Management of Continuous Programmer Education within the Irish Software Industry - Research Paper Example

? Management of Continuous Programmer Education within the Irish Software Industry A Research Proposal [Pick the Deftones More often than not Education or Training has been the stepping stone of technical people to change company or to leave the company. The higher the level of education or the more unique the expertise gained by the technical person the higher salary they attract outside the company. Thus, the motivational aspect of sending employees to continued education is at a level that is directly proportional to his productivity. The Software Company who has a lot of competency in its roster is more likely to attract more diverse clients. However, the expense of sending people to expand their knowledge and skills is also expensive since it will require un-billable hours from the employee plus the cost of his education. It is also easier to hire knowledge and experience than to train and suffer the consequence of a learning curve. These conflicting schools of thought are valid issues that need to be addressed by a company that wants to be at the fore front of the industry. It should be noted that every six months, new technologies are introduced in the market, coupled with the new technology is the fact that more and more industry are being automated with it is the geometric expansion of potential clientele translating to new revenue streams. Expertise on the new technology, expertise on the new industry is an advantage that can easily be obtained by hiring or educating the employees on the new trend. This dissertation aims to resolve the issues mentioned earlier by providing a viable strategy that will work both for the company and the employees while settling the issue of attrition. Contents Abstract 2 Contents 3 Introduction 4 Objective of the Research 5 Methodology 6 Qualitative Data 6 Quantitative Data 7 Data Collection Instrument 7 Review of Related Materials 7 Bibliography 14 Introduction Attrition cannot be helped most especially in the information technology industry where new technology is introduced every six months. As more industries are being introduced to the information age more knowledge in these industries through education in the context of information systems is required from the programmers. This is to ensure that the processes inherent to the industry is translated and made operational using the computer systems. While new industries are breaking into the automation and information age, new technology also emerges. The widespread use of the latest technology also brings with it new programming techniques or function calls that capitalizes on the new power of the new technology. Programmers in order to remain competitive should be updated in the latest programming languages, techniques, and technology. It is imperative therefore to ensure that the programmers are not only well versed with the new trends in technology they should also be updated on the latest way of integrating the new technology to their work or project. However, the fragile industry has to contend with its own problem, as new skills are acquired the attrition also increases. Through the use of surveys, this paper shall investigate the various techniques being employed by several software companies in order to balance their need to educate their technical employees and the need to recoup the investment made in training and educating these employees by the company. This paper shall try to improve and provide new techniques to augment what has been learned or at the very least combine the best practice in order to maximize what has been learned from the companies surveyed. To validate the result of the survey and the knowledge learned from the company that could be used as basis in formulating the best practice. Other important information should first be established. It is imperative to know if there is a real need from the company to train or educate their employees. It is equally important to know if the employee is given a choice on the type of training/education he would be taking up. This paper also need to determine if the education or training a pre-requisite for any promotion in the offing. The following information is likewise important to note: Are the employees required to stay in the company until they have completed some kind of technology transfer? Are the employees trained or educated before any project that need the skill set and expertise is required? Other relevant questions shall also be asked that will help in the formulation of the framework that can be adopted by the companies in educating their technical staff. Objective of the Research This research aims to develop a framework that will enable all parties concerned to benefit from the latest direction of the software industry. The Framework should be able to target two specific area that will influence the employees productivity, these are knowledge and motivation. The framework will also resolve if not lessen the impact of attrition in the company. Through extensive research and by analyzing the result of the survey that will be conducted amongst the leading software company I will evaluate the merits of the strategy they are employing to address competency, education, knowledge transfer and attrition. Other areas of concern such as motivation and effectiveness of the training in relation to actual performance and productivity shall also be assessed. By combining the best strategy that shows the best impact to the company shall be considered for the framework that will be developed. A standard heirarchy of the software industry roles shall also be developed including their job description. The competency requirement for each of these roles shall be developed to determine what kind of experience, education is needed, skills and also training required. Methodology In conducting an investigation, primary research can be divided into two parts. These are qualitative and quantitative parts. Each basically has their own merits as explained below. Qualitative Data A qualitative data can be distinct it is an empirical information about the world, and not in the form of number. This concept covers up a very wide range. Denzin and Lincoln (1994), used the term ‘qualitative empirical materials’ and indicated that it includes interview transcripts, recording and notes, personal experience materials, observational records, records of material culture and audio-visual materials. For analysing the educational and training strategies employed by Software Companies. Tangible ideas related to the topic can be gathered by using methods such as observation, rating method by using Likert scale, interviewing relevant resources, and finding related documents in articles and journals can provide the necessary facility in properly analysing and evaluating the selected topic. Quantitative Data Quantitative data indicates the type of data which is used to quantify or specify research outcome and results. It uses measurable outcome to analyse the research data. Quantitative data can be used for analyzing this research proposal. The primary reason behind selecting this approach is to obtain data more quickly and at a low cost. Data Collection Instrument There are various methods used for collecting relevant data according to the requirements of the proposal. For the proposed research topic, the questionnaire method will be the only relevant data collection method as interview method for this study will not be feasible. Questionnaire Questionnaire is the most relevant and useful source for primary research. With the improvement of the technology this method has become more flexible as it can be distributed even by using mail. Questions of the survey are developed on the basis of the literature review. The questionnaire has to be properly linked with research aims and its targeted objectives. Questionnaire can be considered as the most powerful and the utmost effective database. It can consist of both open ended and close ended questions. Questions can also be formed by using Likert scale. As Robson (2002) observed, “a field where it is all difficult to carry out an analysis which is simply wrong, or inappropriate for your purposes. And the negative side of readily available analysis software is that becomes that much easier to generate elegantly presented rubbish” (Robson, 2002). Review of Related Materials “Software development happens in the heads of not only programmers but also non-Information Technology students or workers. The development of the software does not happen in an editor, IDE, or design tool. Programmers are well educated on how to work with software and hardware, but what about wetware—that is their own brains? Learning new skills and new technology is critical to a programmer’s career, and it's all in the programmers’ head. In the book that was written by Andy Hunt, the programmers would be able to learn how their brains are wired, and how to take advantage of the brain's architecture. The programmers are able to learn new tricks and tips to learn more, faster, and retain more of what they learn. They need a pragmatic approach to thinking and learning. They need to Refactor their Wetware. Programmers have to learn constantly; not just the stereotypical new technologies, but also the problem domain of the application, the whims of the user community, the quirks of your teammates, the shifting sands of the industry, and the evolving characteristics of the project itself as it is built.” (Editorial Review, 2008) “Windows programming is complex and has many rules that must be obeyed. Learning those rules can be time-consuming, especially for readers who already know how to program in other programming languages. Those readers want to jump into the language and begin writing simple code immediately. Many programmers who learn Windows programming as their second language have their own philosophy about learning a programming language. “Show me sample code and I’ll figure out the rest,” is a statement that summarizes their approach.” (Gianni, 2000) “The book made by Randal E. Bryant for programmers who want to write faster and more reliable programs. By learning how programs are mapped onto the system and executed, readers will better understand why programs behave the way they do and how inefficiencies arise. Computer systems are viewed broadly, comprising processor and memory hardware, compiler, operating system, and networking environment. With its programmer's perspective, readers can clearly see how learning about the inner workings of computer systems will help their further development as computer scientists and engineers. It also helps prepare them for further study in computer architecture, operating systems, compilers, and networking.” (Bryant, 2002) In addition due to the extensive nature and the plethora of information available in the internet the following journals, books, articles shall be consulted to gain an insight of the pedagogy in the computer industry. The following books shall be consulted to determine the feasibility, effectiveness and strategic importance of education. 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