Handbook of Management Scales/IT skills

IT skills Description The paper defines and operationalizes eight Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) competence constructs. A two-stage normative process of scale development is followed. First, a portfolio of eight generic constructs that are hypothesized to be associated with successful ERP adoption is identified. Each construct is then operationalized as a multi-item measurement scale by applying a manual item sorting technique iteratively to independent panels of expert judges until tentative reliability and validity is established. Second, the multi-item scales is further refined and validated using survey data from 79 North American manufacturing users of ERP systems. The following items are taken from the IT skills dimension of the ERP competence construct. Definition A competency in IT skills refers to the ability to configure and maintain information systems in support of the business. Items The internal IT staff have the ability to conduct routine ERP system maintenance. There is a high degree of technical expertise in the IT organization. The database administrator is an expert in the ERP database management system. Internal IT team members understand custom ERP software programs. The IT staff are able to efficiently implement ERP system upgrades. The IT staff have the technical ability to conduct a formal validation of all system changes. IT staff are able to analyze the technical impact of proposed system changes. The IT staff actively builds relationships with business managers. IT staff offer ideas on how IT can be used to achieve business goals. IT staff communicate with functional use groups in the ERP Entity. The IT organization provides a service to the business. Source Stratman/Roth (2002): Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Competence Constructs: Two-Stage Multi-Item Scale Development and Validation. Decision Sciences, Vol. 33, No. 4, pp. 601-628.