Intensive internship: A model for improving entry-level systems productivity

Reversing the secular decline of U.S. business productivity has been the popular subject of debate in the academic and management literature for at least two decades. Within the last ten years the intensity and significance of the debate has been dramatically increased due to the serious inroads that foreign competition has made into traditional American markets, at home and abroad. In the search for solutions all facets of the production of goods and services by American business have come under scrutiny. One result, undoubtedly long overdue, is that the corporate information systems function has come under increased pressure on the part of business managers to improve both the effectiveness and efficiency of the services provided.The pressure for improved performance has combined with the effects of the extended national economic downturn to produce an operating climate largely unfamiliar to data processors - that of limited budgets, staff reductions and personnel hiring freezes or cut-backs. One observed effect of these constrained circumstances has been an increased sensitivity on the part of employers to the quality of the information systems specialist being hired. This sensitivity has expressed itself in two major channels of activity:(a) The establishment of business hiring policies designed to assure that a new employee will be able to quickly transition into a fully productive status and possess the potential for continued professional development. One unfortunate result has been an increased emphasis on prior work experience which has lessened the marketability of the entry-level applicant without a proven employment record.(b) A strongly expressed national demand on the part of business interests that colleges develop computer systems education programs more compatible with the needs of business information system processing - as contrasted with the scientific/research orientation of the traditional computer science curriculum.These two major trends present problems that are obviously of direct interest to information technology educators. The second problem - that of providing business-oriented information systems training - has been effectively addressed through the development of a number of college-level curriculum models. Two prominent products of this effort are the models for computer information systems education developed by the Association for Computer Machinery and the Data Processing Management Association (3), (1).Both of these models provide well-structured and comprehensive sets of guidelines for undergraduate education in a four-year college program. Neither of these excellent documents, however, addresses the second type of problem presented - the need to increase the initial productivity and hence the marketability of the entry-level information systems college graduate. To do this, two very practical questions must be answered: How do you bridge the gulf that exists between the theories, concepts and generalized skills taught in the classroom and the practical realities of the real-world data processing environment?; and, How do you provide the college graduate with relevant work experience of recognized worth to potential employers?