Career Orientations of MIS Employees: An Empirical Analysis

Author(s): Magid Igbaria, Jeffrey H. Greenhaus and Saroj Parasuraman

Source: MIS Quarterly, Vol. 15, No. 2 (Jun., 1991), pp. 151-169
Published by: Management Information Systems Research Center, University of Minnesota
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Career Orientations
of MIS Employees:
An Empirical Analysis
By: Magid Igbaria
Jeffrey H. Greenhaus
Saroj Parasuraman
Department of Management
Drexel University
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104
Abstract
The career orientationsof employees can have
importantimplicationsfor theirjob satisfaction,
commitment,and retentionwithinorganizations.
However,there is littleempiricalresearch on the
correlates of career orientationsheld by man-
agers and professionals in the MIS field. This
study sought to address this gap in the literature
and assessed the careerorientationsof 464 MIS
employees, as well as their relationship with
selected demographiccharacteristics,job type,
and careeroutcomes. Themost prevalentcareer
orientationsof MISemployees were foundto be
technical and managerial. Autonomy and life-
style orientations were also found to be mod-
eratelyrepresentedin the sample. Womenwere
more lifestyle oriented and less technically
orientedthanmen. Inaddition,systems program-
mers, applicationsprogrammers,and software
engineers tended to be technically oriented,
whereas systems analysts, projectleaders, and
computermanagers tended to be managerially
oriented. The most significant finding was that
employees whose career orientationswere com-
patible with theirjob setting reported high job
satisfaction,highcareersatisfaction,strongcom-
mitmentto theirorganization,and low intentions
to leave theirorganization.Firmsneed to recog-
nize the diversityof career orientationsso that
appropriaterewardsystems and careerpaths can
be developed.Researchon this topicshouldcon-
tinue to examine characteristicsunique to MIS
employees, as well as how these interrelation-
ships change over timeat differentcareerstages.
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MIS Career Orientation
Keywords:MISpersonnel,career management,
career orientations/anchors
ACMCategories: K.6., K.6.1, K.7.1
Introduction
The sustained growthof career opportunitiesfor
managementinformationsystems (MIS)person-
nel (Connolly,1988;Rifkin,1985;Saks, 1989)has
highlightedthe need for increased research on
career issues as they pertainto MISemployees
(Bartol,1983; Bartoland Martin,1982; Baroudi,
1985; Ginzbergand Baroudi,1988; Hartogand
Herbert,1986; Turnerand Baroudi,1986). Prior
research on MIScareers has tended to concen-
trateon the "externalcareer"of employees;that
is, on the sequence of jobs and positionsthrough
which employees progress (Van Maanen and
Schein, 1977). Littleattentionhas been devoted
to examiningaspects of the "internalcareer" of
MISpersonnel-individuals' aspirations,values,
perceptions, and affective reactions to job
experiences-which can have importantimplica-
tions for their satisfaction, commitment, and
retention within the organization. Noting the
dearth of research in this area, Ginzberg and
Baroudi (1988) called for an examination of
issues pertainingto the internalcareer of MIS
employees, focusing on their self-concept and
career values.
An importantelement of an employee's internal
career is the career anchor(Schein, 1971; 1975)
or career orientation(DeLong, 1982). A career
anchorrefersto a clusterof self-perceivedneeds,
values, and talents that give shape to an
employee's career decisions. It can be thought
of as a centralcomponentof the self-conceptthat
an employee is unwillingto relinquish,even if
forced to make a difficultchoice. Schein (1987)
has identifiedeight career anchorsthatguide an
employee's career decisions: (1) security/stabili-
ty; (2) autonomy/independence;(3) managerial
competence; (4) technical or functionalcompe-
tence; (5) entrepreneurialcreativity;(6) sense of
service/dedication;(7) pure challenge; and (8)
lifestyle integration.
An employee's career anchor or career orien-
tation1is significant because it influences the
1
Forthe remainderof this article,we use the more general
term career orientationto refer to the career anchors
specified by Schein (1985).
MIS Quarterly/June1991 151
MIS Career Orientation
selection of specific occupations and workset-
tings, and it affects the employee's reactionsto
his or her workexperiences (Schein, 1975). The
purpose of this study was to examine the career
orientationsof MISemployees and assess the
relationshipsof employees' career orientations
with their work experiences and job attitudes.
Specifically, this study was guided by three
research questions: (1) What is the relativefre-
quency of each type of career orientationamong
a sample of MISemployees? (2) Are there dif-
ferences in the demographicbackgroundsand
the types of jobs held by employees withdifferent
career orientations?(3) Are employees whose
career orientation"matches" their currentjob
setting more satisfied withtheirjob and career,
more committedto their organization,and less
inclinedto leave theirorganizationthan employ-
ees whose orientationdoes not "match"theirjob
setting?
To our knowledge, there has been no priorem-
pirical research that explicitly examined the
careerorientationsheld by MISemployees. How-
ever, there is reason to believe that the most
prevalentcareer orientationsof MISpersonnel
are eithertechnicalor managerial(Chesebrough
and Davis, 1983; Lucas, 1989). The technically
oriented employee stronglyprefers to remaina
specialist in the MISfunctionwithouttaking on
broad managerialresponsibilities,whereas the
mangeriallyorientedemployee aspires to move
increasinglytowardadministrationand general
management where different motives, talents,
and interpersonalskills are criticalto success.
Infact, the concept of a dual-careerpath within
the MISfunction(Ginzbergand Baroudi,1988)
implicitlyassumes that most MISemployees are
oriented toward either technical or managerial
careers. Therefore, the followinghypothesis is
proposed.
Hypothesis 1:
Ho: MIS employees are as likely to hold
technical or managerial career orienta-
tions, such as security, autonomy, en-
trepreneurial, service, pure challenge,
or lifestyle career orientations.
H1: MISemployees are more likely to hold
technical or managerial career orienta-
tions other than security, autonomy,
entrepreneurial, service, pure chal-
lenge, or lifestyle career orientations.
152 MIS Quarterly/June1991
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Since career orientationsinfluencethe selection
of specific occupations and job settings, MIS
employees with differentorientationsare likely
to be found in somewhat differenttypes of jobs
withintheirorganizations.The fact that program-
mers often preferto remainin technicalpositions
and systems analysts consider moves to a man-
agerial career ladder(Carlyle,1989; Ferrattand
Starke, 1989) suggests that employees with a
technical orientation are more likely to hold
technical staff positions, whereas managerially
oriented employees are more likelyto hold ad-
ministrative positions. Therefore, it appears
reasonable to expect that employees withtech-
nical and managerial orientations will hold
technical and managerialjobs respectively.
Hypothesis 2:
Ho: The career orientations of MISemploy-
ees are unrelated to the type of posi-
tions they hold.
Hi: MISemployees with a technical career
orientation are more likely to hold
technical positions than non-technical
positions, and those with a managerial
career orientation are more likely to
hold managerial positions than non-
managerial positions.
Althoughno formalhypotheses were offered,we
also exploredthe possibilitythat employees with
other career orientations (e.g., challenge or
lifestyle)willclusterin certainjobs withinthe MIS
field.
The conceptof person-environment fit,whichhas
been examinedin the contextof workadjustment
(Dawis and Lofquist,1984), job stress (Caplan,
1983; Caplan,et al., 1980; Harrison,1985), and
job design (Hackmanand Oldham, 1980; Hulin
and Blood, 1968), is centralto our investigation.
Person-environmentfit is reflectedby the extent
to which:(1) the resources and rewardsprovid-
ed by the job are compatiblewiththe employee's
needs and preferences;and (2)the demands and
requirementsof the job are compatiblewiththe
employee's skillsand abilities.The potentialcon-
sequences of a lack of employee job fit include
anxiety, strain, job dissatisfaction, and other
negativeoutcomes (Caplan,1983;Caplan,et al.,
1980; Dawisand Lofquist,1984; Harrison,1985).
The research described in this articleexamined
the match or compatibilitybetween an employ-

ee's career orientationand his or her currentjob
setting. A job is compatiblewith a career orien-
tation when it involves job duties and assign-
ments thatthe employee finds interesting,when
it requiresabilitiesthatthe employee possesses
and values, and when it provides rewardsthat
the employee finds desirable. Because of these
features, employees whose jobs are compatible
with their career orientationshould experience
positivefeelingsabouttheirworklivesand should
feel bonded to their organization.
Hypothesis 3:
Ho:The match between career orientation
and job setting is unrelated to MISem-
ployees' job satisfaction, career satis-
faction, organizationalcommitment,and
intention to leave.
H1:MIS employees whose career orienta-
tion matches their current job setting
are more satisfied with their job and
career, more committed to their organi-
zation, and less inclined to leave their
organization than employees whose or-
ientation does net match their job
setting.
In summary, this study sought to examine the
distributionof differentcareer orientationswithin
the MIS field, identify background and job
characteristics associated with each type of
career orientation,and examine the impactof a
match between orientationand job setting on
several career outcomes. The findings of this
researchshouldprovidevaluableinsightsintothe
career orientationsof MISemployees, as well as
informationrelevant to the establishment of
human resource strategies for managing the
careers of MISemployees.
Method
Sample and procedure
A questionnaire was distributed to 2,548
members of the Association for Computing
Machinery(ACM)in Pennsylvania,Delaware,and
southern New Jersey. The sample was chosen
because members of ACM represent a wide
varietyof jobs and organizationalsettings. Five
hundred and seventeen questionnaires (re-
sponse rateof 20.3 percent)were returnedto the
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MIS Career Orientation
researchers. This response rate appears to be
consistent with other mail surveys (George and
Barksdale, 1974; McNamara,1972). Fiftythree
questionnaireswere eliminateddue to missing
data or subject unsuitability(retiredemployees
and faculty at academic institutions),leaving a
finalsample of 464 employees (response rate of
18.2 percent).The participantsin this study held
a varietyof positions withinthe computerfield,
reflectingconsiderable heterogeneitywithinthe
MISprofession. Table 1 presents a summaryof
the demographiccharacteristicsof the sample.
Inview of the somewhat low response rateto the
survey, itwas necessary to determinethe repre-
sentativeness of the sample to the populationof
ACM members (see Table 1). Fletcher, et al.
(1986)reportedthat85 percentof ACMmembers
were men, whereas 80.3 percent of our sample
were men. Furthermore,94 percent of ACM
members are reported to be 55 years old or
younger, compared with 93.2 percent in our
sample. Withregardto education,Fletcher,et al.
(1986)reportedthat56 percentof ACMmembers
had a master's degree (51 percent in our
sample), while92 percentof ACMmembers had
at least a bachelor'sdegree (comparedto 94 per-
cent in our sample). In addition,we found that
49.5 percent of the participantshad fewer than
nine years of computer experience (versus 48
percent in the ACMreport),67.7 per cent had
fewerthan 14 years of computerexperience(ver-
sus 68 percent in the ACMreport),and 10 per-
cent of the participantsin our sample had more
than 25 years of experience in computers (ver-
sus 9 percentin the ACMreport).These data pro-
vide substantialevidence that the demographic
characteristicsof oursample are quite similarto
those of the total ACMpopulation.
Measures
Gender and maritalstatus were coded to create
dichotomous variables. Age was measured in
years. Respondents indicatedtheirjob titlein an
open-ended item. Education consisted of six
levels from(1) some high school to (6) graduate
or professional degree. Salary consisted of six
tiers from (1) below $25,000 to (6) $65,000 or
above. Organizationallevel consisted of two
levels: (1) professionalsand (2) supervisorsand
managers. Tenure in the current job and or-
ganizationwas measuredby the numberof years
MIS Quarterly/June1991 153
MIS Career Orientation

Table 1. Demographic Characteristics of the Sample (N = 464)

Variables Sample ACM Population*

Gender
Male 80.3% 85.0%
Female 19.7% 15.0%
Education
Some High School or Less 0.0%
High School 0.2%
Some College 5.2%
Bachelor's Degree 21.3%
Some Graduate School 21.9%
Graduate Degree 51.4% 56.0%
Had at least a Bachelor's Degree 94.6% 92.0%
MaritalStatus
Unmarried 31.8%
Married 68.2%

Organizational Level
Professional 53.9%
Management 46.1%

Salary Categories
Below $25,000 4.2%
25,000-34,999 16.4%
35,000-44,999 24.4%
45,000-54,999 20.5%/
55,000-64,999 15.3%
65,000 or above 19.2%/

Size of Computer Department (Number of Employees)

1-5 12.7%
6-10 9.8%
11-20 11.1%
21-30 7.4%
Above 30 59.0%
Age
Mean = 37.76 S.D. = 9.46 Range = 22-67
55 years old or younger 93.2% 94.0%

Organizational Tenure (in Years)

Mean = 6.27 S.D. = 6.18 Range = 1-36

Job Tenure (in Years)

Mean = 3.67 S.D. = 3.69 Range = .5-28

Number of Years in MIS Field

Mean = 11.96 S.D. = 8.08 Range = 1-36
9 years or less 49.5% 48.0%
14 years or less 67.7% 68.0%
Morethan 25 years 10.0% 9.0%

*The ACM percentages are based on the work of Fletcher, et al. (1986). Other figures were not reported.

154 MIS Quarterly/June1991

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an individualhad been employed in his/her job
and organization,respectively.Participantswere
also asked to indicatehow manyyears they had
been in the MISfield. The demographic items
were includedin the backgroundinformation sec-
tion of the survey.
Career Orientation. Career orientation was
assessed withthe 41-itemCareerOrientationsIn-
ventory(Schein, 1985). Respondents indicated
the importanceof each of 21 items relatingto
their career (e.g., "to build my career around
some specific functionalor technical area") on
a five-pointscale from 1 (of no importance)to 5
(centrallyimportant).Additionally,individualsin-
dicatedthe extentto whichtheythoughtthateach
of 20 items relatingto career preferences (e.g.,
"Duringmy careerI have been mainlyconcerned
with my own sense of freedom and autonomy")
was true of them, using a response scale from
1 (not at all true) to 5 (completelytrue).
Because the factorstructureof the CareerOrien-
tationsInventoryhas not been firmlyestablished,
a factoranalysis (withvarimaxrotation)was con-
ducted. The initialfactor analysis produced 11
factorswitheigenvalues > 1.0 thataccountedfor
68.8 percent of the total variance.All 11 factors
were examinedagainst the eight career anchors
specified by Schein (1985). The criteriaused to
identifyand interpretfactors were that a given
item should load .50 or higheron a specific fac-
torand have a loadingno higherthan .35 on other
factors.The homogeneityof the itemswithineach
factorwas establishedfurtherby computingtheir
internalconsistency reliabilitycoefficient (coef-
ficientalpha) applyingthe formularecommend-
ed by Cronbach(1951). This formulais widely
used as a measure of internalconsistency and
representsa conservativeestimateof the reliabili-
ty of a scale (Armor,1974).
Examinationof the initialfactorresults revealed
that five factors were identicalto or correspond-
ed very closely to five of Schein's (1985) career
anchors.2
* One factor consisted of the five items
developed by Schein to measure autonomy.
Accordingto Schein, autonomy-orientedindi-
vidualsseek worksituationsin whichthey will
be maximallyfree of organizationalconstraints
and restrictionsto pursue their professional
2
A copy of the factormatrixis availablefromthe authors.
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MIS Career Orientation
competence. Responses to the five itemswere
averaged to producean autonomyorientation
score. The internalconsistencyreliability
(coef-
ficient alpha) of the scale was .81.
* A second factorconsisted of five times iden-
tifiedby Schein as reflectingmanagerialcom-
petence. Manageriallyoriented employees,
who wish to supervise, influence, and lead
others, seek promotionsto general manager
positions as a vehicle to achieve feelings of
success. Responses to the five items were
averaged to producea managerialorientation
of the
score. The internalconsistencyreliability
scale was .86.
* A thirdfactorincludedfourof the fiveitemsthat
Schein considered relevantto creativityand
entrepreneurship.These individualsneed to
create something on theirown by developing
a new produce or service, by buildinga new
business enterprisethroughfinancialmanipu-
lation,or by startingand buildinga business
of theirown. Responses to the fouritemswere
averaged to produce an entrepreneurship
score. The internalconsistencyreliability
of the
scale was .91.
* A fourthfactorincludedfive items identifiedby
Schein as reflectinga dedication to a cause
or sense of service. Employees scoring high
on this factor are dedicated to serve other
people and to make the worlda better place
in which to live and work. Responses to the
five items were averaged to producea service
orientationscore. The alpha reliabilityof the
measure was .83.
* A fifthfactorconsisted of five items relatedto
lifestyle integration. Individualswith a high
score desire to develop a lifestyle that in-
tegratesfamilyconcerns,careerconcerns,and
concerns for self development. Responses to
the five items were averagedto producea life-
style orientationscore. The internalconsisten-
cy reliabilityof the scale as used in this study
was .73.
The other three career anchors identified by
Schein (1985) were each represented by two
closely related factors from our analysis.
* Two factors were relatedto security, the first
factor(three items) dealing withgeographical
security(e.g., puttingdownroots),and the sec-
ond factor (three items) reflectingthe desire
MIS Quarterly/June1991 155
 MIS Career Orientation
for secure ties with the organization.Since
bothfactorswere relatedto an underlyingcon-
cern forsecurity(confirmedby a second-order
factor analysis), the six items from both fac-
tors were averaged to create a securityorien-
tationscore. The internalconsistencyreliability
of the scale was .80.
* Twofactors(one containingtwo items and the
other containing three items) tapped the
technical features of the job situation,focus-
ing on a primary interest in the intrinsic,
technicalcontentof the workand the functional
area represented by the work.Because of the
common focus on technical issues repre-
sented by these two factors (again confirmed
by a second-order factor analysis), the five
items were averaged to create a technical
orientationscore. The five-itemscale had an
internalconsistency reliabilityof .74.
* The finaltwo factors(one containingfouritems
and the othercontainingtwo items) assessed
the preference for overcoming impossible
obstacles, solving unsolvable problems, and
winningagainstextremelycapable opponents.
Because of the two factors'commontheme of
challenge (reflected by the second-orderfac-
tor analysis), the six items were averaged to
create a purechallenge orientationscore. The
six-item scale had an internal consistency
reliabilityof .72 in this study.
Insummary,eight career orientationrawscores
were created for each employee, one corres-
pondingto each of Schein's eightcareeranchors.
However, Schein (1985) has observed that the
most faithful representation of an employee's
career orientation is the anchor that is most
salient to the employee in relative terms.
Therefore,each employee was assigned a domi-
nant career orientationon the basis of the orien-
tationthat receivedthe highest rawscore by that
employee. For example, an employee whose
highest raw score was technical was classified
as technicallyorientedand was coded 1. Itwas
this code (1 = technical,2 = managerial,3 = auto-
nomy, 4= security, 5= service, 6= pure chal-
lenge, 7 = lifestyle,8 = entrepreneurship)
thatwas
used to identifythe dominantcareer orientation
of each member of our sample.
Satisfaction. Careersatisfactionwas measured
by an eight-itemscale adaptedfromGreenhaus,
et al. (1990). Individualsindicated their agree-
156 MIS Quarterly/June1991
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ment or disagreementwitheach statement(e.g.,
"Iam satisfied withthe success I have achieved
in my career") on a five-pointLikert-typescale
rangingfrom(1) stronglydisagree to (5) strongly
agree. Since a factoranalysis revealed a single-
factor solution, the six items with the highest
loadings were averaged to create a career
satisfaction score. The internal consistency
reliabilityof this scale was .89. Job satisfaction
was assessed witha three-itemscale (Hackman
and Oldham,1975) reflectingoverallsatisfaction
withthe job. The internalconsistency reliability
of the scale was .77.
Organizational Commitment. This variable-
defined as the identificationwith a particular
organization,willingnessto exertconsiderableef-
forton behalfof the organization,and the desire
to maintain membership in the organization-
was measured by a 15-itemscale (e.g., "I really
care about the fate of my organization")devel-
oped by Porter, et al. (1976). The response
optionsto the items rangedfrom(1) stronglydis-
agree to (5) stronglyagree, and responses to the
15 items were averaged to obtain an overall in-
dex of organizationalcommitment.The 15-item
scale had an internalconsistencyreliabilityof .92.
Intention to Leave. This was assessed by a
single item used by Parasuraman(1982) that
asked individualsto indicate how long they in-
tended to continue working in their current
organization. The response options were an-
chored on a time-linkedfive-pointscale ranging
from(1) "one year or less" to (5) "eleven years
or more, or until retirement." The item was
reverse-scoredso that a response of "one year
or less" wouldindicatethe strongest intentionto
leave. Kraut(1975), Parasuraman(1982), and
others have attested to the efficacy of a single-
item measure of turnoverintention.
Perceived Job Characteristics. Thirteenitems
were used to assess the extent to whichemploy-
ees' currentjob providedthem withvarious op-
portunitiesand rewards.The response options
were anchoredon a five-pointscale rangingfrom
(1) not at all to (5) to a great extent. Eight items
were adapted from Allen and Katz (1986), and
five more items were added to measure different
aspects of the job. A factoranalysis(withvarimax
rotation)producedtwo factors witheigenvalues
> 1.0 thataccountedfor58.3 percentof the total
variance. Factor1, labeled task-based rewards,
includedthe followingitems: pursue yourideas,

build a professional reputation,workwith com-
petent colleagues, workon technicallychalleng-
ing tasks, work on professionally important
projects, have freedom to be creative and ori-
ginal, and be highly respected by your peers.
Responses to the seven items comprisingthis
factor were averaged to create a scale tapping
the task-based component of the job. The inter-
nal consistency reliabilityof the scale was .88.
Factor2, labeledorganization-basedrewards,in-
cluded the following items: work on organiza-
tionally important projects, work on projects
leadingto advancement, be highlyrespected by
top management, receive substantial annual
salaryincreases, have a great deal of powerand
influence on the job, and receive a promotion
withinthe next year or two. Responses to the six
items were averaged to create a scale tapping
the organizationalcomponentof the job. The in-
ternalconsistency reliabilityof the scale was .84.
Boundary-SpanningActivities. Inorderto gain
additionalinsight into employees' job duties, a
10-itemscale developed by Milesand Perreault
(1976) and used by Baroudi(1985)was modified
to assess boundary-spanningactivities. This
measure taps several aspects of interdepart-
mentalcommunications,includingformaland in-
formalwrittenand oralcommunciation.Eachitem
was scored on a five-pointscale rangingfrom(1)
not part of my job to (5) a very significantpart
of my job. The internalconsistency reliabilityof
the scale was .91.
Data analyses
In order to examine the prevalence of the
technical and managerial career orientation
(Hypothesis1 ), a chi-squaregoodness of fittest
was conducted that comparedthe observed fre-
quencies of managerial and technical orienta-
tions withthe expected frequencies of these two
orientations.Inthe interestof gainingknowledge
regardingthe distributionof other career orien-
tations, another chi-square test was performed
to examine the relativefrequencyof the othersix
career orientations, although no formal hypo-
theses were offered concerning the prevalence
of these orientations.
Inorderto confirmthe classificationof individuals
in terms of theirdominantcareer orientation,an
analysis of variance (ANOVA)was performed
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MIS Career Orientation
using the dominantcareer orientationas the in-
dependent variableand the eight career orien-
tation scale raw scores as the dependent
variables.The purposeof this analysiswas to ex-
amine the relative scores on the eight career
orientationscales correspondingto each domi-
nant career orientation.
Additionalexploratoryanalyses were conducted
to assess the relationships of selected
demographic and background characteristics
with individuals'dominantcareer orientationin
orderto develop a profileof MISemployees with
differentcareer orientations. First, an ANOVA
was performedto assess whetherindividualswith
different career orientations differed in age,
organizationaltenure, job tenure, and years in
the MISfield (Ben-Horimand Levy, 1984). In a
similarvein, chi-square tests of independence
were used to determine whether the nominal
demographicvariables (gender, maritalstatus,
education and organizational level) were
sytematicallyassociated withcareer orientations
(Daniel, 1990).
Hypotheses 21, which predicted a cor-
respondence of technicaland managerialcareer
orientationswiththe type of positionheld by MIS
employees, was assessed througha chi-square
test for independence.The intentof this analysis
was to determinewhether MISemployees who
hold technical positions (such as systems pro-
grammers,applicationsprogrammers,and soft-
ware engineers) are technically oriented and
whether those who hold managerial positions
(such as supervisors and managers, project
leaders, and systems analysts) are managerial-
ly oriented.
Severalsteps were taken in orderto examinethe
impactof a matchbetweencareerorientationand
job settingon job satisfaction,careersatisfaction,
organizational commitment, and intention to
leave (Hypothesis31). First,we identifiedthose
employees whose dominantcareer orientation
was eithermanagerialor technical(N= 226) and
determinedwhetherthey were in managerialor
technical positions. Technically oriented
employees who held technical positions(N= 68)
and manageriallyorientedemployees who held
managerialpositions(N = 82) were consideredto
representa "match"between career orientation
and job setting. Conversely,technicallyoriented
employees in managerialpositions (N = 37) and
MIS Quarterly/June1991 157
MIS Career Orientation
manageriallyoriented employees in technical
positions (N = 39) were considered to represent
a "mismatch"betweencareerorientationandjob
setting.
Next, ANOVAsand chi-square tests were con-
ducted to examine demographicdifferences be-
tween the match and mismatch groups. These
analyses revealed no significantdifferences in
age, education, marital status, organizational
tenure,job tenure,and MIStenure. However,the
matchand mismatchgroupsdifferedwithregard
to gender (members of the match group were
more likely to be male than members of the
mismatch group; X2=8.86, p < .001) and
organizationallevel (membersof the matchgroup
held higher-levelpositions than members of the
mismatch group; X2=8.19, p. > .001).
Therefore,itwas necessary to controlforgender
and organizationallevel in the examinationof
Hypothesis31 so that our conclusions would not
be confounded by gender and level differences
between the matchand mismatchgroups. Thus,
a multivariateanalysisof covariance(MANCOVA)
was conducted with match versus mismatchas
the independentvariable,gender and organiza-
tionallevel as the covariates,and the fourcareer
outcomes (job satisfaction, career satisfaction,
organizationalcommitment,and intentionto stay)
as the dependent variables.
We also exploredthe assumptionthatemployees
whose career orientationmatches theirjob set-
ting are satisfied and committed because their
job providesdesirablerewards.SeveralANOVAs
were conducted to examine this notion. Ineach
analysis, the independentvariablewas job type
(managerialversus technical),and the dependent
variableswere task-based rewards(e.g., oppor-
tunity to pursue ideas, work on technically
challenging tasks) and organization-based
rewards (e.g., power and influence, receive a
promotion).
Results
Frequencyof career orientations
Hypotheses 11 predicted that MIS employees
would be more likely to hold technical or
managerialcareer orientationsthan othercareer
orientations.The relativefrequencyof the eight
dominant career orientations is presented in
Figure1. Consistentwithour hypothesis,the two
158 MIS Quarterly/June1991
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most widely held orientationswere managerial
(26.1 percent of the sample) and technical (22.6
percent of the sample). Collectively, the
managerialand technicalorientationswere held
by nearly50 percentof the employees, a percen-
tage that exceeded what would have been ex-
pected by chance (X2=12,100, p < .001). Other
career orientationsrepresentedin the sample in-
clude autonomy(14.7 percent),lifestyle(10.5 per-
cent) and service (8.2 percent). The
entrepreneurshiporientaitonwas least charac-
teristic(4.7 percent of the members of the sam-
ple).Thus,the dataconfirmedourfirsthypothesis
thatthe most prevalentcareerorientationsof MIS
employees are technical and managerial,
although other career orientations were also
represented.
The data presentedin Table2 provideinteresting
insights into the career orientation scale raw
scores of individuals with different dominant
careerorientations.Table2 shows thattechnical-
ly oriented employees scored very low on
managerial orientation but relatively high on
autonomyand service. On the other hand, man-
ageriallyorientedemployees scored very low on
the technical and autonomy orientations and
relatively high on pure challenge and en-
trepreneurship. Many of the other findings
reported in Table 2 (e.g., the high orientation
toward entrepreneurshipamong the autonomy
oriented,the importanceof life-styleissues to the
securityoriented,the twinconcern for autonomy
and security among the life-styleoriented, and
the importance of autonomy to the challenge
oriented) were consistent with our intuitive
expectations.
Demographiccharacteristicsand
career orientations
The results of the exploratoryanalyses (ANOVA
and chi-square)conductedto assess the relation-
ships of demographicand backgroundvariables
with career orientationare reportedin Table 3.
The data show that career orientationwas unre-
latedto age, education,maritalstatus, and tenure
in the job, the organization,and the MISfield.
However, career orientation was significantly
related to gender. As indicated in Figure 2, a
higherpercentageof men thatwomenwere tech-
nicallyoriented,whereas a higherpercentage of
women than men were lifestyle oriented. Table
 MIS Career Orientation

p
e 30 -
r 26.1
c
e 25 -
n
t 20 -

0 15 -
f 10.5
10 -
S
a
5
m
P
0 I
e Technical Managerial Autonomy Security Service Pure Challenge Lifestyle Entrepreneurship

Note: Dominant career orientation for each employee was defined as the career orientation that received
the highest raw score by that employee.
Figure 1. Dominant Career Orientation of MIS Employees
3 also indicatesa significantrelationshipbetween
dominantcareer orientationand organizational
level. Employeeswithmanagerial,autonomy,or
service orientations were more likely to hold
managementpositionsthan those withsecurity,
technical, or pure challenge orientations.
Relationship between career
orientationand job setting
Hypothesis 21 predicted that an employee's
career orientationwould be associated withthe
type of job he or she held withinthe MISfunc-
tion.As shown in Table4, there was a significant
(p < .05) association between career orientation
andjobtype. Systems programmerswere primar-
ilytechnicallyor autonomy-oriented.Applications
programmersand softwareengineers were simi-
larto systems programmersin the predominance
of a technical orientationbut were less likelyto
Table 2. Results of ANOVA for Career Orientation Raw Scores
by Dominant Career Orientation
be manageriallyor autonomy-orientedthan the
systems programmers.On the otherhand,nearly
50 percentof the computermanagerswere man-
ageriallyoriented,as were sizeable percentages
of the systems analysts and the projectleaders.
Finally,consultants includeda mix of technical-
ly and manageriallyoriented employees.
Because career paths within MIS are often
viewed in terms of theirtechnical or managerial
qualities, Hypotheses 21 was also examined by
classifyingjobs more broadlyintotechnical and
managerialpositions. The method used to clas-
sify the MISpositions was adapted fromAhituv
and Neumann(1990).Systems programmers,ap-
plicationsprogrammers,and softwareengineers
were grouped into one category representing
technicalpositions;computermanagers,systems
analysts, and projectleaders were grouped into
anothercategory representingmanagerialposi-

Dominant Career Orientation

Pure Entrepre- Univariate

Career Orientation Technical Managerial Autonomy Security Service Challenge Lifestyle neurship F

Raw Score
Technical 4.34 2.63 3.10 2.86 3.09 3.13 3.18 2.00 62.10*
Managerial 2.80 4.31 2.91 2.49 2.97 3.11 3.07 2.46 61.92*
Autonomy 3.29 2.53 4.21 2.47 2.96 3.20 3.49 2.32 29.01*
Security 3.19 2.72 2.79 4.03 2.72 2.65 3.31. 1.20 15.58*
Service 2.90 2.85 2.81 2.61 3.92 2.78 2.99 1.95 9.51*
Pure Challenge 3.03 2.99 3.04 2.63 2.94 3.90 3.00 2.01 13.30*
Lifestyle 3.00 2.83 3.04 2.80 2.92 2.74 4.06 2.03 17.62*
Entrepreneurship 2.89 3.30 3.18 2.43 2.69 3.02 3.05 4.28 17.00*

*
p .001.

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MIS Career Orientation

Table 3. Results of ANOVA and Chi-Square Tests for Demographic Variables

by Dominant Career Orientation

Results of ANOVA**

Dominant Career Orientation

Pure Univariate
Orientation Technical Managerial Autonomy Security Service Challenge Lifestyle Entrepreneurship F

Demographic Variables
Age 38.78 36.94 38.74 38.52 27.92 34.23 39.76 37.74 1.64
Organizational
Tenure 7.41 5.58 6.14 7.41 7.43 5.53 5.06 5.20 1.45
Job Tenure 4.12 3.07 4.00 3.47 4.79 3.31 3.24 3.50 1.33
Years in MIS Field 12.94 12.34 11.54 11.79 11.42 13.07 9.36 11.50 1.01

Results of Chi-Square**

Dominant Career Orientation

Pure Chi-
Orientation Technical Managerial Autonomy Security Service Challenge Lifestyle Entrepreneurship Square

Gender 16.34*
Male 91 100 53 24 29 24 30 18
Female 13 20 15 6 9 6 19 3

Education 31.05
High School 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0
Some College 6 9 3 1 0 2 1 2
Bachelor's Degree 26 29 13 5 9 3 10 3
Some Graduate
School 24 24 13 7 7 5 13 8
Graduate Degree 48 58 39 17 22 19 25 8

Marital Status 4.31

Unmarried 34 34 23 7 14 13 16 6
Married 70 87 45 23 24 17 33 15

Organizational Level 17.30*

Professional 66 54 31 22 17 20 27 12
Management 39 67 37 8 21 10 22 10

Note: The total number of cases may be fewer than 464 due to missing values.
p < .05.
** The values presented here are the means.
*** The values presented here are the joint frequency distribution.

tions.3 A chi-square analysis revealed that
career orientationwas significantlyrelatedto the
= employees intechnicalpositionswere most likely
type of position held by the employee (X2
87.08; p < .001). Consistent with our expecta-
tions, employees in managerial positions were
3 To provide evidence regarding the usefulness of this job
classification procedure, we compared the degree of
boundary-spanning activities reported by incumbents of
managerial and technical positions. Based on findings with
scientists and research, and with development professionals
(Miles, 1980; Miles and Perrault, 1976), it was assumed that
MIS managers would engage in more extensive boundary
crossing than non-managers.An ANOVArevealed, as ex-
pected, thatboundaryspanningwas significantly(p < .001)
greaterin managerialpositions(M = 3.29) than in technical
positions (M = 2.69).
more likelyto hold a managerialcareer orienta-
tion than any other orientation, whereas
to be technicallyoriented(See Figure3). Overall,
the results provided substantial support for
Hypothesis 21.
Compatibilityof career orientation
withjob setting
Hypothesis 31 predicted that employees whose
career orientations matched their job setting
wouldbe moresatisfiedwiththeirjob and career,
more committedto their organization,and less
inclinedto leave theirorganizationthan employ-

160 MIS Quarterly/June1991

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 MIS Career Orientation

* Male E Female

30 -
27.1
24.7
25 -

20.8
P 20 -
e 16.5
r
c 115
e
n 9.9
t 110 -
6.5 6.6 6.5 6.6
4.8
5 -

0 -
Technical Managerial Autonomy Security Service Pure Challenge Lifestyle Entrepreneurship

Note: Percentages of men and women with each dominantcareer orientation.

Figure 2. Dominant Career Orientation by Gender

Table 4. Dominant Career Orientation by Job Type*

Dominant Career Orientations

Pure Entrepre-
Job Type Technical Managerial Autonomy Security Service Challenge Lifestyle neurship

Systems Programmers
(N = 35) ** 11 6 9 1 2 2 3 1
Applications Programmers
(N = 79) 23 11 10 10 5 9 10 1
Software Engineers
(N = 87) 22 13 11 6 10 12 8 5
Systems Analysts
(N = 63) 12 18 8 4 8 1 10 2
Project Leaders
(N = 60) 13 19 11 2 1 3 9 2
Computer Managers
(N = 93) 12 45 14 3 6 2 5 6
Consultants
(N = 46) 12 9 5 4 6 1 4 5

* The relationshipbetween career orientationsand job type was found to be statisticallysignificant

at level .001 (X2 = 87.08, p < .001).
**The values presented in this table are the number of people in a job type holding each dominant
career orientation.

ees who did not display such a match. As in-
dicated earlier, preliminaryanalyses (Table 5)
revealeddifferencesin genderand organizational
level between the match and mismatchgroups.
Therefore,these twodemographiccharacteristics
were controlledin the MANCOVAs conductedto
test Hypothesis 31. The results of these
analyses, shown in Table 6, indicate that em-
ployees who experience a match between their
career orientationand theirjob setting reported
higher job satisfaction and career satisfaction,
morecommitmentto theirorganization,and lower

MIS Quarterly/June1991 161

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 MIS Career Orientation

| Technical Positions El Managerial Positions

40 - 38

35 -

30 - 27.5
p ml
e 25
r
c 20
7.1 5.8
e 15.8 15.3
14.2
n 15
t , . 11.1
9.3 9.7 1u.1
10
6.9
Tecnial
angeia *u lnoy Scuit4.2 g Pe C 4-9 4.6
5 Serv*ce

0
Technical Managerial Autonomy Security Service Pure Challenge Lifestyle Entrepreneurship

Note: Percentages of employees in technical and managerialpositions with each career orientation
Figure 3. Dominant Career Orientation by Job Classification

intentions to leave their organization than
employees who experienced a mismatch.4
A closer examination of the differenttypes of
matches and mismatches is presented in Table
7. Amongthe manageriallyorientedemployees,
those holding managerial positions reported
higher satisfaction with job and career, greater
organizationalcommitment,and lowerintention
to leave the organization than those holding
technical positions (all p < .05). Among the
technically oriented employees, incumbents of
technicalpositionswere moresatisfied(p < .01)
with theirjob and their career than incumbents
of managerialpositions.The resultsfororganiza-
4
Our examination of Hypothesis 3, was somewhat restricted
because the analysis was limited to the 226 employees
whose dominant career orientation was either technical or
managerial. In a supplementary analysis that used the en-
tire sample, employees were classified as managerially
oriented (N = 216) if their managerial score exceeded their
technical score and were classified as technically oriented
(N = 248) if their technical score exceeded their managerial
score. Groups of matches and mismatches were formed, and
differences between the match and the mismatch groups on
satisfaction, commitment, and turnover intentions were ex-
amined with a MANCOVA.The results (not shown) were ex-
tremely similar to those of the initial analysis. The match
group reported significantly higher levels of job satisfaction,
career satisfaction, and organizational commitment, and
significantly weaker turnover intentions than the mismatch
group.
tional commitmentand intentionto leave were
in the expected directionbutwere notstatistically
significant. Overall,the findings confirmHypo-
thesis 31 and provide considerable support for
the importanceof a matchbetween career orien-
tation and job setting.
Table 8 presents the results of additional
ANOVAsconducted to explore the notion that
employees whose career orientation matches
their job setting are satisfied and committed
because their job provides desirable rewards.
The data show that manageriallyoriented em-
ployees perceive greater(p < .05) opportunities
for organization-basedrewards in managerial
positions (M = 3.61) than in technical positions
(M = 3.32). Ina similarvein, technicallyoriented
employees perceive greater (p < .05) oppor-
tunitiesfortask-based rewardsin technical posi-
tions (M = 4.06) than in managerialpositions(M
= 3.69).
Discussion
The findingsof this study reveal a richdiversity
of career orientationsheld by MISemployees.
The managerialand technicalcareerorientations
clearlyrepresenttwo substantiallydifferenttypes
of employees. Manageriallyorientedemployees
scored low on technical interests and tended to

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 MIS Career Orientation

Table 5. Relationship of Match and Mismatch Groups

With Demographic Variables

Results of ANOVA**

Match* ** Mismatch + Univariate

Variables (n = 150) (n = 76) F

Age 38.10 37.32 .30

OrganizationalTenure 6.37 6.49 .02
Job Tenure 3.53 3.61 .01
No. of Years in MIS Field 12.72 12.39 .06

Results of Chi-Square+ +

Variables Match* * Mismatch + Chi-Square

Gender 8.86*
Male 135 56
Female 14 19
Education 1.83
Some College or less 11 4
Bachelor's Degree 37 18
Some Graduate School 28 20
Graduate Degree 72 34
MaritalStatus 1.17
Unmarried 41 27
Married 108 49
Organizational Level 8.19*
Professional 69 51
Management 81 25

Note: The total numberof cases may be fewer than 226 due to missing values.
p < .001
* The values presented here are the means.
*** Matchgroup (N = 150) includes technically oriented employees in technical positions and
manageriallyoriented employees in managerialpositions.
+ Mismatchgroup(N = 76) includestechnicallyorientedemployees in managerialpositionsand
manageriallyoriented employees in technical positions.
++ The values presented here are the joint frequency distribution.

clusterin such positionsas systems analyst,pro- importanceis magnifiedby the predominanceof

ject leader, and computermanager.Technically
oriented employees, on the other hand, scored
lowon managerialinterestsand were oftenfound
in systems programming,applicationsprogram-
ming, and software engineering positions. This
distinction between managerial and technical
orientationsis consistent withthe MISliterature
(Carlyle,1989; Ferrattand Starke, 1989), and its
these two orientations in the MIS function
(Chesebrough and Davis, 1983; Lucas, 1989).
Nevertheless, it is equally importantto note that
slightly more than half of the employees in the
sample held dominantcareer orientationsthat
were other than managerial or technical. The
moderatelyhigh representationof the autonomy

MIS Quarterly/June1991 163

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MIS Career Orientation

Table 6. Impact of Match Between Dominant Career Orientation and Job

Setting on Career Outcomes Controlling for Demographic Variables

Subgroup Means** Univariate

Career Outcomes Match** Mismatch*** F

Job Satisfaction 3.74 3.30 5.31*

Career Satisfaction 3.75 3.35 4.23*
OrganizationalCommitment 3.47 3.19 3.71*
Intentionto Leave 2.90 3.33 4.35*

p < .05
** Means
adjusted for demographiccovariates (gender and organizationallevel).
*** See Table 5 for composition of match and mismatch groups.

Table 7. Impact of Dominant Career Orientation and Type of Position

on Career Outcomes

Managerial Orientation Technical Orientation

Career Managerial Technical Univariate Technical Managerial Univariate
Outcomes Position Position F Position Position F

Job Satisfaction 3.65 3.31 3.75* 3.89 3.32 6.30**

Career Satisfaction 3.67 3.33 4.16* 3.87 3.40 5.88**
Organizational Commitment 3.55 3.25 4.59* 3.34 3.14 1.22
Intention to Leave 2.82 3.45 5.53* 2.98 3.22 .55

p < .05 **p .01

Table 8. Impact of Dominant Career Orientation and Type of Position

on Task-Based and Organization-Based Rewards

Managerial Orientation Technical Orientation

Managerial Technical Univariate Technical Managerial Univariate
Rewards Position Position F Position Position F

Task-Based** 3.81 3.55 3.46 4.06 3.69 4.50*

Organization-Based*** 3.61 3.32 4.57* 3.36 3.28 .19

p < .05
** Task-based rewards included the followingitems: pursue your ideas, build a professional
reputation,workwith competent colleagues, work on technically challenging tasks, work on
professionallyimportantprojects, have freedom to be creative and original,and be highly
respected by your peers.
*** Organization-basedrewards included the followingitems: work on organizationallyimportant
projects, work on projects leading to advancement, be highly respected by top management,
receive substantial annual salary increases, have a great deal of power and influence on the
job, and receive a promotionwithinthe next year or two.

164 MIS Quarterly/June1991

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orientationis consistentwiththe observationthat
MIS people tend to possess high needs for
autonomy,dominance, and controlover the en-
vironment(Couger, 1988; Couger and Zawacki,
1980; Woodruff,1980). Autonomy-orientedem-
ployees, who place littleimportanceon security,
service, or managerialissues, were likelyto be
found in systems programming and project
leader positions.
Additionally,lifestyle integrationwas moderate-
ly representedin the sample. These employees,
who tended to be relativelyunconcerned with
challenge, service, and entrepreneurship,were
more likelyto be in softwareengineeringand ap-
plicationsprogrammingthan othertypes of jobs.
The finding that more than 20 percent of the
women were lifestyle oriented is not surprising
and reflects the primaryresponsibilityfor do-
mestic and childcare activities that employed
women continue to shoulder (Nieva and Gutek,
1981). As values related to lifestyles change
among the wider populationand more women
enter the field of MIS,and as more men assume
additionalresponsibilitiesforhome and childcare,
the lifestylecareerorientationmay be even more
prevalentamong MISemployees in the future.
There was a clear tendency for employees with
differentcareer orientationsto gravitatetoward
differentpositions in the MISfunction.The data
suggest three clusters of positions withinMIS:
technicallyoriented systems programmers,ap-
plicationsprogrammers,and softwareengineers;
manageriallyorientedcomputermanagers, sys-
tems analysts,and projectleaders;and technical-
ly or manageriallyoriented consultants. These
findingsare consistent withthe view that career
orientationsinfluence employees' career deci-
sions to pursue specific jobs and career paths
(Schein, 1975).
The findings also indicate the importanceof a
matchbetweencareerorientationandjob setting.
Manageriallyoriented employees in technical
jobs and technicallyorientedemployees in man-
agerialjobs displayeda numberof negativework
attitudes, includinglow satisfaction and lack of
commitment to the organization. This study
showed that manageriallyoriented employees
react positivelyto managerialjobs because they
see opportunitiesfor advancement, money, top
management respect, and power in these jobs.
Similarly, because technically oriented
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MIS Career Orientation
employees see opportunities for reputation
enhancement, competent colleagues, peer re-
spect, and challenging tasks in technical jobs,
they are more satisfied and committedin these
positions.These findingsare consistent withthe
predictions of person-environmentfit theory
(Caplan, 1983; Caplan, et al., 1980; Dawis and
Lofquist,1984; Harrison,1985) and also support
Ginzbergand Baroudi's(1988) propositionthat
compatibilitybetween internalcareer needs and
externalcareeroptionscan producepositiveout-
comes among MISemployees.
Implications for Practice
Perhaps the most significantimplicationof this
research is the diversityof career orientations
held by MISemployees. The assumptionthat all
(oralmostall)MISprofessionalsare drivenby the
same set of values and goals is unfounded.
Organizationsneed to recognize this diversityin
their employee populationso that appropriate
reward systems and career paths can be
developed. Employees should discuss their
needs, values, and career orientationswiththeir
supervisorson an ongoing basis so that realistic
feedback is provided,challenging assignments
are given, and meaningfulcareer goals are es-
tablished. This places supervisors in the role of
"careerdeveloper"of theirsubordinates(Green-
haus, 1987; Hall, 1976), a role for which they
should be trained and rewarded.
Given this diversity of career orientations,
organizations must realize that rewards and
career opportunitiessuitable for one group of
employees may be irrelevantor even inappro-
priate for another group. Therefore, organi-
zational reward systems and career path
opportunitiesmust be flexibleenough to accom-
modatea diverseworkforce withinthe MISfunc-
tion. Since rewards must be valued by the
employee in order for them to have incentive
value (Porterand Lawler,1968; Vroom, 1964),
and since employees holding different career
orientationsvalue differenttypes of activitiesand
accomplishments (Schein, 1987), as demon-
strated in our findings, somewhat different
rewardsmay be necessary to motivatedifferent
types of employees. Rewarding a lifestyle-
orientedemployee witha geographicaltransfer,
a technically oriented employee with a new
managerialassignment,or an autonomy-oriented
employee with a lucrativebut constrainingpro-
MIS Quarterly/June1991 165
 MIS Career Orientation
motionmaywell detractfrommotivationand per-
formance.At the very least, organizationsneed
to understand and consider their employees'
career orientationsin the development of their
rewardsystems.
The results of this study are consistent withthe
concept of a dual-career path system, which
recognizes the diversity of career orientations
and providesincentives that are consistent with
employees' underlyingcareer values. The ac-
tivities and opportunitiesavailable in technical
positions(technicallychallengingtasks, respect
from peers, pursuitof ideas) are quite different
fromthe activitiesand opportunitesavailable in
managerial positions (high visibility to top
management, powerand influence).Since turn-
over of MISpersonnelhas been attributedto both
marketdemand factors and organizationalfac-
tors (Bartoland Martin,1982), an organization
might be able to reduce a high turnoverrate by
providingcareer opportunitiesthat matchthe in-
ternal career needs of the employees.
This study also has implicationsfor university
facultypreparingstudents to enter the MISpro-
fession. Since career orientationsdo not seem
to crystallizeuntilindividualsaccumulatedifferent
kindsof workexperience (Schein, 1985), having
students (especially undergraduates)place ex-
tensive importance on their dominant career
orientationmay be inappropriate. However,facul-
ty can introducethe concept of career orienta-
tion to students and can encourage them to
explore their values and aspirations and to
recognize the importanceof a match between
career orientationand job setting. Discussions
of career opportunitiesin MIScan be organized
aroundthe notionof a matchor compatibility with
diverse career orientations.
Implications for Research
This study has demonstrated the potential for
negative work attitudes among managerially
oriented employees in technical positions and
technically oriented employees in managerial
positions. The consequences of this mismatch
were most easily tested among manageriallyand
technically oriented employees because jobs
could be identified(managerialand technical)
that bore a close correspondence to the two
respective career orientations.However,nearly
50 percent of the sample held autonomy, en-
166 MIS Quarterly/June1991
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trepreneurship,security, life-style, service, or
challengecareeranchors.Itis likelythatthe tradi-
tional concept of a dual-career path, which
focuses exclusivelyon technicaland managerial
paths, needs to be supplementedwitha recogni-
tion of the possible variations that can occur
withineach path. Forexample, two systems pro-
grammers,one technicallyorientedand the other
lifestyle-oriented, may have to be treated
somewhat differently. In a similar vein, a
manageriallyorientedprojectleader and an en-
trepreneuriallyoriented project leader may re-
quire different kinds of support, rewards, and
career opportunities.Empiricalresearch needs
to examine the kindsof job experiences that are
most compatible with a wider array of career
orientationsthan the most prevalentmanagerial
and technical orientations.
Research on the consequences of compatibility
betweencareerorientationand job settingshould
be extended in several other directionsas well.
First,the effects of incompatibility
on job perform-
ance need to be examined because it is possi-
ble that incompatibility producesdeterioratedjob
performanceover time. Moreover,the stabilityof
MIS employees' career orientationsshould be
empiricallyexamined. For example, the career
stage model of Dalton, et al. (1977) may be a
usefulframeworkforviewingthe careerdevelop-
ment of MISemployees (Ginzbergand Baroudi,
1988), and it would be interestingto determine
whetherdifferentcareer orientationsare assoc-
iated with different stages of Dalton, et al.'s
(1977) model.
Althoughthe employees surveyed in this study
represented a wide varietyof organizationsand
functionalareas, they were all members of one
association and do not necessarilyrepresentthe
entire populationof MISemployees. Therefore,
the generalizabilityof the results to employees
in othercompaniesand othergeographicalareas
must be established through furtherempirical
research. Finally, although bivariate analyses
identified a number of relationships between
career orientations and other variables, the
observed relationshipsmight be more complex
than these findings indicate. Therefore, future
research should investigate a networkof multi-
variaterelationshipsamong a varietyof individual
characteristics, job performance, and career
outcomes.

Summary and Conclusions
The results of this study providedinterestingin-
sights into the career orientations of MIS
employees. A centralfindingwas that technical
and managerialorientationsare the most preva-
lent career orientationsamong MISemployees,
with systems programmers, applications pro-
grammers, and software engineers likelyto be
technicallyoriented,and systems analysts, pro-
ject leaders, and computermanagerslikelyto be
manageriallyoriented. The results also demon-
stratedthatemployees whose careerorientations
were compatiblewiththeirjob settings reported
higher job satisfaction and career satisfaction,
strongercommitmentto their organization,and
lower intentionsto leave theirorganizationthan
employees whose career orientationswere in-
compatible with their job settings.
Althoughthese findingshave importantimplica-
tions for the selection, placement, career de-
velopment, and retention of MIS personnel,
additionalresearch is needed on a number of
fronts.First,it is necessary to determinewhether
the career orientations of MIS personnel are
uniqueand differfromthose of personnelin other
functional areas. Second, the stability of in-
dividuals'career orientationsover time needs to
be assessed, as well as possible variationsin the
patternof relationshipsof careerorientationswith
affectiveand behavioralcareer outcomes at dif-
ferentcareerstages. The accumulationof results
from research in a wider spectrum of organiza-
tions and occupationsshould advance our know-
ledge of career issues as they relate to MIS
employees. Researchers should continuework-
ing to refine the models of career development
that incorporatevariablesuniquelyrelevantto the
MISfield.
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank the associate
editorand the numerousreviewersfortheircon-
structivecomments and suggestions on earlier
versions of this article.
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About the Authors
MagidIgbariais associate professorof manage-
ment informationsystems at Drexel University.
Formerly,he lectured at Tel Aviv University,
HebrewUniversity,and Ben-GurionUniversityin
Israeland acted as the administrativedirectorof
the Centerof ManagementInformationSystems
(CEMIS)at Tel Aviv University.He received an
M.A. in informationsystems and operations
research fromHebrewUniversityand a Ph.D. in
MISfromTel AvivUniversity.He has published
articles on management of MIS functions,
economics of computers,computerperformance
evaluation,chargingof computerservices, com-
pumetricalapproaches in MIS, and microcom-
puters in business in several leadingjournalsin-
cluding Applied Statistics, Communicationsof
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All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
MIS Career Orientation
the ACM,Information and Management,Informa-
tionSystems and OperationalResearch(INFOR),
Omega, and others. His current research in-
terests focus upon economics of computers,
management of informationsystems, career
developmentof MISprofessionals,and end-user
computing.
Jeffrey H. Greenhaus is professor of manage-
ment and director of doctoral programs in
business at Drexel University. He received a
Ph.D. in industrial-organizationalpsychology
fromNew YorkUniversity.He has publishedhis
research on human resource/career manage-
ment in such journalsas Academy of Manage-
mentJournal,Academyof ManagementReview,
Journalof Applied Psychology Journalof Man-
agement, Journal of VocationalBehavior, and
OrganizationalBehavior and Human Decision
Processes. He is the authorof CareerManage-
ment, published by The DrydenPress in 1987.
His currentresearch interestsincludecareerde-
cision making, the career development of MIS
professionals,the career experiences of women
and minorities,and work-familydynamics.
Saroj Parasuramanis professorof management
at Drexel University.She received her Ph.D. in
organizationalbehaviorfromthe State Universi-
ty of New Yorkat Buffalo.Herscholarlyworkhas
been publishedin such academicjournalsas the
Academy of Management Journal, Journal of
VocationalBehavior, Journal of Management,
Group and OrganizationStudies, and Interna-
tionalJournalof Man-MachineStudies. She is a
member of the editorialboard of the Journalof
VocationalBehavior. Her research interests in-
clude stress and coping, work-familylinkages,
workattitudesand turnover,the career develop-
ment of women and minorities,and humancom-
puter interfaces.
MIS Quarterly/June1991 169