a discussion and feedback circle.Personal skills, present and new technologies, andmethod knowledge are input factorsthatdirectlyaffect theperformanceof thecoach.Aftereachcoachingphase, thecoacheehastoapplythelearnedthings.Networkingamongthecoachesisalsoacentralelementoftheapproach.Ouranalyzedcasescanbedifferentiatedinawaythatinthefirstcasethein‐itiative to start came from the coachees (pull) and in the second case it started on thecoachside(push).Inallsituations,theinternalorganizationalcontextaswellastheexter‐nal environment context influence the coaching process. Also, the usage of an enablingplatform(forexample,thesoftwaresolutionusedinthesecondcase)positivelyinfluencetheprocess.Theresultof theapproach isan increase inskill levelsaswellassuccessfulchanges.
EnablingITProfessionalstoCopewithTechnologicalChangethroughSkill‐basedCoaching 31
Living Lab BPM Research Report 8 2013 |
Figure11.Skill‐basedCoachingThisconceptualmodelofskill‐basedcoachingcanbeusedbybothresearchersandpracti‐tioners.Themodelhelpsindevelopingatheoreticalunderstandingofapracticalphenom‐enon.Thisunderstandingcanbeutilizedbyscientistsforotherempiricalresearch,forex‐ample. Further theory development is also imaginable. For practitioners, themodel (cf.Figure11)isaneasy‐to‐understandillustrationofacomplexapproach.Thishelpsinob‐taininga fasterandbetterunderstanding.Throughthis,practitionerscanbemoreeasilymadeawareofnewformsofcoaching.
Therearetwoimportantremarkstobemadeaboutourconceptualization.First,itisimportanttonotethatourmodel(cf.Figure11)explainsskill‐basedcoachingintheITsec‐tor.Thebasicprincipleoftheapproachmaybemoreorlessalsoapplicableinotherset‐tings.Nevertheless,wefocusedonITprofessionals inconsideringtheirspecificcontexts,skills, technologies, andmethods. Therefore, an application only in this sector currentlymakessense.Second, theconceptofskill‐basedcoachingcanbeappliedtoall ITprofes‐sionals (CIOs, ITpersonnel, ITconsultants,andothers)atall career levels.Nevertheless,concreteskillsandmethodsmayvarybetweendifferenttypesofprofessionals.Therefore,thisneedstobeconsideredintherespectivecontextsofapplication.However,asweknow,forexample,fromthesecondcasethathalfoftheparticipantswereCIOs(andotherpeopleworkingatanITdepartment)andtheotherhalfITconsultants.Bothconjointlyandsuc‐cessfullytookpartintheprogram.
Every (empirical and conceptual) researchhas its limitations. First,we investigatedonlytwocases.Althoughtheresultsarehighlyvaluable,theanalysisoffurthercasesmightbedesirable.Thereevenmightbecasesinwhichtheutilizationoftheapproachwouldnotbesuccessful.Thisalsoneedstobedocumented.Second,resultsofthecasestudiesneedto be compared with other groups who follow other (traditional) approaches. By con‐trastingbothapproaches,theadvantagesanddisadvantagesofskill‐basedcoachingcanbebetterworkedout.Asuggestionistosetupalaboratorysituationasacomparisongroup.Third,longitudinalstudiesneedtobeconductedinordertoshowlong‐termeffectsofthecoachingprograms.Althoughweinvestigatedskill‐basedcoachingfor1‐2years,a longertimeframecouldyieldmoreinsights.
32 MatthiasBoehm,CarlStolze,AlexanderFuchs,OliverThomas
Living Lab BPM Research Report 8 2013 |
7 Conclusion and Future Research
In this articlewe examined how skill‐based coaching can help IT professionals to copewith future challenges. After providing a theoretical backgroundon skills, IT leadershipdevelopment,andcoachingapproachesanddescribingourresearchmethod,weconduct‐edtwoin‐depthcasestudiesonskill‐basedcoaching.Weshowedthatcoachingisafeasi‐bleapproachtoempowerITprofessionalsandenablethemtoworkwithmodernandfu‐ture technologies.Wediscussedandcompared the twocases. Inbothcases,positive re‐sultswereyielded.Themeasuredindicatorspointtoanincreaseinskillfromthecoachedpeople.Thereby,skill‐basedcoachingtransferredskills intotheorganizationwheretheybecomecompetenciesafterawhileinuse.Finally,wederivedaconceptualizationofskill‐basedcoachingthatcanbeusedintheoryandpractice.
Theliteraturecanbuildonthederivedresultsinordertodevelopcomprehensivethe‐oriesofskill‐basedcoaching.Theusageofthecoachingcubegivesagoodclassificationofthecasesthatisparticularlyimportantforpractitionerstoknow.Thepresentationofthetwosuccessfulapproachescanbeseenasafoundationforresearchandpracticetodevel‐op andderivemoremethods.The conceptualizationof skill‐based coaching as themaincontributionofourresearchisagoodfoundationforfuturestudies.
In future, more research on skill‐based coaching is necessary in order to extendknowledge in this important field. Quantitative research using sophisticated statisticalmethodswillsupportandmeasureourresults.Futureresearchisalsonecessaryinorderto analyze more cases and also get quantitative figures on the relationships betweencoachingandorganizationalsuccess.However,weknowfromtheinterviewsthatlookingbeyondone’sownculturalhorizondoesnotonlysupportparticipantsdirectlybutalsoaf‐fects the company indirectly by resulting in more skilled, satisfied people with highercompetencesandperformance.
8 Acknowledgments
ThispaperwaswritteninthecontextoftheresearchprojectIMUCONwhichisfundedbytheEuropeanRegionalDevelopmentFund(ERDF).TheauthorsacknowledgethesupportbyERDFandallinvolvedprojectpartners.WewouldliketothankHeidrun‐JessicaMüllerforassistingusinconductingtheinterviewsintheICcaseaswellasweacknowledgethesupportthecompanyoftheSISDEVcase,especiallytheViceCIO,forpermittingustocon‐ductthisresearchinsidethecompany.
References
Alavi,M.;Gallupe,R.B.(2003):UsingInformationTechnologyinLearning:CaseStudiesinBusinessandManagementEducationPrograms.AcademyofManagementLearning&Education2(2):139–153
Andriole,S.J.(2012):SevenIndisputableTechnologyTrendsThatWillDefine2015.Com‐municationsoftheAssociationforInformationSystems(30):Article4
Ang,S.;Banker,R.;Bapna,R.;Slaughter,S.;Wattal,S.(2011):HumanCapitalofITProfes‐sionals:AResearchAgenda.In:ICIS2011Proceedings,Paper5
Ang,S.;Slaughter,S.A.(2000):TheMissingContextofITPersonnelResearch.In:Zmud,R.W.:FramingthedomainsofITmanagement.Projectingthefuture‐throughthepast.PinnaflexEducationResources,Inc.,Cincinnati,Ohio,305–328
EnablingITProfessionalstoCopewithTechnologicalChangethroughSkill‐basedCoaching 33
Living Lab BPM Research Report 8 2013 |
Armstrong,C.P.;Sambamurthy,V.(1999):InformationTechnologyAssimilationinFirms:The InfluenceofSeniorLeadershipand IT Infrastructures. InformationSystemsRe‐search10(4):304–327
Atos(Hrsg)(2012):AscentJourney2016:Enterprisewithoutboundaries,AtosSAAustin,R.D.;Nolan,R.L.;O'Donnell,S.(2009):TheTechnologyManager'sJourney:AnEx‐
tendedNarrativeApproachtoEducatingTechnicalLeaders.AcademyofManagementLearning&Education8(3):337–355
Baird,L.;Meshoulam,I.(1988):ManagingTwoFitsofStrategicHumanResourceManage‐ment.TheAcademyofManagementReview13(1):116–128
Banville,C.;Landry,M.(1989):CanthefieldofMISbedisciplined?CommunicationsoftheACM32(1):48–60
Bassellier, G.; Benbasat, I.; Reich, B. H. (2003): The Influence of Business Managers' ITCompetenceonChampioningIT.InformationSystemsResearch14(4):317–336
Bax,J.;Negrutiu,M.;Calotă,T.‐O.(2011):Coaching:APhilosophy,Concept,ToolandSkill.JournalofKnowledgeManagement,Economics&InformationTechnology1(7):320–328
Bell,C.;Mills,R.;Fadel,K.(2013):AnAnalysisofUndergraduateInformationSystemsCur‐ricula:AdoptionoftheIS2010CurriculumGuidelines.CommunicationsoftheAssoci‐ationforInformationSystems32:Article2
Beulen,E.(2008):Theenablingroleofinformationtechnologyintheglobalwarfortalent:Accenture's industrialized approach. Information Technology for Development14(3):213–224
Boehm,M.;Freundlieb,M.;Stolze,C.;Thomas,O.;Teuteberg,F.(2011a):TowardsanInte‐gratedApproachforResource‐EfficiencyinServerRoomsandDataCenters.In:ECIS2011Proceedings,Paper100
Boehm,M.;Jasper,M.;Thomas,O.(2013a):TheFurtherEducationMaturityModel:Devel‐opmentandImplementationofaMaturityModelfortheSelectionofFurtherEduca‐tionOfferingsintheFieldofITManagementandITConsulting.In:AMCIS2013Pro‐ceedings,HumanCapitalinInformationSystems,Paper4
Boehm,M.;Stolze,C.;Breitschwerdt,R.;Zarvić,N.;Thomas,O.(2011b):AnIntegratedAp‐proachforTeachingProfessionalsITManagementandITConsulting.In:AMCIS2011Proceedings,Paper72
Boehm,M.;Stolze,C.;Thomas,O.(2013b):TeachingtheChiefInformationOfficers:AnAs‐sessment of the Interrelations within their Skill Set. In:Wirtschaftsinformatik Pro‐ceedings2013,1573–1587
Boehm,M.;Thomas,O. (2013):Lookingbeyond the rimofone’s teacup:Amultidiscipli‐nary literature reviewofProduct‐ServiceSystems in InformationSystems,BusinessManagement,andEngineering&Design.JournalofCleanerProduction51:245–260
Böning,U.;Fritschle,B.(2005):CoachingfürsBusiness.ManagerSeminare,BonnBroadbent,M.;Kitzis,E.(2005):ThenewCIOleader.Settingtheagendaanddeliveringre‐
sults.HarvardBusinessSchoolPress,BostonBullen,C.;Abraham,T.;Galup,S.D.(2007):ITWorkforceTrends:ImplicationsforCurricu‐
lum and Hiring. Communications of the Association for Information Systems20:Article34
Capaldo,A.(2007):Networkstructureandinnovation:Theleveragingofadualnetworkasadistinctiverelationalcapability.StrategicManagementJournal28(6):585–608
Carter,M.;Grover,V.;Thatcher,J.(2011):TheEmergingCIORoleofBusinessTechnologyStrategist.MISQuarterlyExecutive10(1):19–29
Chan,C.‐S.(2011):ThechangingfaceoftheCIO.EnterpriseInnovation7(2):16–19
34 MatthiasBoehm,CarlStolze,AlexanderFuchs,OliverThomas
Living Lab BPM Research Report 8 2013 |
Chen,D.Q.;Preston,D.S.;Xia,W.(2010):AntecedentsandEffectsofCIOSupply‐SideandDemand‐Side Leadership: A Staged Maturity Model. Journal of Management Infor‐mationSystems27(1):231–271
Corbett,M.F.(1994):OutsourcingandthenewITexecutive.ATrendsReport.InformationSystemsManagement11(4):19–22
Creswell,J.W.;Miller,D.L.(2000):DeterminingValidityinQualitativeInquiry.TheoryIn‐toPractice39(3):124–130
Cunningham W (2001): Manifesto for Agile Software Development.http://agilemanifesto.org/.Abrufam2012‐11‐10
Darke,P.;Shanks,G.;Broadbent,M.(1998):SuccessfullycompletingCaseStudyResearch:Combining Rigor, Relevance and Pragmatism. Information Systems Journal(8):273–289
Dawson,G.;Kauffman,R. (2011):CIOSurvival and theCompositionof theTopManage‐mentTeam.In:ICIS2011Proceedings,Paper1
Dean, D.; Webb, C. (2011): Recovering from information overload. McKinsey Quarter‐ly(January)
Dubé,L.;Paré,G.(2003):RigorinInformationSystemsPositivistCaseResearch:CurrentPractices,Trends,andRecommendations.MISQuarterly27(4):597–636
Eisenhardt, K.M. (1989): BuildingTheories fromCase StudyResearch. TheAcademy ofManagementReview14(4):532–550
Ekimci,N.A.;Ozkan,S.(2009):AnInvestigationoftheActivitiesandSkillSetsNeededBySenior InformationTechnology (IT)Managers.Proceedingsof theEuropeanConfer‐enceonInformationManagement&Evaluation:486–497
Enns,H.G.;McDonagh,J.J.(2012):IrishCIOs’InfluenceonTechnologyInnovationandIT‐Business Alignment. Communications of the Association for Information Sys‐tems(30):Article1
EuropeanParliament,EuropeanCouncil(2011):TheEuropeanQualificationsFramework(EQF) for Livelong Learning. http://ec.europa.eu/education/lifelong‐learning‐policy/doc44_en.htm.Abrufam2011‐05‐20
Fitzgerald,W.(1992):TrainingVersusDevelopment.Training&Development46(5):81–84
Gartner Inc. (2011): Gartner Identifies the Top 10 Strategic Technologies for 2012.http://www.gartner.com/it/page.jsp?id=1826214.Abrufam2011‐12‐14
Gibbert,M.;Ruigrok,W.;Wicki,B.(2008):Whatpassesasarigorouscasestudy?StrategicManagementJournal29(13):1465–1474
Gray,D.E.(2006):ExecutiveCoaching:TowardsaDynamicAllianceofPsychotherapyandTransformativeLearningProcesses.ManagementLearning37(4):475–497
Grover,V.;Seung‐Ryul,J.;Kettinger,W.J.;Lee,C.C.(1993):TheChiefInformationOfficer:AStudyofManagerialRoles.JournalofManagementInformationSystems10(2):107–130
Groysberg,B.;Kelly, L.K.;MacDonald,B. (2011):TheNewPathTo theC‐Suite.Harvardbusinessreview89(3):60–69
Hoerr,A.;Cain,S.;Buividas,T.;Liuzzi,J.(2009):CoachingInaDownEconomy.TheCorpo‐ratelearningInstitute,Lisle,Il
Hopkins,B.(2011):TheTop10TechnologyTrendsEAShouldWatch:2012To2014.For‐resterResearch,Inc.,Cambridge,MA
Huber,M.;Watson,H.J.(2013):WisdomoftheSages:PreparingStudentsforCareerSkills.CommunicationsoftheAssociationforInformationSystems32(1):Article3
EnablingITProfessionalstoCopewithTechnologicalChangethroughSkill‐basedCoaching 35
Living Lab BPM Research Report 8 2013 |
Hunter D (2006): Teaching & Coaching ‐ is there a difference?http://www.brianmac.co.uk/articles/article017.htm.Abrufam2012‐12‐06
Jick, T.D. (1979):MixingQualitative andQuantitativeMethods: Triangulation inAction.AdministrativeScienceQuarterly24(4):602–611
Joia,L.A.(2010):CriticalCompetenciesfortheBrazilianCIO.In:AMCIS2010Proceedings,Paper57
Joo, B.‐K.; Sushko, J. S.; McLean, G. N. (2012): Multiple Faces of Coaching: Manager‐as‐coach,ExecutiveCoaching,andFormalMentoring.OrganizationDevelopmentJournal30(1):19–38
Joseph,D.;Ang,S.;Chang,R.H.L.;Slaughter,S.A.(2010):Practical intelligenceinIT.As‐sessingSoftSkillsofITProfessionals.CommunicationsoftheACM53(2):149
Kayworth,T.R.;Leidner,D.E. (2002):LeadershipEffectiveness inGlobalVirtualTeams.JournalofManagementInformationSystems18(3):7–40
Keim,T.;Weitzel,T.(2006):StrategiesforHiringITProfessionals:AnEmpiricalAnalysisofEmployerand JobSeekerBehavioron the ITLaborMarket. In:AMCIS2006Pro‐ceedings,Paper438
Kern,T.;Willcocks,L.(2002):Exploringrelationshipsininformationtechnologyoutsourc‐ing:theinteractionapproach.EuropeanJournalofInformationSystems11(1):3–19
Kitchenham,B.;PearlBrereton,O.;Budgen,D.;Turner,M.;Bailey, J.;Linkman,S. (2009):Systematic literature reviews in software engineering – A systematic literature re‐view.InformationandSoftwareTechnology51(1):7–15
Klein,H.K.;Myers,M.D.(1999):ASetofPrinciplesforConductingandEvaluatingInter‐pretiveFieldStudiesinInformationSystems.MISQuarterly23(1):67
Kram,K.E.(1983):PhasesoftheMentorRelationship.TheAcademyofManagementJour‐nal26(4):608–625
L’Abate,L.(1981):Towardasystematicclassificationofcounsellingandtherapists,theo‐rists,methods,processes, andgoals:TheE‐R‐Amodel.ThePersonnelandGuidanceJournal(59):263–265
Lee,A.S.(1989):AScientificMethodologyforMISCaseStudies.MISQuarterly13(1):33–50
LittleJC,GrangerMJ,BoyleR,Gerhardt‐PowalsJ,ImpagliazzoJ,JanikC,KubilusNJ,LippertSK, McCrackenWM, Paliwoda G, Soja P (Hrsg) (1999): Integrating professionalismandworkplaceissuesintothecomputingandinformationtechnologycurriculum:re‐portoftheITiCSE‘99workinggrouponprofessionalism.ACM,NewYork,NY,USA
Luftman,J.;Derksen,B.(2012):KeyIssuesforITExecutives2012:DoingMorewithLess.MISQuarterlyExecutive11(4):207–218
Luftman,J.N.(2004):ManagingtheInformationTechnologyResource.Leadershipintheinformationage.PrenticeHall,UpperSaddleRiver,N.J.
Lutchen,M.(2004):ManagingITasabusiness.AsurvivalguideforCEOs.J.Wiley,Hobo‐ken,N.J
McKeen,J.D.;Smith,H.(2003):MakingIThappen.CriticalissuesinITmanagement.Wiley,Chichester,Hoboken,NJ
McKeen, J. D.; Smith, H. A.; Jin, J. Y. (2009): Developments in Practice XXXII: SuccessfulStrategiesforITStaffing.CommunicationsoftheAssociationforInformationSystems24(1):Article46
Mingers,J.(2003):Thepaucityofmultimethodresearch:areviewoftheinformationsys‐temsliterature.InformationSystemsJournal13(3):233–249
Peppard,J.(2010):UnlockingthePerformanceoftheChiefInformationOfficer(CIO).Cali‐forniaManagementReview52(4):73–99
36 MatthiasBoehm,CarlStolze,AlexanderFuchs,OliverThomas
Living Lab BPM Research Report 8 2013 |
Piccoli, G.;Ahmad,R.; Ives,B. (2001):Web‐BasedVirtual LearningEnvironments:ARe‐search Framework and a PreliminaryAssessment of Effectiveness inBasic IT SkillsTraining.MISQuarterly25(4):401–426
Pinchot,G. (1985): Intrapreneuring.Whyyoudon'thave to leave the corporation tobe‐comeanentrepreneur.Harper&Row,NewYork
Preston,D.S.;Karahanna,E.(2009):AntecedentsofISStrategicAlignment:ANomologicalNetwork.InformationSystemsResearch20(2):159–179
Remenyi,D.;Williams,B.(1996):Thenatureofresearch:qualitativeorquantitative,nar‐rativeorparadigmatic?InformationSystemsJournal6(2):131–146
Royce,W.(1970):ManagingtheDevelopmentofLargeSoftwareSystems.ProceedingsofIEEEWESCON:1–9
Sarker,S.;Xiao,X.;Beaulieu,T.(2012):TowardanAnatomyof“Successful”QualitativeRe‐searchManuscriptsinIS:ACriticalReviewandSomeRecommendations.In:ICIS2012Proceedings,ResearchMethods,Paper12
Schreyögg,A.(2003):Coaching.Campus,FrankfurtSegers,J.;Vloeberghs,D.;Hendrickx,E.;Inceoglu,I.(2011):StructuringandUnderstanding
theCoachingIndustry:TheCoachingCube.AcademyofManagementLearning&Edu‐cation10(2):204–221
Shrednick,H.;Shutt,R.;Weiss,M. (1992):Empowerment:Key to ISWorld‐ClassQuality.MISQuarterly16(4):491–505
Silva,L.;Backhouse,J.(2003):TheCircuits‐of‐PowerFrameworkforStudyingPowerinIn‐stitutionalizationof InformationSystems. Journalof theAssociation for InformationSystems4(1):Article14
Silver,M.S.;Markus,M.L.;Beath,C.M. (1995):The InformationTechnology InteractionModel:AFoundationfortheMBACoreCourse.MISQuarterly19(3):361–390
Silverman, D. (1998): Qualitative research:meanings or practices? Information SystemsJournal8(1):3–20
Smaltz,D.H.;Sambamurthy,V.;Agarwal,R.(2006):TheantecedentsofCIOroleeffective‐nessinOrganizations:Anempiricalstudyinthehealthcaresector.IEEETransactionsonEngineeringManagement53(2):207–222
Smith,H.A.;McKeen,J.D.(2005):DevelopmentsinPracticeXIX:BuildingBetterITLead‐ers ‐ From theBottomUp. Communications of theAssociation for Information Sys‐tems16(1):Article38
Steininger, K.; Riedl, R.; Roithmayr, F.;Mertens, P. (2009): Fads andTrends inBusinessand Information Systems Engineering and Information Systems Research – A Com‐parativeLiteratureAnalysis.Business&InformationSystemsEngineering1(6):411–428
Stephan,M.;Gross,P.‐P.;Hildebrandt,N.(2010):ManagementvonCoaching‐Organisationund Marketing innovativer Personalentwicklungsdienstleistungen. Kohlhammer,Stuttgart
Stolze,C.;Boehm,M.;Zarvić,N.;Thomas,O.(2011):TowardsSustainableITbyTeachingGovernancePractices for Inter‐OrganizationalDependencies. In:Nüttgens,M.;Gada‐tsch,A.;Kautz,K.;Schirmer,I.;Blinn,N.:ProceedingsofIFIP8.6HamburgConference,70–88
Swap,W.;Leonard,D.;Shields,M.;Abrams,L.(2001):UsingMentoringandStorytellingtoTransferKnowledge in theWorkplace. JournalofManagement InformationSystems18(1):95–114
Topi, H.; Valacich, J. S.;Wright, R. T.; Kaiser, K.M.; Nunamaker, J. F., Jr.; Sipior, J. C.; deVreede,G. J. (2010): IS2010.CurriculumGuidelines forUndergraduateDegreePro‐
EnablingITProfessionalstoCopewithTechnologicalChangethroughSkill‐basedCoaching 37
Living Lab BPM Research Report 8 2013 |
grams in Information Systems. Communications of the Association for InformationSystems26:Article18
UrffKaufeld,N.von;Chari,V.;Freeme,D.(2009):CriticalSuccessFactorsforEffectiveITLeadership.TheElectronicJournalInformationSystemsEvaluation12(1):119–128
Vygotsky,L.S.(1962):Thoughtandlanguage.MITPress,Cambridge,MAWalsham,G.(1993):Interpretinginformationsystemsinorganizations.JohnWiley,Chich‐
esterWebb, E. J.; Campbell, D. T.; Schwartz, R. D.; Sechrest, L. (1966):Unobtrusivemeasures.
Nonreactiveresearchinthesocialsciences.RandMcNally,ChicagoWerr, A. (2005): Consultant supported ERP implementation ‐ a learning opportunity?
Stockholm School of Economics. SSE/EFIWorking Paper Series in BusinessAdmin‐istrationNo.2005:3,Stockholm
Westerman,G.;Calméjane,C.;Bonnet,D.;Ferraris,P.;McAfee,A.(2011):DigitalTransfor‐mation:ARoadmapforBillionDollarOrganizations.MITCenter forDigitalBusinessandCapgeminiConsulting
Witherspoon,R.;White,R.P.(1996):Executivecoaching:Acontinuumofroles.ConsultingPsychologyJournal:PracticeandResearch48(2):124–133
Yin,R.K.(2009):CaseStudyResearch:DesignandMethods.SagePublications,ThousandOaks,Calif
Living Lab Business Process Management e.V. Universität Osnabrück Katharinenstraße 3 49074 Osnabrück www.living‐lab‐bpm.de ISSN 2193‐777X