The need for training in telecommunications: a comparison of the marketing managers’ and information systems managers’ viewpoints
| Date | 01 July 2001 |
| Published date | 01 July 2001 |
| Pages | 252-261 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/02635570110394969 |
| Author | Karen Ketler,John R. Willems |
| Subject Matter | Economics,Information & knowledge management,Management science & operations |
The need for training in telecommunications:
a comparison of the marketing managers' and
information systems managers' viewpoints
Karen Ketler
Eastern Illinois University, Charleston, Illinois, USA
John R. Willems
Eastern Illinois University, Charleston, Illinous, USA
Introduction
History informs us of past mistakes from
which we can learn without repeating them
(William Hastie, quoted at www.bemore
creative.com).
Yet, history is filled with many repetitious
errors. The short history of information
systems is no exception. Do we learn from
history?
The information systems function was
originally centralized with a large
mainframe computer due to the exorbitant
costs of the early computers. As the price of
hardware decreased, decentralization with
mini-computers became prevalent and grew
with the introduction of the personal
computers. However, with decentralized and
distributed systems, issues such as
standardization of hardware and software,
cost savings associated with economies of
scale, and training became problematic.
IS in the 1990s was characterized by both
centralization and decentralization of
resources. While still supporting the
advantages of decentralization, client-server
technology also redeemed some of the
advantages associated with centralization.
The same hardware, software and data could
be shared throughout the organization.
While unique applications can reside on the
client, the applications and data used
throughout the organization resided on the
server. The IS and user areas can be re-
united with client-server technology.
Is history of information systems repeating
itself in the telecommunications area? Is the
telecommunications function faced with the
same problems of decentralization as the IS
function? It is now time to re-unite the user
and the professional to solve training
problems in the telecommunications function.
The remainder of this paper reports the
results of two surveys of marketing and IS
managers about the importance of 30 issues
in telecommunications to their position and
the quality of their training in these issues.
From these data, the researchers computed
training need as the difference between the
importance of the issue and the quality of
training on that issue. Analysis of the
training needs from both the IS and end user
perspective provided interesting results,
including a possible solution to the training
problems which arose with decentralization.
A brief literature review, including
telecommunications training issues from
both the IS and end user viewpoints, is
included in the next section. The
methodology of the surveys is included in the
third section, followed by an analysis of the
results in the fourth section. The final section
summarizes the study and presents a
possible solution to the training dilemma.
Literature review
Training is a growing priority in information
technology departments as the demandsof the
rapidly changingindustry make it difficult for
employees to keep their skills up to date
(Shein, 1998). Training budgets are increasing
(PC Week, 1998), but theproblem is not always
budgetary. Having a big budget does not
always provide the desired results (Flynn,
1998).
Alter and Saia (1998) report that training
budgets differ widely. The organizations with
excellent training budgets tend to spend ten
times more per employee than the
organizations with small training budgets. Yet,
it is the organizations with the smaller training
budgets that receive that highest return on
their training in information technology. This
study recommended simplicity in training.
Another issue in the effectiveness of
training is the link between the training
initiative and the company's strategic agenda
(Barron, 1996). Some organizations are
turning to third-party service firms to assist
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available
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[ 252 ]
Industrial Management &
Data Systems
101/5 [2001] 252±260
#MCB University Press
[ISSN 0263-5577]
Keywords
Marketing management,
Information systems,
Information management,
Telecommunications, Training
Abstract
Reports the results of a recent
study of marketing and
information systems (IS)
managers about the importance of
telecommunications in their
positions and the quality of their
training in telecommunications.
Surprisingly, the marketing
managers rated the importance of
the 30 telecommunications issues
in their positions higher than the
IS managers. Yet, the marketing
managers expressed more
dissatisfaction with their
telecommunications training in
these issues than the IS manager.
The researchers computed
training need as the difference
between the importance of the
issue and the quality of training on
that issue. Although the
marketing manager had a
substantially higher training need
than the IS manager, there was
remarkable agreement on the
issues on which both groups of
managers want additional
training. They seek training on the
managerial issues, such as data
integrity, the use of
telecommunications for a
competitive advantage, strategic
planning of telecommunications
and data security.
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