SUPPLEMENTAL CASE Chapter 7Selecting a ProgrammerMarie Pen.docx
- 1. SUPPLEMENTAL CASE: Chapter 7 Selecting a Programmer Marie Pendergrass has been a data processing supervisor for two years. She is in the process of selecting a candidate for a programmer trainee position she has created. Her plan is to develop the trainee into a systems analysis within two years. Since this is a fast track, she needs a candidate whose aptitude and motivation is high. Fourteen candidates applied for the job in the employment section of the personnel department. Six were women, eight were men. An employment specialist screened the candidates for Mary, using a carefully prepared interview format that included questions to determine job-related skills. Six candidates, three women and three men, were referred to Marie. Marie then conducted structured, in-depth interviews and further narrowed the selection to one woman and two men. Her boss, a company vice-president, agrees wither judgment after hearing Marie’s description of the candidates. However, Marie’s boss feels particularly unsure of the abilities of the female candidate. From the selection interview, past job experience, and education, there is no clear indication of the candidate’s ability to perform the job. The vice-president is insistent that Marie screen the candidate with a programmer aptitude test devised by a computer manufacturing firm. The test had been given four years ago, and some of the most successful current analysis had scored high on it. Marie went to the personnel department and asked them to
- 2. administer the test to the “questionable” candidate. The personnel manager informed her that the company policy had been to do no testing of any kind during the last two years. Marie explained that the request had come from a vice-president and asked that she be given a decision on her request by Friday. Questions 1. Identify and evaluate the stages of the selection process reflected in the case. 2. If you were Marie, what would you do? © 2017 Cengage Learning®. May not be scanned, copied or duplicated, or posted to a publicly accessible website, in whole or in part. Practical Connection Assignment Component Proficient (15 to 20 points) Competent (8 to 14 points) Novice (1 to 7 points) Score Assignment Requirements Student completed all required portions of the assignment
- 3. Completed portions of the assignment Did not complete the required assignment. Writing Skills, Grammar, and APA Formatting Assignment strongly demonstrates graduate-level proficiency in organization, grammar, and style. Assignment is well written, and ideas are well developed and explained. Demonstrates strong writing skills. Student paid close attention to spelling and punctuation. Sentences and paragraphs are grammatically correct.
- 4. Proper use of APA formatting. Properly and explicitly cited outside resources. Reference list matches citations. Assignment demonstrates graduate- level proficiency in organization, grammar, and style. Assignment is effectively communicated, but some sections lacking clarity. Student paid some attention to spelling and punctuation, but there are errors within the writing. Needs attention to proper writing skills. Use of APA formatting and citations of outside resources, but has a few instances in which proper citations are missing. Assignment does not demonstrate graduate-level proficiency in
- 5. organization, grammar, and style. Assignment is poorly written and confusing. Ideas are not communicated effectively. Student paid no attention to spelling and punctuation. Demonstrates poor writing skills. The assignment lacks the use of APA formatting and does not provide proper citations or includes no citations. Maintains purpose/focus Submission is well organized and has a tight and cohesive focus that is integrated throughout the document Submissions has an organizational structure and the focus is clear
- 6. throughout. Submission lacks focus or contains major drifts in focus Understanding of Course Content Student demonstrates understand of course content and knowledge. Student demonstrates some understanding of course content and knowledge. Student does not demonstrate understanding of course content and knowledge. Work Environment Application
- 7. Student strongly demonstrates the practical application, or ability to apply, of course objectives within a work environment. Student demonstrates some practical application, or ability to apply, of course objectives within a work environment. Student does not demonstrate the practical application, or ability to apply, of course objectives within a work environment. 1 Running head: REFLECTIONS IN HEALTHCARE IT
- 8. ITS-832 Personal Connection Assignment: Reflections in Healthcare IT PhD-IT Candidate University of the Cumberlands, Williamsburg, KY 2 REFLECTIONS IN HEALTHCARE IT ITS-832 Personal Connection Assignment: Reflections of a Healthcare IT In this paper, I reflect upon my time as an IT manager at a private medical practice and reimagine it in light of skills, knowledge, or theories learned in ITS-832, InfoTech In a Global Economy. I was recruited in 2002 to manage the transformation from paper-based processes to an electronic health records (EHR) system. The primary drivers that influenced the company to begin the EHR adoption journey were increasing efficiency and accuracy of medical records and
- 9. billing, and compliance with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). As a newly minted IT manager, I did not have a “broad view” of IT management in a corporate setting and was primarily focused on performing my duties on a very technical level (hardware, software, networking, and applications). I never gave thought to how new technology and policies could shape organizational changes or how the development of new technologies brought about issues that warranted research and policy changes affecting the public. Therefore, I was never prepared to do any type of professional research outside of my technical IT support responsibilities. In ITS-832, the focus is on the effects that public policies have on information technology organizations. The classroom discussions included topics such as cloud computing, artificial intelligence, social media, big data, and other disruptive technologies, and their implications in regard to international, national, regional, or local policies. Emerging technologies such as these were not fully developed during that
- 10. time, but if I were to reprise my role in a healthcare environment now, my job responsibilities as a healthcare IT manager would indeed involve many of these developing technologies. ITS-832 would have equipped me to more readily confront the challenges they bring. 3 REFLECTIONS IN HEALTHCARE IT A valuable skill that I have improved on from this course is performing literature reviews for researching IT and policy issues. At the beginning of the course, I looked at research papers with a bit of reluctance because they seemed so long and technical making it difficult for me to digest. From searching and reading many articles, I became more comfortable analyzing and absorbing peer-reviewed works. On the job as a healthcare IT professional, I could have used this skill before and during the EHR implementation process to research technologies, processes, and issues and enhance the performance of my duties.
- 11. Though I wasn’t part of the decision to adopt the technology, or even the vendor/product selection process, I feel I could have been a valuable contributor. One thing that ITS-832 has taught me while researching IT policy issues and organization change is that researchers ask a lot of questions, develop models, conduct surveys, and construct hypothetical scenarios in seek of solutions (a research methodology). The learning objectives of the course asked me to be aware of how researchers were conducting their research, who they were speaking to, how it relates to other researchers’ works, and what the recommendations were to advance the current body of knowledge or policy. I feel that this builds upon my experience of reviewing literature and prepares me for higher-level responsibilities. One of the most important policies that affected the medical practice was HIPAA, which protects the personal health information of patients. Compliance with HIPAA was critical to the success of the practice and is a regulation that influenced how the business operated (transforming processes via an EHR system). Applied to my IT
- 12. manager role, the lessons learned in ITS-832 may have enabled me to be part of the vendor selection process where I could have researched HIPAA regulations and evaluated whether a vendor’s solution would allow us to meet compliance and guarantee our purchase was the correct one. I could have also provided 4 REFLECTIONS IN HEALTHCARE IT recommendations during the implementation of the EHR system to encounter fewer obstacles and anticipate unknown issues. As a basic example, nobody predicted how challenging it would be for employees who had little to no experience with computer technologies to become proficient using a fully digital medical records system. Knowing what I do now from this course, I likely would have performed research on EHR implementation strategies, challenges, and experiences, which go beyond the vendor’s instructions and proposed to management that technology training was needed for nearly all of the employees
- 13. (double-clicking, locking screens, strong passwords, encryption, etc. was foreign). Having trained users can help support HIPAA compliance, too. This personal connection assignment has helped me realize that with just a few weeks into the course several useful skills, knowledge, and theories could have been very useful to me during my previous IT manager role in a medical practice. ITS- 832’s focus on how public policy influences change in IT-driven organizations and its course objectives have helped me view the role in a broader lens. The assignments are teaching me to search for cited works, confidently analyze the methods used and findings, and generate questions regarding the recommendations for future activities. This will be very beneficial for future doctoral courses and in the work environment.