Organizational and human resource aspects of IT management : A case study of Kuwaiti corporate companies

• Published in: Electronic library 2005-01, Vol.23 (4), p.383-397
• Main Authors: MAROUF, Laila, UR REHMAN, Sajjad
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Banking; Case studies; Communication (Thought Transfer); Companies; Computer Oriented Programs; Educational Technology; Employment policies; Exact sciences and technology; Fuels; Human Resources; Information and communication sciences; Information Centers; Information communication; Information industry; Information science. Documentation; Information Scientists; Information service management; Information Systems; Information technology; Kuwait; Labor Force; Library and documentation centre management; Library Research; Organizational management. Staff and equipment management; Organizational structure; Outsourcing; Professional Education; Professional Training; Research and Development; Sciences and techniques of general use; Special Libraries; Staff
• ISSN: 0264-0473; 1758-616X
• DOI: 10.1108/02640470510611454

This paper aims to explore the organizational arrangements and employment policies and practices of 30 Kuwait corporate companies in five selected IT operations of system development, software applications, database management, networking, and web applications. For the purpose of data collection, key human resource managers of these companies were interviewed. It was investigated what organizational placement had been practiced in these companies and who were the IT professionals in terms of their education, professional background, and other significant affiliations. Issues related to employer perceptions about the preparedness of these professionals and the problems they had faced in their employment were specifically addressed. These companies were conveniently organized into three categories for having distinct organizational policies. It was noted that the practices greatly varied. Outsourcing was widely practiced for web applications, system development, and database management. A majority of employers showed dissatisfaction with the quality of local graduates and demanded a number of remedial measures from different quarters in order to ameliorate the problems they faced. The findings have relevance for the executives and IT managers of Kuwaiti corporate companies for critical assessment of their human resource. Provides information on the organizational arrangements and employment policies and practices of several Kuwaiti companies.