Manajemen | Fakultas Ekonomi Universitas Maritim Raja Ali Haji joeb.81.5.282-286
Journal of Education for Business
ISSN: 0883-2323 (Print) 1940-3356 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/vjeb20
Essential Entry-Level Skills for Systems Analysts
Sarbani Banerjee & William Lin
To cite this article: Sarbani Banerjee & William Lin (2006) Essential Entry-Level Skills
for Systems Analysts, Journal of Education for Business, 81:5, 282-286, DOI: 10.3200/
JOEB.81.5.282-286
To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.3200/JOEB.81.5.282-286
Published online: 07 Aug 2010.
Submit your article to this journal
Article views: 42
View related articles
Citing articles: 2 View citing articles
Full Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at
http://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?journalCode=vjeb20
Download by: [Universitas Maritim Raja Ali Haji]
Date: 12 January 2016, At: 22:07
Downloaded by [Universitas Maritim Raja Ali Haji] at 22:07 12 January 2016
Essential Entry-Level Skills for
Systems Analysts
SARBANI BANERJEE
WILLIAM LIN
BUFFALO STATE COLLEGE
BUFFALO, NEW YORK
ABSTRACT. In this study, the authors
provide some details about a variety of
entry-level skills that are vitally important
to systems analysts. They gathered the data
from information technology practitioners,
who related their experiences with realworld systems development projects. Such
empirical evidence may be useful to faculty
as they decide which development practices
to emphasize in information systems curricula, as they attempt to align educational
programs with industry practices, and as
they advise students.
Copyright © 2006 Heldref Publications
282
Journal of Education for Business
I
nformation systems (IS) educators
are often faced with difficult decisions during curricular deliberations.
Should the focus be on cutting-edge,
state-of-the-art trends, regardless of
their mainstream adoption in industry?
Should a program provide an education
and hands-on training with state-of-thepractice tools and methods that will
enable graduates to step right into many
local businesses? Academic programs
that provide a broad IS perspective may
not adequately prepare graduates for
local and regional organizations, yet a
tightly focused training program may
constrain graduates in the larger marketplace. One is often faced with legitimate
justification for either of the above
directions.
All types of software development
projects, ranging from those developed
in-house to those which are completely
outsourced, include requirements such
as gathering, design, development or
coding, quality reviews, and testing.
Educators are charged with educating
and training future professionals. These
new entrants into the field need to be
exposed to technologies, methodologies, and business practices, yet it is
usually difficult to predict how and
where many of these new graduates will
practice their trade.
Our purpose in this study was to identify important skills that entry-level systems professionals, especially systems
analysts, should possess. We targeted
many early activities essential to any systems development project. The early
stages of systems projects are very
important because this is the time when
much crucial information is gathered and
many critical decisions are made. Our
study relies heavily on data we gathered
from practitioners in a particular geographical area. The IS practitioners in
any region must deal with various challenges and pressures. They are the best
source of information about tools, techniques, and methodologies as applied to
real-world systems development projects.
Significance of Study
The information presented here is
important to educators, to students, and
to professionals in the field, as well as to
recent college graduates. According to
Ehie (2002), “A large number of graduates with MIS [management of information systems] degrees most likely would
find jobs as systems analysts” (p. 152).
Aligning educational programs with
industry practices is a constant and continuing theme. Industry perceptions of
academic preparation are not necessarily
positive. “Ask CIO’s to give the nation’s
colleges and universities a report card on
how they are preparing the next generation of IT [information technology] professionals, and they’d respond with a
pretty dismal grade” (sic, Hoffman,
Downloaded by [Universitas Maritim Raja Ali Haji] at 22:07 12 January 2016
2003, p. 1). As far back as 1993, Trauth,
Farwell, and Lee talked about “an
expectation gap between industry needs
and academic preparation” (p. 293) and
about the need for working together to
alleviate the problem. Lippert and Anandarajan (2004) partially blamed the division between academics and practitioners for “numerous systems problems,
including visible and invisible application backlogs, development errors,
neglected or missed deadlines, and
excessive project costs” (p. 91). Given
that “the pipeline for skilled workers
typically comes from academic institutions employing IS and computer science curricula” (Lippert & Anandarajan,
p. 91), this is a critical and current subject. All the curricular areas that compose the “supply pipeline” (e.g., IS;
computer science [CS]; computer information systems [CIS]; MIS; IT) are still
not expected to alleviate the shortage of
trained professionals in the near future
(Ehie; Lippert & Anandarajan).
There are many different approaches
to systems analysis, and systems professionals use a variety of methodologies
and tools. It is imperative that systems
analysis and design courses expose students to emerging practices and technologies, yet one should also be cognizant of long-standing practices and
more traditional methodologies. Our
particular focus on the initial stages of
systems projects underscores the view
that a strong early investigation and a
clear definition of requirements provide
a foundation that is essential to eventual
success and acceptance of systems projects. “Current systems development
practices are concerned with the idea
that increased efforts early in the stages
of development will result in a better
product” (Jerva, 2001, p. 13). Most
issues and questions addressed in this
study are relevant whether systems are
ultimately developed in-house by company employees, or by contractors, purchased from vendors, or approached in
some hybrid fashion using a mix of
available development alternatives.
Systems analysis and design methodologies have been around for decades.
They are meant to be used as guides and
to provide a methodical, disciplined
structure to a long and complex activity.
In his examination of the strengths and
weaknesses of various methods and
tools, Jerva (2001) found no one particular approach provided an ideal solution
to all problem domains. Nevertheless, as
analysts and developers strive to
improve system quality, few would
argue against the use of systematic
methodologies and techniques. As Jerva
stated, “The question of whether
methodologies in general should continue to be used has already been answered
in the resounding popularity and proliferation of component aspects of design
methodologies. Essentially, life-cycle
methods, object-oriented methods, and
prototyping methods have borrowed
from one another to create new transformational paradigms” (p. 19). A comprehensive study by Jones (2003) about
software development practices identified a tremendous variety of approaches
to virtually all phases of development,
but no uniformity to the handling of
generic activities. Jones stated, “After
examining 12,000 projects, we can categorically state that no single development method is universally deployed . . .
we noted over 40 methods for gathering
requirements, over 50 variations in handling software design, over 700 programming languages, and over 30 forms
of testing” (p. 25). Jones went on to
report that requirements collection was
done via traditional methods of interviewing and surveys by some organizations, whereas others used more modern
methods of joint application design
(JAD) or prototyping.
The above review of entry-level job
skills and systems analysis practices
underscores the complexity of the challenge. Educators have to consider local
and regional practices, along with potentially wider trends. Our objective was to
gather and analyze some additional data
from field practitioners about current
and evolving practices that are important
to many constituencies.
METHOD
We developed a questionnaire and
administered it to high-level IT practitioners in a variety of industries. These
professionals have managerial and
supervisory responsibilities within their
organizations while being intricately
involved in detailed systems activities.
These practitioners were all from the
western New York state geographical
area. We mailed a total of 42 surveys
and follow-up reminders during the second half of 2003. Respondents completed the questionnaires anonymously.
The questionnaire provided the participants with a lengthy list of detailed
items categorized as methods, tools, and
techniques. The list consisted of a combined 23 items for these three categories. We included many items about
analysis and design commonly found in
popular textbooks (Dennis, Wixon, &
Tegarden, 2002; Hoffer, George, &
Valacich, 2002; Kendall & Kendall,
2002; Whitten, Bentley, & Dittman,
2004). We modified this list on the basis
of our experience and objectives. Questions listing specified tools, methods,
and techniques led to more focused
responses, as opposed to using broader
(but sometimes more vague) concepts,
such as “structured analysis and design.”
Given that it is almost impossible to present a complete set of detailed items in
any survey, we accepted additional
entries by respondents in virtually all
areas under inquiry. Because our study
centered on the early activities of systems development projects, we did not
include detailed questions about other
tasks integral to any project (e.g., programming, training, implementation). In
addition, we did include a series of
questions pertaining to the demographics of users, projects, and developers.
RESULTS
We received a total of 23 responses,
for a response rate of 55%. The high
response rate may have been partly
attributable to the researchers’ familiarity
with some of the participants via prior
professional interactions. Although 23 is
not a high number, and generalization of
our results is not possible, the respondents are professionally accomplished,
and they represent many industries and
IT departments. Table 1 shows the breakdown of represented industries, by job
title designation and by IT department
size. Thus, this report is a case study of
activities and issues faced by experienced professionals from a wide variety
of IT departments and organizations in a
particular geographical area.
May/June 2006
283
TABLE 1. Characteristics of Respondents to Systems Analyst
Questionnaire
Downloaded by [Universitas Maritim Raja Ali Haji] at 22:07 12 January 2016
Characteristic
Industry represented
Financial
Manufacturing
Health care
Distribution
Sales
Consulting
Information systems (IS) or software development
Education
Utilities
Job title designation
Departmental leadership responsibilitiesa
Project leadership responsiblitiesb
Systems specializationsc
Information technology (IT) department size
< 15
16–50
51–100
> 100
n
%
9
2
2
2
2
2
2
1
1
39.1
8.7
8.7
8.7
8.7
8.7
8.7
4.3
4.3
8
10
5
34.8
43.5
21.7
7
7
6
3
30.4
30.4
26.1
13.0
a
Includes job titles such as Chief Technology Officer, Director of Decision Support Systems, and
Executive Director. bIncludes job titles such as Manager of Database Administration, Project Manager, and Senior Project Manager. c Includes job titles such as Systems Consultant, Systems Architect, and Systems Specialist.
The largest number of respondents
was from financial organizations, followed by a variety of other industries.
The respondents held numerous job titles
that were grouped into three categories.
These categories are artificial delineations denoting what we deemed to be
(a) departmental leadership responsibilities, (b) project leadership responsibilities, and (c) systems specializations.
Sample titles in the first category are
Chief Technology Officer, Director of
Decision Support Systems, and Executive Director. Sample titles in the second
category are Manager of Database
Administration, Project Manager, and
Senior Project Manager. Sample titles in
the third category are Systems Consultant, Systems Architect, and Systems
Specialist. Although it is impossible to
deduce precise job responsibilities and
functions from titles, the group as a
whole was composed of professionals
with a high degree of responsibility and
familiarity with their companies’ practices and priorities. These professionals
also represented IT departments of various sizes that we categorized as (a) small
if they had 15 or fewer employees
(30.4%), (b) midsize if they had l6–50
284
Journal of Education for Business
employees (30.4%), (c) large if they had
50–100 employees (26.1%), and (d) very
large if they had over 100 employees
(13%).
A key objective of our study was to
determine what skill sets were deemed
to be important for entry-level technical
employees, from the perspective of
experienced practitioners. Our statement
was that “entry-level technical employees should be familiar with [a list was
provided],” then we asked the respondents to indicate their level of agreement
or disagreement with the statements.
Data in Table 2 suggest that laborintensive methods, such as document
analysis, observations, and interviews,
are continuing to be viewed by developers as very important skills, just as they
have been from the early days of the discipline. Prototyping, and to some extent
JAD, both of which are more heavily
reliant on hardware and software developments, are also viewed as important
skills to possess if one is a new entrant
into the field. Table 3 shows the techniques respondents’ believe are important for new professionals to know.
Only one item (use-case modeling)
came in below 50% in the highest
importance column. Table 4 lists the
most common software categories with
which entry-level employees are expected to be familiar (e.g., word processors,
spreadsheets, databases). Software tools
for diagramming and project management are also rated very high as important skills for new professionals. It
should be noted particularly that none of
the listed items in the three tables was
dismissed as unimportant for entry-level
professionals. Respondents indicated a
pattern of neutrality in their responses
toward a number of items rather than
dismissing them outright. The most
extreme example here is ComputerAided Systems Engineering or Computer-Aided Software Engineering (CASE)
with a 75% neutral response.
DISCUSSION
Our major objective in this study was
to identify important skills that entrylevel systems professionals should possess. We placed particular emphasis on
TABLE 2. Methods With Which Respondents Believe Entry-Level Systems
Analysts Should Be Familiar, by Level of Agreement
Level of agreement (%)
Method
Document analysis
Observation
Individual interview
Prototyping
Group interview
Joint application design
Questionnaires or survey
Agree or
strongly agree
Neutral
Disagree or
strongly disagree
82.6
68.2
60.8
60.8
34.8
31.8
18.2
13.0
27.3
26.1
26.1
47.8
54.5
59.1
4.3
4.3
13.0
13.0
17.3
13.6
22.7
TABLE 3. Development Techniques With Which Respondents Believe
Entry-Level Systems Analysts Should Be Familiar, by Level of Agreement
Level of agreement (%)
Agree or
Disagree or
strongly
strongly
agree
Neutral
disagree
Downloaded by [Universitas Maritim Raja Ali Haji] at 22:07 12 January 2016
Type of development technique
Structured
Flow charts
Data flow diagrams
Entity relationship diagrams
Structure charts
Decision tables or trees
Structured English or pseudo-code
Object-oriented
Object-oriented modeling
Use-case modeling
95.6
78.2
69.6
68.2
65.2
60.8
0.0
21.7
30.4
31.8
30.4
39.1
4.3
0.0
0.0
0.0
4.3
0.0
52.2
38.1
34.8
47.6
13.0
14.3
TABLE 4. Software Tools With Which Respondents Believe Entry-Level
Systems Analysts Should Be Familiar, by Level of Agreement
Level of agreement (%)
Software tool
Word processing
Spreadsheet
Database
Diagramming
Project management
Visual development
Group collaboration
CASE
Agree or
strongly agree
Neutral
Disagree or
strongly disagree
100.0
100.0
91.3
82.6
65.2
47.6
45.5
5.0
0.0
0.0
8.7
17.4
26.1
47.6
40.9
75.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
8.7
4.8
13.6
20.0
the early activities essential to any systems development project. The early
stages are very important because the
information gathered and decisions
made during this time have a critical
impact on eventual system quality and
acceptance.
The survey results provided information about activities and practices in the
western New York state geographical
area. Although the number of participants does not permit a generalization
of results, many of our findings are supported by the results of other studies. A
number of studies point to various reservations slowing the adoption of objectoriented practices (Johnson & Hardgrave, 1999; Sim & Wright, 2001). The
usage of CASE tools has been dropping
steadily and consistently (Glass, 1999;
Misic & Graf, 2004; Tesch, Klien, &
Sobol, 1995; Van Slyke, Kittner, &
Cheney, 1998). This region, like many
other parts of the country, has faced
many economic challenges, some of
which include a loss of its manufacturing base, population flight, and insufficient opportunities for young people.
Many governmental and private organizations are working to diversify the
economy and transform the labor force.
The experienced IS professionals who
participated in the study are certainly
aware of the situation and understand
their organizational environments. Projects have to be completed. Users and
customers have to be satisfied. Older
legacy systems have to be supported.
Traditional life-cycle approaches, regularly criticized as inherently slow and
cumbersome, often enable faster
progress toward a desirable solution
when used by seasoned professionals
experienced with technology and with
the business. Nevertheless, these same
professionals are also aware of broader
developments and new approaches in
the discipline. Their answers to questions about entry-level skills were generally consistent. Graduates from IS and
related programs should be well-rounded and knowledgeable in many areas,
with a clear emphasis on traditional
practices and methodologies. At the
same time, these new professionals
should not ignore newer developments,
such as object-oriented practices, the
usage of which is expected to continue
rising. CASE tools are very rarely used,
and it is probably not worth expending
resources on this once highly touted
approach.
Conclusions and Implications
IS programs in business schools must
continually review content areas to meet
the changing needs of their constituencies. Skills, such as interviewing, document analysis, data-flow diagramming,
flow-charting, entity-relationship creation, and other proven techniques,
should be taught along with newer
object-oriented analysis and design
methods. A longitudinal perspective
evolving from a number of studies by
Misic and Graf (2004) points to the analytical skills that are a constant finding
in every study. However, systems projects do not exist in a vacuum.
Along with specific systems and
technology skills, entry-level systems
professionals must also understand
their function as a part of the broader
picture, the context of business systems. There would be no systems development without involvement of top
management and operational users,
thus interpersonal and business skills
were important in 1990 (Leitheiser,
1992) and are just as essential today. In
analyzing systems managers’ perceptions of various job skills, Richards,
Yellen, Kappelman, and Guynes (1998)
found “that the items with the highest
ratings have a business or people skills
orientation” (p. 54). Similar findings
were noted by Van Slyke et al. (1998),
who showed that nontechnical skills,
such as teamwork and communications
skills, were more important than specific technical skills. Nord and Nord’s
May/June 2006
285
(1995) findings noted the “overall high
importance level of all managementrelated skills” (p. 50). A broad range of
technical, business, and personal skills
and qualities are clearly important for
future success in the field.
Downloaded by [Universitas Maritim Raja Ali Haji] at 22:07 12 January 2016
Recommendations for Additional
Research
A case study of educational needs
based on professional activities in one
geographical area is limited. Some of
our findings may in fact underscore
common trends and themes in other
regions, but a broader sample would
permit more delineated analysis and
subsequent generalization. Our final
suggestion for further research revolves
around the theme of collaboration. Collaborations may take many different
forms. Student internships, faculty
internships, industry advisory boards,
the integration of actual company projects into course assignments, guest presentations by practitioners in classes,
and research presentations by faculty
members to practitioners are all examples of partnerships. Another form of
partnership, seemingly relatively rare, is
collaboration between academic departments. Systems professionals come
from various disciplines. Departments,
such as IS, CS, CIS, and MIS, represent
286
Journal of Education for Business
clusters of academic expertise and specialization. At the same time this segmentation should not overlook some
common, overlapping interests and curricular content. A close relationship
between academic departments is
bound to strengthen the academic experience of all involved.
NOTE
Correspondence concerning this article should
be addressed to William Lin, Buffalo State College, Chase Hall 222, 1300 Elmwood Avenue,
Buffalo, NY 14222.
E-mail: Linw@Buffalostate.edu
REFERENCES
Dennis, A., Wixon, B. H., & Tegarden, D. (2002).
Systems analysis and design, an object-oriented
approach with UML. New York: Wiley.
Ehie, I. C. (2002). Developing a management
information systems (MIS) curriculum: Perspectives from MIS practitioners. Journal of
Education for Business, 77, 151–158.
Glass, R. L. (1999). A snapshot of systems development practice. IEEE Software, 16(3),
110–112.
Hoffer, J. A., George, J. F., & Valacich, J. S.
(2002). Modern systems analysis and design.
Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education.
Hoffman, T. (2003, August 25). Job skills: Preparing generation Z. Computer World. Retrieved
March 5, 2004, from http://www.computerworld.
com/printthis/2003/0,4814,84295,00.html
Jerva, M. (2001). Systems analysis and design
methodologies: Practicalities and use in today’s
information systems development efforts. Topics in Health Information Management, 21(4),
13–20.
Johnson, R. A., & Hardgrave, W. C. (1999).
Object-oriented methods: Current practices and
attitudes. The Journal of Systems and Software,
48(1), 5–12.
Jones, C. (2003). Variations in software development practices. IEEE Software, 20(6), 22–27.
Kendall, J. E., & Kendall, K. E. (2002). Systems
analysis and design. Upper Saddle River, NJ:
Pearson Education.
Leitheiser, R. L. (1992). MIS skills for the 1990s:
A survey of MIS managers’ perceptions. Journal of Management Information Systems, 9(1),
69–92.
Lippert, S. K., & Anandarajan, M. (2004). Academic vs. practitioner systems planning and analysis. Communications of the ACM, 47(9), 91–92.
Misic, M. M., & Graf, D. K. (2004). Systems analyst activities and skills in the new millennium.
The Journal of Systems and Software, 71, 31–36.
Nord, G. D., & Nord, J. H (1995). Knowledge and
skill requirements important for success as a
systems analyst. Journal of Information Technology Management, 6(3), 47–52.
Richards, T., Yellen, R., Kappelman, L., &
Guynes, S. (1998). Information systems managers’ perceptions of IS job skills. Journal of
Computer Information Systems, 38(3), 53–57.
Sim, E. R., & Wright, G. (2001). The difficulties
of learning object-oriented analysis and design:
An exploratory study. Journal of Computer
Information Systems, 42(2), 95–100.
Tesch, D. B., Klien, G., & Sobol, M. G. (1995).
Information systems professionals’ attitudes:
Development tools and concepts. The Journal
of Systems and Software, 28, 39–47.
Trauth, E. M., Farwell, D. W., & Lee, D. (1993).
The IS expectation gap: Industry expectation
versus academic preparation. MIS Quarterly,
17, 293–307.
Van Slyke, C., Kittner, M., & Cheney, P. (1998).
Skills requirements for entry-level IS graduates: A report from industry. Journal of Information Systems Education, 9(4), 7–11.
Whitten, J. L., Bentley, L. D., & Dittman, K. C.
(2004). Systems analysis and design methods.
New York: McGraw-Hill.
ISSN: 0883-2323 (Print) 1940-3356 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/vjeb20
Essential Entry-Level Skills for Systems Analysts
Sarbani Banerjee & William Lin
To cite this article: Sarbani Banerjee & William Lin (2006) Essential Entry-Level Skills
for Systems Analysts, Journal of Education for Business, 81:5, 282-286, DOI: 10.3200/
JOEB.81.5.282-286
To link to this article: http://dx.doi.org/10.3200/JOEB.81.5.282-286
Published online: 07 Aug 2010.
Submit your article to this journal
Article views: 42
View related articles
Citing articles: 2 View citing articles
Full Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at
http://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?journalCode=vjeb20
Download by: [Universitas Maritim Raja Ali Haji]
Date: 12 January 2016, At: 22:07
Downloaded by [Universitas Maritim Raja Ali Haji] at 22:07 12 January 2016
Essential Entry-Level Skills for
Systems Analysts
SARBANI BANERJEE
WILLIAM LIN
BUFFALO STATE COLLEGE
BUFFALO, NEW YORK
ABSTRACT. In this study, the authors
provide some details about a variety of
entry-level skills that are vitally important
to systems analysts. They gathered the data
from information technology practitioners,
who related their experiences with realworld systems development projects. Such
empirical evidence may be useful to faculty
as they decide which development practices
to emphasize in information systems curricula, as they attempt to align educational
programs with industry practices, and as
they advise students.
Copyright © 2006 Heldref Publications
282
Journal of Education for Business
I
nformation systems (IS) educators
are often faced with difficult decisions during curricular deliberations.
Should the focus be on cutting-edge,
state-of-the-art trends, regardless of
their mainstream adoption in industry?
Should a program provide an education
and hands-on training with state-of-thepractice tools and methods that will
enable graduates to step right into many
local businesses? Academic programs
that provide a broad IS perspective may
not adequately prepare graduates for
local and regional organizations, yet a
tightly focused training program may
constrain graduates in the larger marketplace. One is often faced with legitimate
justification for either of the above
directions.
All types of software development
projects, ranging from those developed
in-house to those which are completely
outsourced, include requirements such
as gathering, design, development or
coding, quality reviews, and testing.
Educators are charged with educating
and training future professionals. These
new entrants into the field need to be
exposed to technologies, methodologies, and business practices, yet it is
usually difficult to predict how and
where many of these new graduates will
practice their trade.
Our purpose in this study was to identify important skills that entry-level systems professionals, especially systems
analysts, should possess. We targeted
many early activities essential to any systems development project. The early
stages of systems projects are very
important because this is the time when
much crucial information is gathered and
many critical decisions are made. Our
study relies heavily on data we gathered
from practitioners in a particular geographical area. The IS practitioners in
any region must deal with various challenges and pressures. They are the best
source of information about tools, techniques, and methodologies as applied to
real-world systems development projects.
Significance of Study
The information presented here is
important to educators, to students, and
to professionals in the field, as well as to
recent college graduates. According to
Ehie (2002), “A large number of graduates with MIS [management of information systems] degrees most likely would
find jobs as systems analysts” (p. 152).
Aligning educational programs with
industry practices is a constant and continuing theme. Industry perceptions of
academic preparation are not necessarily
positive. “Ask CIO’s to give the nation’s
colleges and universities a report card on
how they are preparing the next generation of IT [information technology] professionals, and they’d respond with a
pretty dismal grade” (sic, Hoffman,
Downloaded by [Universitas Maritim Raja Ali Haji] at 22:07 12 January 2016
2003, p. 1). As far back as 1993, Trauth,
Farwell, and Lee talked about “an
expectation gap between industry needs
and academic preparation” (p. 293) and
about the need for working together to
alleviate the problem. Lippert and Anandarajan (2004) partially blamed the division between academics and practitioners for “numerous systems problems,
including visible and invisible application backlogs, development errors,
neglected or missed deadlines, and
excessive project costs” (p. 91). Given
that “the pipeline for skilled workers
typically comes from academic institutions employing IS and computer science curricula” (Lippert & Anandarajan,
p. 91), this is a critical and current subject. All the curricular areas that compose the “supply pipeline” (e.g., IS;
computer science [CS]; computer information systems [CIS]; MIS; IT) are still
not expected to alleviate the shortage of
trained professionals in the near future
(Ehie; Lippert & Anandarajan).
There are many different approaches
to systems analysis, and systems professionals use a variety of methodologies
and tools. It is imperative that systems
analysis and design courses expose students to emerging practices and technologies, yet one should also be cognizant of long-standing practices and
more traditional methodologies. Our
particular focus on the initial stages of
systems projects underscores the view
that a strong early investigation and a
clear definition of requirements provide
a foundation that is essential to eventual
success and acceptance of systems projects. “Current systems development
practices are concerned with the idea
that increased efforts early in the stages
of development will result in a better
product” (Jerva, 2001, p. 13). Most
issues and questions addressed in this
study are relevant whether systems are
ultimately developed in-house by company employees, or by contractors, purchased from vendors, or approached in
some hybrid fashion using a mix of
available development alternatives.
Systems analysis and design methodologies have been around for decades.
They are meant to be used as guides and
to provide a methodical, disciplined
structure to a long and complex activity.
In his examination of the strengths and
weaknesses of various methods and
tools, Jerva (2001) found no one particular approach provided an ideal solution
to all problem domains. Nevertheless, as
analysts and developers strive to
improve system quality, few would
argue against the use of systematic
methodologies and techniques. As Jerva
stated, “The question of whether
methodologies in general should continue to be used has already been answered
in the resounding popularity and proliferation of component aspects of design
methodologies. Essentially, life-cycle
methods, object-oriented methods, and
prototyping methods have borrowed
from one another to create new transformational paradigms” (p. 19). A comprehensive study by Jones (2003) about
software development practices identified a tremendous variety of approaches
to virtually all phases of development,
but no uniformity to the handling of
generic activities. Jones stated, “After
examining 12,000 projects, we can categorically state that no single development method is universally deployed . . .
we noted over 40 methods for gathering
requirements, over 50 variations in handling software design, over 700 programming languages, and over 30 forms
of testing” (p. 25). Jones went on to
report that requirements collection was
done via traditional methods of interviewing and surveys by some organizations, whereas others used more modern
methods of joint application design
(JAD) or prototyping.
The above review of entry-level job
skills and systems analysis practices
underscores the complexity of the challenge. Educators have to consider local
and regional practices, along with potentially wider trends. Our objective was to
gather and analyze some additional data
from field practitioners about current
and evolving practices that are important
to many constituencies.
METHOD
We developed a questionnaire and
administered it to high-level IT practitioners in a variety of industries. These
professionals have managerial and
supervisory responsibilities within their
organizations while being intricately
involved in detailed systems activities.
These practitioners were all from the
western New York state geographical
area. We mailed a total of 42 surveys
and follow-up reminders during the second half of 2003. Respondents completed the questionnaires anonymously.
The questionnaire provided the participants with a lengthy list of detailed
items categorized as methods, tools, and
techniques. The list consisted of a combined 23 items for these three categories. We included many items about
analysis and design commonly found in
popular textbooks (Dennis, Wixon, &
Tegarden, 2002; Hoffer, George, &
Valacich, 2002; Kendall & Kendall,
2002; Whitten, Bentley, & Dittman,
2004). We modified this list on the basis
of our experience and objectives. Questions listing specified tools, methods,
and techniques led to more focused
responses, as opposed to using broader
(but sometimes more vague) concepts,
such as “structured analysis and design.”
Given that it is almost impossible to present a complete set of detailed items in
any survey, we accepted additional
entries by respondents in virtually all
areas under inquiry. Because our study
centered on the early activities of systems development projects, we did not
include detailed questions about other
tasks integral to any project (e.g., programming, training, implementation). In
addition, we did include a series of
questions pertaining to the demographics of users, projects, and developers.
RESULTS
We received a total of 23 responses,
for a response rate of 55%. The high
response rate may have been partly
attributable to the researchers’ familiarity
with some of the participants via prior
professional interactions. Although 23 is
not a high number, and generalization of
our results is not possible, the respondents are professionally accomplished,
and they represent many industries and
IT departments. Table 1 shows the breakdown of represented industries, by job
title designation and by IT department
size. Thus, this report is a case study of
activities and issues faced by experienced professionals from a wide variety
of IT departments and organizations in a
particular geographical area.
May/June 2006
283
TABLE 1. Characteristics of Respondents to Systems Analyst
Questionnaire
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Characteristic
Industry represented
Financial
Manufacturing
Health care
Distribution
Sales
Consulting
Information systems (IS) or software development
Education
Utilities
Job title designation
Departmental leadership responsibilitiesa
Project leadership responsiblitiesb
Systems specializationsc
Information technology (IT) department size
< 15
16–50
51–100
> 100
n
%
9
2
2
2
2
2
2
1
1
39.1
8.7
8.7
8.7
8.7
8.7
8.7
4.3
4.3
8
10
5
34.8
43.5
21.7
7
7
6
3
30.4
30.4
26.1
13.0
a
Includes job titles such as Chief Technology Officer, Director of Decision Support Systems, and
Executive Director. bIncludes job titles such as Manager of Database Administration, Project Manager, and Senior Project Manager. c Includes job titles such as Systems Consultant, Systems Architect, and Systems Specialist.
The largest number of respondents
was from financial organizations, followed by a variety of other industries.
The respondents held numerous job titles
that were grouped into three categories.
These categories are artificial delineations denoting what we deemed to be
(a) departmental leadership responsibilities, (b) project leadership responsibilities, and (c) systems specializations.
Sample titles in the first category are
Chief Technology Officer, Director of
Decision Support Systems, and Executive Director. Sample titles in the second
category are Manager of Database
Administration, Project Manager, and
Senior Project Manager. Sample titles in
the third category are Systems Consultant, Systems Architect, and Systems
Specialist. Although it is impossible to
deduce precise job responsibilities and
functions from titles, the group as a
whole was composed of professionals
with a high degree of responsibility and
familiarity with their companies’ practices and priorities. These professionals
also represented IT departments of various sizes that we categorized as (a) small
if they had 15 or fewer employees
(30.4%), (b) midsize if they had l6–50
284
Journal of Education for Business
employees (30.4%), (c) large if they had
50–100 employees (26.1%), and (d) very
large if they had over 100 employees
(13%).
A key objective of our study was to
determine what skill sets were deemed
to be important for entry-level technical
employees, from the perspective of
experienced practitioners. Our statement
was that “entry-level technical employees should be familiar with [a list was
provided],” then we asked the respondents to indicate their level of agreement
or disagreement with the statements.
Data in Table 2 suggest that laborintensive methods, such as document
analysis, observations, and interviews,
are continuing to be viewed by developers as very important skills, just as they
have been from the early days of the discipline. Prototyping, and to some extent
JAD, both of which are more heavily
reliant on hardware and software developments, are also viewed as important
skills to possess if one is a new entrant
into the field. Table 3 shows the techniques respondents’ believe are important for new professionals to know.
Only one item (use-case modeling)
came in below 50% in the highest
importance column. Table 4 lists the
most common software categories with
which entry-level employees are expected to be familiar (e.g., word processors,
spreadsheets, databases). Software tools
for diagramming and project management are also rated very high as important skills for new professionals. It
should be noted particularly that none of
the listed items in the three tables was
dismissed as unimportant for entry-level
professionals. Respondents indicated a
pattern of neutrality in their responses
toward a number of items rather than
dismissing them outright. The most
extreme example here is ComputerAided Systems Engineering or Computer-Aided Software Engineering (CASE)
with a 75% neutral response.
DISCUSSION
Our major objective in this study was
to identify important skills that entrylevel systems professionals should possess. We placed particular emphasis on
TABLE 2. Methods With Which Respondents Believe Entry-Level Systems
Analysts Should Be Familiar, by Level of Agreement
Level of agreement (%)
Method
Document analysis
Observation
Individual interview
Prototyping
Group interview
Joint application design
Questionnaires or survey
Agree or
strongly agree
Neutral
Disagree or
strongly disagree
82.6
68.2
60.8
60.8
34.8
31.8
18.2
13.0
27.3
26.1
26.1
47.8
54.5
59.1
4.3
4.3
13.0
13.0
17.3
13.6
22.7
TABLE 3. Development Techniques With Which Respondents Believe
Entry-Level Systems Analysts Should Be Familiar, by Level of Agreement
Level of agreement (%)
Agree or
Disagree or
strongly
strongly
agree
Neutral
disagree
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Type of development technique
Structured
Flow charts
Data flow diagrams
Entity relationship diagrams
Structure charts
Decision tables or trees
Structured English or pseudo-code
Object-oriented
Object-oriented modeling
Use-case modeling
95.6
78.2
69.6
68.2
65.2
60.8
0.0
21.7
30.4
31.8
30.4
39.1
4.3
0.0
0.0
0.0
4.3
0.0
52.2
38.1
34.8
47.6
13.0
14.3
TABLE 4. Software Tools With Which Respondents Believe Entry-Level
Systems Analysts Should Be Familiar, by Level of Agreement
Level of agreement (%)
Software tool
Word processing
Spreadsheet
Database
Diagramming
Project management
Visual development
Group collaboration
CASE
Agree or
strongly agree
Neutral
Disagree or
strongly disagree
100.0
100.0
91.3
82.6
65.2
47.6
45.5
5.0
0.0
0.0
8.7
17.4
26.1
47.6
40.9
75.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
0.0
8.7
4.8
13.6
20.0
the early activities essential to any systems development project. The early
stages are very important because the
information gathered and decisions
made during this time have a critical
impact on eventual system quality and
acceptance.
The survey results provided information about activities and practices in the
western New York state geographical
area. Although the number of participants does not permit a generalization
of results, many of our findings are supported by the results of other studies. A
number of studies point to various reservations slowing the adoption of objectoriented practices (Johnson & Hardgrave, 1999; Sim & Wright, 2001). The
usage of CASE tools has been dropping
steadily and consistently (Glass, 1999;
Misic & Graf, 2004; Tesch, Klien, &
Sobol, 1995; Van Slyke, Kittner, &
Cheney, 1998). This region, like many
other parts of the country, has faced
many economic challenges, some of
which include a loss of its manufacturing base, population flight, and insufficient opportunities for young people.
Many governmental and private organizations are working to diversify the
economy and transform the labor force.
The experienced IS professionals who
participated in the study are certainly
aware of the situation and understand
their organizational environments. Projects have to be completed. Users and
customers have to be satisfied. Older
legacy systems have to be supported.
Traditional life-cycle approaches, regularly criticized as inherently slow and
cumbersome, often enable faster
progress toward a desirable solution
when used by seasoned professionals
experienced with technology and with
the business. Nevertheless, these same
professionals are also aware of broader
developments and new approaches in
the discipline. Their answers to questions about entry-level skills were generally consistent. Graduates from IS and
related programs should be well-rounded and knowledgeable in many areas,
with a clear emphasis on traditional
practices and methodologies. At the
same time, these new professionals
should not ignore newer developments,
such as object-oriented practices, the
usage of which is expected to continue
rising. CASE tools are very rarely used,
and it is probably not worth expending
resources on this once highly touted
approach.
Conclusions and Implications
IS programs in business schools must
continually review content areas to meet
the changing needs of their constituencies. Skills, such as interviewing, document analysis, data-flow diagramming,
flow-charting, entity-relationship creation, and other proven techniques,
should be taught along with newer
object-oriented analysis and design
methods. A longitudinal perspective
evolving from a number of studies by
Misic and Graf (2004) points to the analytical skills that are a constant finding
in every study. However, systems projects do not exist in a vacuum.
Along with specific systems and
technology skills, entry-level systems
professionals must also understand
their function as a part of the broader
picture, the context of business systems. There would be no systems development without involvement of top
management and operational users,
thus interpersonal and business skills
were important in 1990 (Leitheiser,
1992) and are just as essential today. In
analyzing systems managers’ perceptions of various job skills, Richards,
Yellen, Kappelman, and Guynes (1998)
found “that the items with the highest
ratings have a business or people skills
orientation” (p. 54). Similar findings
were noted by Van Slyke et al. (1998),
who showed that nontechnical skills,
such as teamwork and communications
skills, were more important than specific technical skills. Nord and Nord’s
May/June 2006
285
(1995) findings noted the “overall high
importance level of all managementrelated skills” (p. 50). A broad range of
technical, business, and personal skills
and qualities are clearly important for
future success in the field.
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Recommendations for Additional
Research
A case study of educational needs
based on professional activities in one
geographical area is limited. Some of
our findings may in fact underscore
common trends and themes in other
regions, but a broader sample would
permit more delineated analysis and
subsequent generalization. Our final
suggestion for further research revolves
around the theme of collaboration. Collaborations may take many different
forms. Student internships, faculty
internships, industry advisory boards,
the integration of actual company projects into course assignments, guest presentations by practitioners in classes,
and research presentations by faculty
members to practitioners are all examples of partnerships. Another form of
partnership, seemingly relatively rare, is
collaboration between academic departments. Systems professionals come
from various disciplines. Departments,
such as IS, CS, CIS, and MIS, represent
286
Journal of Education for Business
clusters of academic expertise and specialization. At the same time this segmentation should not overlook some
common, overlapping interests and curricular content. A close relationship
between academic departments is
bound to strengthen the academic experience of all involved.
NOTE
Correspondence concerning this article should
be addressed to William Lin, Buffalo State College, Chase Hall 222, 1300 Elmwood Avenue,
Buffalo, NY 14222.
E-mail: Linw@Buffalostate.edu
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