Too much of and less than a good thing: implications for managing IT professionals

Abstract

The management of information technology (IT) professionals is an important managerial concern. The way that IT organizations manage their IT professionals is essentially manifested in their implementation of human resource management (HRM) practices, such as those related to work environment and career development opportunities, social support, compensation, and employment security. This paper briefly introduces person-environment (P-E) fit theory to explore what an IT professional wants from an employment arrangement and what is supplied by the employer. However, a criticism of P-E fit theory is that it does not specify the form of the relationship between P-E fit and other constructs, such as satisfaction and job search. In order to address this gap, the paper investigates both equity theory and prospect theory as possible explanations. Ultimately, prospect theory is used to develop illustrative hypotheses. The paper then describes the methodology that will be used to test these hypotheses. The results of the tests, when completed, will be used to suggest directions for managing IT professionals and future IT HRM theory development and testing.