Vital Attributes of Information Technology Service Consultants in Incident Management

Transcription

1 Vital Attributes of Information Technology Service Consultants in Incident Management Rumel V. Atienza. 1, Mc Robart Steeler G. Dela Peña 2 and Matea Alvyn Trinidad 3 1,2 De La Salle University, 241 Taft Avenue, Manila, 3 Cavite State University, Indang, Cavite PHILIPPINES atienzar@dlsu.edu.ph. Abstract: Incident management is a key function in the information technology (IT) support service industry where employee qualifications are critical and need to be developed. A Philippine-based company wanted to determine if its plan of improving some employee qualifications thru recruitment and training would improve incident management time; if so, on what it should focus. Thru multivariate experiment and analyses involving 42 employees, it was proven that employee s undergraduate grade-point average, English proficiency, and ITIL certification collectively affect incident resolution time with some combinations resulting to minimum. Keywords: Human resource management, Quality management, Service quality 1. Introduction The information technology service support industry has been among the Philippines biggest employers since. However, due to the worldwide economic recession, companies in the industry have been trying to increase their chances of survival thru service quality improvement via human resource management (HRM), among other key strategies. One of its key service functions and where HRM is critical is incident management where a user of IT products calls a service centre to report an incident (or problem). The call is passed on to an available employee (consultant) who solves the problem and writes a report about it in the shortest possible time. The IT service company where this study was conducted thought of improving the qualifications of its consultants thru recruitment and training. It believed that three employee attributes were probably vital to effective and efficient incident management. These were: Academic performance. Meta-analysis by Roth et al. revealed that academic performance, as measured by undergraduate grade-point average (GPA) predicts job performance [1]. English proficiency. Consultants communicate with users and report the incident management using English. Moreover, English-speaking employees perform and survive better in a workplace with English as a workplace language compared to limited- English-proficient employees. [2, 3,] ITIL certification. In the IT industry, aptitude for a work area is often measured by a global certification on that area. For this company an IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL) certification signifies that the holder of the certificate has an understanding of best practices for IT service management. Rudd [3] defined ITIL as framework of best practice guidelines and architectures to ensure that IT processes are closely aligned to business processes and that IT delivers the correct and appropriate business solutions. 2. Problem Formulation This study addresses the question To what extent is incident resolution time affected by the consultant s undergraduate GPA, English proficiency and ITIL certification. (See Fig.1) It aims: 1. To measure the perceived effects of GPA, English proficiency and ITIL certification on incident resolution time. 2. To determine the optimal settings of these variables to minimize incident resolution time 3. To predict average resolution time given a consultant s levels on the three variables College CGPA English Proficiency Incident Resolution Resolution Time Fig. 1. Theoretical Framework: Consultant Characteristics & Incident Resolution Time ISSN: ISBN:

2 3. Problem Solution The subjects were consultants who had worked for at least 6 months with the company and the department that provided service management on Enterprise Resource Planning - Supply Chain Management application. This limitation on the subjects was made to ensure that the incidents were of uniform nature and quantity, thus minimizing noise factors ADVANCES IN MARKETING, MANAGEMENT AND FINANCES 3.2 Results and Findings Resolution time is normally distributed with mean of 157 minutes, standard deviation of 17 and range of [76, 4579]. 45 Variable: Resolution Time (minutes), Distribution: Normal Chi-Square test = , df = 5 (adjusted), p =. 3.1 Methodology and Limitations Three levels were set for each of the three decision variables to minimize sample size without sacrificing breadth of each variable. For the GPA, the three levels were average, above average and excellent in a GPAscale of 1. (passing) to 3. (highest). (See Table 1). The department employed applicants with minimum GPA of average. English proficiency was likewise categorized as average, good and excellent. Consultants were given an English proficiency exam dated December 12, 28 at 4:PM (PHT) in one venue. The standard company s 25-minute multiple exam was composed of 3 items equally divided into three parts: reading, grammar and vocabulary. Scores were then determined and sorted in the three levels. (See Table 1). As a matter of policy, the department employed applicants with no less than average English proficiency. ITIL certification levels were None, Foundations and Practitioner. Foundation certificate enables a holder to understand the terminology used within ITIL.[5] It is a prerequisite for the Practitioner Certificate. The Practitioner Certificate focuses upon the understanding and application of the specific processes within the IT Service Management discipline. To analyze the factors and their interactions, a fullfactorial design of experiment was used that required 27 samples. From the 42 consultants in the department, 27 consultants who would fit the requirement of the experimental design were chosen. To ensure reliability of data and increase the power of test, resolution times of each sample were obtained randomly from their historical files on each of the five months from June to October 28. The final sample size was 135 (=27 subjects * 5 replications). [4] The measurement of resolution time covered incidents which were related to application only. Thus, to minimize noise factors incidents concerning hardware, software and infrastructure were excluded. Table 1. Factors and their levels Factors LowLevel Medium High Level GPA English score Certification None Foundation Practitioner No. of observations Category (upper limits) Fig.2 Resolution time s graph and distribution-fit Analysis of variance indicates that consultant s GPA and certification are significant factors of resolution time, with p-values of.28 and.2, respectively. (See Table 2). The response surface plot (Fig. 3) of resolution time shows that the two factors are negatively correlated with resolution time, with the lowest times at the highest levels of both factors. Further investigation of the ANOVA table indicates that the interaction between the two factors is also significant (p-value of.44). This is further validated by the response surface that shows the lowest values of time may also be obtained by combinations of the two factors other than their highest levels. The low level (average) of Academic GPA and high level (Outstanding) of Certification may result to lowest time, too. For the no-certificate and Foundation certificate holders, the combined effect on time of academic excellence and certification remained negative as shown in the interaction plot of the two factors (Fig.4),. However, among those with Practitioner certificate, lowest times are registered by those with excellent and average academic GPA, while the highest times are registered by those with medium level (above average) GPA. ISSN: ISBN:

3 Table 2: Analysis of Variance of Resolution Time Effects Deg.of Freedom Mean Square F p Intercept 1 31,877, A (GPA) 2 3,212, B(Eng.Sc) 2 1,646, C(Certi) 2 5,737, A * B 4 968, A * C 4 2,27, B * C 4 627, A* B* C 8 1,44, Error ,327 Using the ANOVA (Table 2), English proficiency does not appear to be a significant factor of resolution time (with p-value of.156). However, careful investigation of the main effect plot (Fig.5) of English score indicates that this may be due to the minimum resolution time occurring at the medium level (good) rather than at the high level. This can be resolved by regrouping the data of English score in two groups only, with the good being reclassified as excellent. 22 3D Surface Plot of Var4 against Var1 and Var3 Raw data 4v*135c Var4 = Distance Weighted Least Squares Resolution Time (minutes) > < 175 < 75 Fig.3. Response Surface Plot of Time vs.gpa( Var.1) & Certification(Var.3) Resolution Time (minutes) Average Above Average Excellent Academic Excellence No Certification ITIL Foundations ITIL Practitioner Figure 4. Interaction plot of GPA vs. Certification 8 Average Good Excellent English Proficiency Figure 5. Main effect plot of English proficiency (B). With only two levels of English score groups, tjhe new ANOVA results to all variables being significant factors up to p-value of.545 (See Tables 3 and 4) Table3. Factors & levels, with only 2 levels of GPA Factors Low Level Medium High Level GPA English 16 2 (Average) 21 3 (Excellent) Certification None Foundations Practitioner Table 4. ANOVA with only 2 levels of GPA DOF MS F p Intercept A (GPA) B(English Sc.) C(Certification) A*B A*C B*C A*B*C Error ISSN: ISBN:

4 In predicting the expected resolution time of a consultant given his levels for the three factors, the best-fit least-square linear regression was obtained using stepwise regression The line (with p-value of.16)was time= *a-164.5*b-337.1*c. Table 5. Best Line fit Using Stepwise Regression Beta Std.Err. t p-level Intercept A B C Time *B(English); LS Means Current effect: F(2, 117)=.55773, p=.5742 Effective hypothesis decomposition Vertical bars denote.95 confidence intervals Table 6: Comparison of regression lines with only 2 levels for B Factors Dependent p A,B,C Time.16 A,C, Time.28 A,B,C,A*C Time.32 A,C,A*C Time.162 Given this line, the optimal condition resulting to the shortest expected time will be attained at all factors being high (A=1, B=1, C=1). The minimum expected resolution time will be time = 811. This is validated by the fact that for the five months, the average resolution time of consultants who had high level characteristics was 94, much less than the average time of 1517 minutes for all samples. The response surface (Fig.5) of the modified data shows that the lowest times are expected at high (1,1) values of GPA and Certification. Similarly, the interaction plot in Fig.6 indicate that the lowest times occur at high levels of GPA and English score. 3D Surface Plot of A*C against and C(Cert) Modified Raw data 5v*135c A*C = *x-.24*y+.39*x*x+.7464*x*y-.24*y*y B(English) -1 1 Figure 4. Interaction plot of GPA vs. English Score From the prediction line, it can be inferred that the expected resolution time of a consultant with average English score but has GPA of at least 2.5 and Professional certification will have lower expected time (976 minutes) than one who has high English score but no certification (1148 minutes). (Please see Tables 7 and 3). Table7. Expected Time for Sample Characteristics Sample Values 1 (average) 1 B(English Sc) 1 1 (average) C(Certif) (none) 1 1 Expected Time Fig.6 Response Surface of Time vs.gpa & Certification > 1 < 1 <.6 <.2 < -.2 < -.6 < Conclusion Consultant s resolution time of incidents is significantly affected by three attributes: his undergraduate GPA (A), English proficiency as measured by English test score (B) and ITIL certification (C). His expected time = *A-164.5*B-337.1*C. As such, the average minimum time of 811 minutes is expected from a consultant that has high levels of A, B and C, i.e., he has a GPA of 2.5, English test score of at least 21 and a Practitioner Certification. On the basis of these results, this company and other IT support service companies who wish to improve ISSN: ISBN:

5 their incident management must emphasize in their recruitment and training the development of these vital attributes. Priority is given to Certification, followed by GPA and lastly, English test score. This means that in recruitment, preference must be given to applicants with a Practitioner Certification., GPA of 2.5, and English test score of at least 21. In cases when all high levels are not possible, the prediction line can be used to determine the ranking of applicants. In training, priority must be given to training modules that will enable the employees to get certification. Those with Practitioner certification but have average English score must be given English training modules so that their average incident times will be lowered further. Caution must be exercised in training, especially for certification, as it often leads to workers seeking jobs elsewhere [5] To further validate, employees, especially those who have been accepted after this study, should be monitored to determine if their actual times are as expected. For those who will undergo future training for certification or English proficiency, their resolution times must also be monitored if the expected improvement will be achieved. This company should also subject to a similar study those consultants who belong to other sections or departments so that the findings will be more reliable and empirical. References [1] Roth, P.L, BeVier, C.A., Switzer, F.S., & Schippman, J.S., Meta-analyzing the Relationship between Grades and Job Performance, Journal of Applied Psychology, No. 81, 1996, pp [2] Duval-Couetil, N. (25). The demand for English as a Second language in the Workplace. (Doctoral dissertation, Purdue University, 25) [3] Rudd, C. An Introductory Overview of ITIL: Version 2.., Wokingham: itsmf Limited, 24. [4] Montgomery, D.C. (21). Design and Aanalysis of experiments. New York: Wiley. ADVANCES IN MARKETING, MANAGEMENT AND FINANCES [5] Labarca, G., Education in Basic Skills and Training For Productive Work, International Review of Education No. Volume 44, No.5, 1998, pp ISSN: ISBN: