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Author: Osegard, Mark A
Title: Feasibility of Opening a Satellite Facility to Solve Difficulties in Hiring The accompanying research report is submitted to the University of Wisconsin-Stout, Graduate School in partial
completion of the requirements for the
Graduate Degree/ Major: MS Technology Management
Research Adviser: James Keyes, Ph.D.
Submission Term/Year: Spring, 2013
Number of Pages: 53
Style Manual Used: American Psychological Association, 6th edition
I understand that this research report must be officially approved by the Graduate School and
that an electronic copy of the approved version will be made available through the University
Library website
I attest that the research report is my original work (that any copyrightable materials have been
used with the permission of the original authors), and as such, it is automatically protected by the
laws, rules, and regulations of the U.S. Copyright Office.
My research adviser has approved the content and quality of this paper.
STUDENT:
NAME Mark Osegard DATE: 04/24/2013
ADVISER:
NAME James Keyes PhD, MS OSM Program Director DATE:
This final research report has been approved by the Graduate School.
Director, Office of Graduate Studies: DATE:
2
Osegard, Mark A. Feasibility of Opening a Satellite Facility to Solve Difficulties in Hiring
Abstract
A rural insurance company needed the ability to find qualified applicants for positions
they were unable to fill at their headquarters location. The company opened a satellite facility to
alleviate these difficulties and solve the hiring dilemma they had encountered. The researcher
conducted interviews with seven qualified candidates to determine what role the new location
played in the candidate’s application. The researcher found that while location did have an
important role in the candidate’s decision to apply, compensation was ranked by these candidates
as most important.
3
Acknowledgments
I would like to thank my wife for the patience shown and encouragement she has given
me during this process. She is and always will be my best friend. I also would like to recognize
the efforts of Dr. James Keyes and Annie Confer for their support and guidance. Each of you
had a different role that helped me along my way. Without your efforts and support, this would
not have been possible. Thank you!
4
Table of Contents
....................................................................................................................................................Page
Abstract ........................................................................................................................................... 2
Chapter I: Introduction .................................................................................................................... 7
Statement of the Problem ............................................................................................................ 9
Purpose of the Study ................................................................................................................... 9
Assumptions of the Study ......................................................................................................... 10
Definition of Terms................................................................................................................... 10
Limitations of the Study............................................................................................................ 11
Methodology ............................................................................................................................. 12
Summary ................................................................................................................................... 13
Chapter II: Literature Review ....................................................................................................... 14
Cause of Difficulties in Hiring .................................................................................................. 14
Alternate Options to Consider .................................................................................................. 17
Figure 1. “Global distribution of nearshore destinations and their division into three clusters”
(Carmel & Abbott, 2007, p. 43). ............................................................................................... 19
Figure 2. This figure displays the percentage of publications using the term near-sourcing and
derivatives (Carmel & Abbott, 2007). .......................................................................................20
Summary ................................................................................................................................... 22
Chapter III: Methodology ............................................................................................................. 24
Data Collection ......................................................................................................................... 24
5
Institutional Review Board Approval ....................................................................................... 24
Use of Measures ........................................................................................................................ 26
Question Analysis ..................................................................................................................... 27
Survey Question 1. Please specify the type of community you grew up in......................... 27
Survey Question 2. When considering the location you look for employment ................... 28
Survey Question 2a. How likely would it be that you would accept a job .......................... 28
Survey Question 3. When considering a job offer, please rank ............................................ 29
Survey Question 4. What are some of the reasons for your application .............................. 29
Table 1. Professional Objectives Ranking. Displays the tool used to show the candidates
ranking for each of the professional objectives specified in question 3 ............................... 29
Survey Question 5. Are you familiar with where [the company headquarters] ................... 30
Survey Question 6. Would you have applied for the current position ................................. 30
Data Analysis ............................................................................................................................ 31
Limitations ................................................................................................................................ 32
Summary ................................................................................................................................... 32
Chapter IV: Results ....................................................................................................................... 33
Survey Question 1. Please specify the type of community you grew up in............................. 33
Survey Question 2. When considering the location you look for employment ....................... 34
Survey Question 2a. How likely would it be that you would accept a job .............................. 34
Survey Question 3. When considering a job offer, please rank ................................................ 35
Survey Question 4. What are some of the reasons for your application .................................. 36
Table 2. Candidate ranking of career objectives. .......................................................................36
6
Survey Question 6. Would you have applied for the current position ..................................... 37
Cumulative Results ................................................................................................................... 37
Summary ................................................................................................................................... 37
Chapter V: Discussion .................................................................................................................. 39
Limitations ................................................................................................................................ 40
Conclusions ............................................................................................................................... 41
Recommendations ..................................................................................................................... 43
References ..................................................................................................................................... 45
Appendix A: Consent Form .......................................................................................................... 47
Appendix B: Interview Questions ................................................................................................. 49
Appendix C: Institutional Review Board Approval...................................................................... 51
Appendix D: Cumulative Results ................................................................................................. 53
7
Chapter I: Introduction
An anonymous health insurance company, hereafter referred to as Insure You
Corporation to protect the confidentiality of the information provided, is located in a rural
community in Wisconsin. The company had trouble recruiting information technology staff to
work at its office headquarters. The company headquarters was located approximately 150 miles
from any major metropolitan area. The assumption the company entertained was that due to
their location, information technology staff was unlikely to move into the area. There also
appeared to be a shortage of information technology staff living in the area, given the lack of
qualified candidates, which made hiring new employees more difficult.
Insure You Corporation was a subsidiary of a clinic system and produced its own
software for the past 20 years. This software was utilized in every facet of the company, and
with the company’s staff, it handled all the day-to-day operations necessary to make the
company run. Due to the matured software and information systems architecture, the subsidiary
needed to explore the options to upgrade its software. While the software was efficient in its
processing of the current needs, the subsidiary had ambitions to branch out of the communities
served by its parent company.
The desire to expand would lead the company to serve many more members, potentially
expanding the current membership by 400%. These ambitions expanded the needs of the
insurance company beyond the scalable design of its current software and architecture. After
much deliberation, the insurance company decided to step away from its parent company’s
software development business model.
The company purchased proven software to ensure that its members would still receive
the same level of service, to which they were accustomed. The company’s leaders determined
8
that concentrating on its core business processes would allow the company to expand quicker
than upgrading their own aging software. The purchased software did not come without its
difficulties. Since the company had maintained its own software for over 20 years, the amount
of data that needed to be converted when switching systems was not insignificant.
Management realized that this conversion was going to take a vast amount of resources
and with open positions in their information technology department; the company needed its
current employees to make up for the work that would be accomplished by employees in these
positions. These positions were open and although an effort was made to fill them, the company
was unable to find employees that were both qualified and seemed to fit within company’s
culture.
The conversion and implementation of the new software and architecture lasted
approximately 18 months and made the company consider other options with regards to their
recruitment strategy. The previous strategies still had not filled the company’s open positions in
the information technology department. This lack of staff forced the company to employ
contract employees who cost the company between double and triple the normal salary of a full-
time regular employee performing the same tasks. Since the company wanted to hire these
positions already, paying double or triple for the same tasks was seen as an avoidable cost.
The company was given a new idea for recruitment of information technology
professionals from a current employee. The employee, who worked remotely from his home,
believed the reason the recruitment was difficult, was a result of the rural location of the
company’s headquarters. That employee had moved to a less rural location and started working
from his home after working at the company’s headquarters for five years. The employee’s
manager approved the relocation because of the experience and knowledge he gained from
9
working at the headquarters. His suggestion to solve the difficulties in hiring was to open a new
satellite facility in Hudson, Wisconsin. This would allow new employees to live in or around the
greater St. Paul and Minneapolis, MN metropolitan area (the Twin Cities), while still enabling
the new employees to commute to the company headquarters for important meetings. The
location also allowed the employee to work from the satellite facility to help new employees
become acclimated to the company and the tools used to accomplish their jobs.
After the Insure You Corporation implemented this new strategy and opened the facility,
the human resources department wanted to determine what enticed the new employees and
applicants to apply for these positions. They needed to find the reasons for the increase in
applications at the new facility to help understand the lack of applications at the company
headquarters. This paper described the interviews with applicants to the job in Hudson,
Wisconsin to acquire the aforementioned information and helped determine whether the new
hiring strategies were effective.
Statement of the Problem
The information technology department needed the ability to acquire additional staff to
keep up with the rising demands of Insure You Corporation’s software support. The company’s
backlog of development tasks were a result of the company’s inability to attract qualified
individuals to work for the company. Due to a lack of staff in the information technology
department, Insure You Corporation’s management had to prioritize work to perform functions
necessary to keep the company running.
Purpose of the Study
The company’s human resources staff needed to know whether the opening of a new
facility was the primary cause for the increase in applications it received once the positions were
10
posted for the new facility. To provide the company’s information technology department with
more resources and attract more qualified candidates from the Twin Cities Metropolitan area the
opening of a leased office location was implemented in the city of Hudson, Wisconsin. To
determine whether this office location was the sole reason in more candidates applying, the
company needed to hear from the candidates directly to help get a better understanding of the
situation.
Assumptions of the Study
The additional staff positions were already in the budget for Insure You Corporation and
are therefore assumed necessary. The company’s human resources staff already determined that
hiring staff for these open positions at their primary office location was not feasible.
Definition of Terms
Insourcing. “Delegating a job to someone within a company, as opposed to someone
outside of the company” (Business Dictionary, n.d., para. 1).
Metropolitan Statistical Area. “Include[s] the county in which the central city is located
and additional contiguous counties (fringe counties), if they are economically and socially
integrated with the central county” (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, n.d.,
para. 5).
Near-sourcing or near-shoring. “Relocating or locating operations in a neighboring
nation that offers some sought-after advantages…[including: lack of] cultural barriers, proximity,
[less] time-zone constraints and skill surplus” (Wise Geek, n.d., para. 2).
Outsource. Outsource is “to procure (as some goods or services needed by a business or
organization) under contract with an outside supplier” (Merriam-Webster, n.d., para. 1).
11
Rural. “Any county not included in an MSA [Metropolitan Statistical Area] is
considered non-metro or "rural"” (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, n.d., para. 6).
Urban or Metropolitan. “An urbanized area (as defined by the Bureau of the Census)
with a population of at least 50,000 and a total MSA [Metropolitan Statistical Area] population
of at least 100,000” (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, n.d., para. 5).
Limitations of the Study
The results should not be generalized or applied to other companies even with similar
circumstances. The interviews were only conducted with candidates deemed qualified based
upon each candidate’s resume and a primary telephone interview. Candidates were not screened
for their compatibility with the company culture prior to their interviews with the researcher.
The candidates for these positions had applied for the new positions in Hudson, Wisconsin. The
answers given only reflect the views of those candidates. The sample size limits the ability of
this information to be generalized or relied upon to make any drastic changes with regards to
hiring strategies. The candidates may have felt pressured to answer in a way that the researcher
wants since they had not yet been offered a position at the company.
12
Methodology
The researcher performed a secluded interview with candidates for positions at the
company headquarters after the formal interview process. The interview was conducted on the
same day as the formal interview, but the candidates were interviewed without either the hiring
manager or human resources personnel present to encourage them to answer more freely. These
candidates were selected by hiring personnel of Insure You Corporation. They were deemed to
be qualified candidates after the hiring manager and human resources personnel reviewed their
resume and conducted a primary telephone interview. The positions available at the new facility
were not for recent college graduates but rather favored candidates with five or more years of
experience.
A successful candidate had to show their expertise in several technical areas. The areas
that the hiring personnel deemed most important were gathering technical specifications for
projects, creating and refining functionality specifications, conducting the analysis and design,
programming, testing, documenting, assisting in implementation, and resolving of issues. Along
with the aforementioned skillset, hiring personnel attempted to identify the candidate’s ability to
fit in the company’s culture. As with any position offered by this company, the candidate’s
ability to check each of the boxes resulted in their recruitment.
For each candidate’s interview, the researcher reviewed the consent form with the
candidate to assure them that their responses would not influence the hiring manager’s decision
to hire that person. Each of the candidates was also informed that refusal to complete the
interview would not affect their candidacy in any way. Although none of the candidates
exercised their right to not be interviewed, it is important to note that they were offered the
option.
13
The researcher conducted the interview in a closed office space to allow the researcher
and candidate to have more privacy than would be afforded in a cubicle. The time at which the
interview was conducted varied, since the formal interviews were not set up for a similar time for
each of the candidates. While most of the interviews were conducted in the early afternoon, two
of the interviews were conducted in the late morning. The interview was the last event to
complete for each candidate prior to leaving the headquarters. This was done in an attempt to
separate the researcher’s interview from the formal interview as much as possible.
Summary
To provide the company with more resources to complete technical tasks, Insure You
Corporation opened a new facility located near the Twin Cities. Finding that recruitment of
qualified employees seemed easier at the new facility, company leadership attempted to figure
out why the recruitment efforts were easier in this area. The researcher conducted interviews
with applicants for these positions to determine their motives for applying. To figure out
whether it was the location of this facility that enticed the candidates to apply, the interview
focused on reasons for the person’s application. The company will utilize this information to
help determine whether keeping the company’s alternate location open is necessary to obtain the
additional employees it seeks. A review of relevant literature helped explore other company’s
actions to resolve similar hiring issues and gave the researcher insight into alternate options the
company may pursue if the facility does not achieve the desired results.
14
Chapter II: Literature Review
Insure You Corporation was unable to hire enough qualified personnel to fill open
positions in their information technology department. A review of literature conducted on
several aspects of this problem showed the recruitment of Healthcare professionals in rural
communities to be well documented and researched. These sources also described the programs
implemented and suggested programs used by other companies to address these concerns.
Another area of interest focused on outsourcing, as it would decrease the need of technical
personnel and allow the company to concentrate on its core competencies. This topic is
reviewed to ascertain its feasibility and to understand both the potential benefits and downfalls of
such a strategy.
Cause of Difficulties in Hiring
The difficulties experienced when hiring qualified professional employees by companies
in rural locations is not novel. Healthcare professionals were documented as being difficult to
recruit and retain at rural facilities (Daniels, VanLeit, Sanders, Skipper, & Rhyne, 2007). The
survey conducted by the researchers attempted to determine the cause of a professional’s
decision to work in a rural area. The study utilized quantitative measurements that verified the
significance of various factors within a tolerance of 0.05. This commonly accepted method
proved that a person who had come from a rural town or one whose internship, or practicum, was
in a rural community were more likely to be employed at some time during their professional
career in a rural area. The study also showed that rural recruitment efforts were bolstered by
student loan payback programs. Respondents who worked in rural communities were 190% more
likely to rate loan payback programs as important as opposed to those respondents who worked
in an urban community. Retention was boosted in rural communities with the following
15
incentives: earnings potential and promotion opportunity, professional development, and
community appeal (Daniels et al., 2007). The study, while still significant in its findings, did
suggest a limitation that may have been skewed due to 89% of respondents being involved in a
rural internship. The overall findings suggested that professional staff may avoid opportunities
at rural locations based upon the perceived inability to advance their career as fast as they may
be able to advance in an urban or suburban location.
A similar study described the choices of location made by pharmacist students before
graduation showed a tendency for those students from rural communities choosing to work in
rural communities (Pearson & Andres, 2010). This study utilized quantitative analysis of a
survey conducted on graduating pharmacists in British Columbia, Canada. It suggested that
recruitment of rural high school students may increase the ability to fill pharmacist positions in
the rural areas. This was attributed to the student’s desire to live in a similar sized community as
they grew up in after their graduation as well as their desire to be close to family and friends.
One way the study conducted by Pearson and Andres (2010) differentiated from the study
conducted by Daniels et al. (2007) was that there was no significance found by Pearson and
Andres between a student’s rural internship and their choice to work in a rural community after
completing school. This does not necessarily invalidate the findings of Daniels et al. (2007)
since they conducted the research on persons who had already graduated and were working. The
difference may be attributed to the differing ideas of what students perceive the working world to
be and the reality of persons actually working. Another difference between the studies was that
the Pearson and Andres study showed a student’s personal relationship influenced location of
employment, while the other study indicated it was not a significant factor. Both studies found
that scholarships or loan payback programs were significant in the recruitment of rural
16
professionals. The study by Pearson and Andres suggested that the recruitment of these
professionals was not a permanent solution however, as person’s receiving these benefits would
likely leave after completing their commitments or no longer having debt. While the recruitment
of healthcare personnel is necessary in all communities, it is not essential for information
technology personnel to be present in the rural community they work.
A review of workforce development networks was conducted by Gary Paul Green in
2003. These networks involve collaboration between employers and local community colleges
to give the employer better access to workers with the job skills that are needed for the positions
these employers hire. This study showed that employers involved in these networks were able to
spread the costs of training across the network, which decreases the individual employer’s risk
by sharing these costs with other employers in the network (Green, 2003). Although the
employer was also likely to lose employees to other employers in the same network, it was also
likely to gained more qualified workers from those employers as well. Involvement in a program
like this may allow a company to counter the effects years of outsourcing had on information
technology positions in the United States.
The effect of outsourcing on information technology positions showed that although there
was an increase in the amount of employees that were outsourced, information technology
employee jobs continued to increase domestically during the period of 1999-2006 (Chung &
Khan, 2012). An analysis of the job data indicated that although the differing information
technology positions varied in their demand, the overall trend was an increase in positions. The
lower level positions, software developer, were outsourced more frequently, leading to the
decrease in this sector. The increase occurred in application and system software engineer,
which is a similar classification. Due to the increased positions available, the authors concluded
17
that there is a need for more training of information technology professionals in the United
States. The increase in demand was not mirrored in the supply during that same time period.
The Department of Education showed a decrease in the number of graduates for information
technology related fields from 2004 through 2007 (Chung & Khan, 2012). Since demand
increased and supply decreased, one may infer that information technology employees became
more difficult to find.
Alternate Options to Consider
The two opposing options that must be considered for a company with regards to its
information technology strategy is whether they should outsource the product or whether the
company should employ its own staff or insource within their company (Sako, 2010). “In the
1990s, as organizations began to focus more on cost-saving measures, they started to outsource
those functions necessary to run a company but not related specifically to the core business”
(Handfield, 2006, para. 2). So while outsourcing has been around since the early 1990s in the
form being discussed, each company must determine whether it fits into their corporate strategy.
Centralized companies have an easier time outsourcing than diversified companies,
simply because they typically have more similar processes (Sako, 2010). While there is no clear
cut rule as to which route a company should take, management should find the answer is evident
when considering the long-term strategy of their company. While companies currently have the
option to insource or outsource this may not always be the case. If the number of information
technology graduates continues to shrink as demand rises for this area, as discovered by Chung
and Khan (2012), the choice of whether or not to outsource may become a foregone conclusion
rather than an option. Any company considering these options needs to weight both the benefits
and risks of their choice. While companies continue to struggle with these choices, a third option
18
has been employed by companies to mitigate some of the risk that arise with outsourcing, called
near-sourcing or near-shoring.
Near-sourcing is similar to outsourcing, but differs in that the personnel or the company
that is hired is located nearer to the company than with typical outsourcing. Many companies are
now advertising themselves as near-source potentially as a way to get away from the negative
connotations of outsourcing, brought on by some Indian companies and the great distance
between those companies and the company hiring them (Carmel & Abbott, 2007). “Cultural
alignment with the business firm is often more readily achieved through near-sourcing due to
human capital resources having a familiarity of the culture in which the business firm is located,
including proficiency with the language used in that culture” (Wise Geek, n.d., para. 2). This
option allows the company to benefit from the use of external resources to provide the service or
product, but the proximity of the company employed to provide the service allows for better
communication. The reasons for better communication due to proximity allow the two business
entities to meet more frequently and with greater ease. The distance between a company based
in the United States and its near-sourcing partner Canada or Mexico is certainly less than that of
the same company and an outsourcing company in India or China.
While near-sourcing employment still typically occurs outside the company’s country, it
does afford the luxury of keeping operations in a similar time zone as well as allow the company
to better communicate with the near-sourcing team. As seen in Figure 1, Abbott and Carmel
show the client clusters to graphically display the idea of near-sourcing (Carmel & Abbott,
2007). Near-sourcing in this context does not necessarily suggest proximity but rather similar
19
Figure 1. “Global distribution of nearshore destinations and their division into three
clusters” (Carmel & Abbott, 2007, p. 43).
time zones. Carmel and Abbott also researched the prevalence and use of the term near-sourcing
in publications showed that before 2002 the term was rarely used but had gained popularity
through 2006, when the study was conducted. One company that utilizes near-sourcing is
German software company SAP (Carmel & Abbott, 2007). Whether outsourcing or near-
sourcing, the primary way work is specified and accomplished is through the use of service level
agreements (Goo, Kishore, Rao, & Nam, 2009).
Service level agreements (SLAs) are the contracts that describe the changes to the system
that the client company requested. These service level agreements contain scope and non-scope
items and the changes that are to take place. Sako (2010) described that companies utilize
20
Figure 2. This figure displays the percentage of publications using the term near-
sourcing and derivatives (Carmel & Abbott, 2007).
service level agreements with both outsourcing and insourcing; however, it is much more
prevalent with outsourcing. Service level agreements can be effectively used to force a
contracted company to perform the changes to the specified levels as described in the agreement.
Both sides know what is expected of them but there is always some interpretation that is left up
to each side. However, the downfall of these agreements is that many “IT organizations lack
well-developed SLAs that can be used to effectively gauge and manage relationships and
activities associated with IT outsourcing” (Goo et al., 2009, p. 122). Even if a company has well
defined service level agreements, the management must prepare their company for outsourcing.
According to Sako (2010), some companies used outsourcing as a trigger to push
companies into changes. These companies had processes that differ but accomplish the same
tasks and need to be standardized. These companies attempted to use outsourcing to push the
21
standardization through their diverse system as a way to force the differing processes to be
completed using the same tools. While this standardization is beneficial, it typically causes more
problems than it solves to push through changes in this manner.
One of the key downfalls of outsourcing is focused on the cultural and time differences
between the company and its outsourced location or assets (Kite, 2004). Due to these downfalls,
the near-sourcing has been becoming more popular as a way to still outsource the product or
service, but keep the product or service in the same or near same time zone where the large
cultural divide is not as great as found within a normal outsourcing operation. These potential
downfalls are not a problem for in-sourcing operations as they are done in the same location as
the rest of the operations (Kite, 2004). Although it is not specifically mentioned where or who
completes the task in near-sourcing, the idea appears to be solid. Kite describes near-sourcing as
bringing the best portions of both in-sourcing and outsourcing.
According to a study conducted by Lieberman Software Company (2011), companies
with more than 1,000 employees are more likely to outsource a significant portion of their
information technology than those with less than one thousand employees. The study did not
specify a definition of the term, significant, but rather left it up to both the reader and
respondents in their study. In fact, the percentage of small companies that outsource a
significant portion of their information technology was 30% while larger companies outsourced
their information technology 55% of the time. This means that companies with more than one
thousand employees were almost twice as likely to outsource a significant portion of their
information technology. This survey was given to five hundred information technology
professionals to help understand how their companies responded to their increasing needs of
information technology (Lieberman Software Company, 2011).
22
The primary question that needs to be asked when creating a company’s strategy for
information technology is how it will affect their other business entities. The sole reason for
integrating information technology into a company is to allow other processes to be either
automated or run smoother. To be able to track an item or move through processes with a
minimal amount of involvement from personnel should increase efficiency which will allow the
company to run smoother. The seemingly simple question is one that researchers asked when
conducting their research into outsourcing (Han & Mithas, 2013).
Will the outsourcing of information technology reduce the non-information technology
costs? Han and Mithas (2013) found that companies that outsource information technology do
reduce their non-information technology costs. However, the extent to which companies should
outsource is the key. They found that keeping an internal information technology staff to work
with their outsourcing partners allowed the companies to better monitor the vendor performance
and allowed the company to work more closely with the vendors themselves. The investigation
concluded that the investment in both outsourcing and internal information technology is
complementary (Han & Mithas, 2013).
Summary
Obtaining professionals to work in a rural location is more difficult than hiring
employees in an urban location (Daniels et al., 2007) and information technology employees are
also becoming more difficult to hire (Chung & Khan, 2012). The two studies both suggest that
the problems in hiring seem to be a lack of qualified personnel to fill the positions. While the
lack of healthcare personnel issue does not necessarily suggest that the same problems have
occurred in the information technology department, skilled workers are difficult to find in rural
23
communities that do not have the networks set up to sustain the needs of companies in these
communities (Green, 2003).
There are many risks and benefits with regards to the decisions made when choosing how
to source your information technology services. Whether to source the services from within your
own company or whether to contract with another company to provide those services is an
important question. While there are many considerations with regards to the benefits and
downfalls of each option, there is one key question the company executives must answer. That
question is to determine the extent to which each option will contribute to the company’s use of
information technology and how that usage will lessen the costs of non-information technology
positions (Han & Mithas, 2013).
Insure You Corporation has evaluated the risks and benefits of the methods in which they
will source their work. Determining whether their choices were effective in providing the
necessary resource and how those determinations will be made using the methods described.
24
Chapter III: Methodology
The lack of qualified applicants for open positions in the information technology
department caused the company to change their recruitment strategy and open a new facility.
This facility, located closer to a metropolitan area, was opened in an effort to help solve those
staffing problems. The research method used to help gauge the effectiveness of the new hiring
strategy employed by Insure You Corporation was to interview candidates for the new positions.
Data Collection
The interviews with candidates of the new positions in the Hudson office were conducted
by the researcher after the formal interview process was completed. To conform to the
Institutional Review Board protocols filed for this research, the researcher was the only person
present with the candidate when the interview took place. This helped ensure that the candidate
did not feel his/her potential job prospects were affected by the answers given during their
interview. The candidates were also informed their participation was voluntary. Appendix A
contains the consent form given to each of the participants of the study. The questions asked of
each participant are located in Appendix B.
Institutional Review Board Approval
An Institutional Review Board review was required for this research due to the
involvement of human subjects. Due to this requirement, the researcher filed information about
the survey which included: the consent form, survey questions and information regarding the
methods for collection as well as the methods used to protect the information acquired within the
study.
The consent form contained relevant information about the study as it pertains to the
candidates. All information about how the answers would be interpreted was not described
25
within the consent form to allow the candidates the ability to interpret the questions as they
perceived them. This was an important point of the study, since the researcher did not want to
persuade the candidates to answer in a way that supported nor contradicted the hypothesis in this
study. The hypothesis was that the location was the primary cause of the lack of qualified
candidates that applied for positions at the primary office location. The questions were not
written in a way to disguise this hypothesis, but to help the candidates give more genuine
answers. The researcher did not specifically mention how the answers would be interpreted.
The interview questionnaire was primarily designed to understand whether the
candidate’s would have applied for a similar position if it were located at the company’s
headquarter facility and by proxy whether the new location was the cause of the increase in
qualified candidates. Another intention of the survey allowed the researcher to understand the
type of community that the candidates grew up in as well as the type of community that they
wanted to work in. These questions formed a basis for understanding of whether the selected site
attracted most applicants as well as further exploring the primary intention of determining
whether the location of the new facility encouraged these individuals to apply. A further review
of the specific questions and their intentions was conducted later in this paper.
The methods for collecting the survey information were described in detail to the
Institutional Review Board for their review to ensure that the candidates or survey participants
were protected from any negative repercussions resulting from the answers or the lack of
answers provided during the interview process. These methods were designed in a way to help
both the Institutional Review Board and the candidates understand that any information disclosed
in the interview was protected.
26
The primary way the interviewee was protected was by limiting the dispersion of all
candidates’ answers until several months after the applicant was either offered a position or was
no longer being considered for the position. This method protected the specific individuals from
any negative reprisals by the hiring manager and human resources at Insure You Corporation.
Another way the information was protected was by keeping the results anonymous. The
individual survey results were not aggregated, but rather kept intact to help the researcher
understand the connection between answers in a specific survey. The names of the candidates,
however, were not placed on their survey, which allowed the researcher to review the answers
without attributing those answers to an individual candidate. Not only was this done to help
keep the candidates’ answers anonymous, but also a particular candidate’s answers had no
bearing on the outcome of the study.
The Institutional Review Board’s approval of these documents ensured the protection of
the candidates interviewed as well as the researcher from any negative implications of
conducting this study. The documents and the methodology therein formed the basis for
conducting the research in the methods described below.
Use of Measures
The researcher utilized several types of questions to better clarify the candidates’ reasons
for application. The quantity of interview questions was kept short with the intention of
obtaining the most data possible, while minimizing the amount of time a candidate had to spend
in an interview with the researcher. The survey was created by the researcher to investigate the
problems encountered by the subject company. The actual questions were written and developed
to obtain a variety of information as described below. There were seven questions asked of the
candidates. One ordinal question was asked for the candidates to rank a list of characteristics
27
important to their career. Two questions offered the respondents a yes/no option. Two
additional questions offered the candidates two options with regards to the community size they
grew up in and the community size they intended to work in. One question utilized a Likert
Scale and was used to determine the candidate’s resolve in obtaining a position in the type of
community they desired to work in. The remaining question allowed the candidate to respond
freely to help the researcher better understand any unlisted reasons the candidates applied. An
analysis of each question better described the researcher’s intention and reasons for asking each
individual question.
Question Analysis
Survey Question 1. Please specify the type of community you grew up in.
o Rural (populations less than 100,000)
o Urban (populations 100,000+ including suburbs)
The first question focused on the candidate’s hometown. Determination of the
candidate’s hometown allowed the researcher to understand where the majority of candidates
grew up and could later be utilized by Insure You Corporation to focus recruiting efforts in the
area that is most likely to produce results. Another purpose for this question was to help the
researcher understand a link, if any existed between the areas candidates grew up and the area
they preferred to work. While this link, if it existed was not likely to be significant, due to the
low number of candidates expected to be interviewed, it provided Insure You Corporation with
some insight on this matter.
28
Survey Question 2. When considering the location you look for employment, how would you
classify the type of community?
o Rural (populations less than 100,000)
o Urban (populations 100,000+ including suburbs)
Survey Question 2 was direct in that it was only designed to ascertain the size of the
community the candidate wanted to work in. The home office or headquarters of Insure You
Corporation was located in a rural community, whereas the new facility was located in an urban
community. This question was designed to assess the candidates’ hopeful area of employment,
while the next question asked about the reality of a job offer.
Survey Question 2a. How likely would it be that you would accept a job in an [urban/rural]
community if you were offered a position (1, not likely – 5, quite likely)?
This question focused on how likely a candidate would be to accept a job in an area they
did not prefer to work. The question asked about the likelihood of accepting a job in the
opposite type of community that the candidate indicated in the previous question. If the
candidate answered that they intended to work in an urban community, this question asked how
likely the candidate would be to accept a position in a rural community. It was asked to
understand how much location played a role in the candidates’ choice to accept a position.
Answers ranged from one to five, with a score of one indicating the candidate would not likely
accept a position outside their preferred community and rating of five showing a willingness to
accept the position regardless of the candidate’s preferred area. It could also be utilized to
determine the candidate’s perceived job prospects. Continuing the focus on location, the
candidates were asked to review a list of items and rank their importance.
29
Survey Question 3. When considering a job offer, please rank the level of importance of the
following.
___ Promotional Opportunities
___ Location
___ Compensation
___ Company reputation
___ Developmental Opportunities
The research asked the candidates to rank their answers which allowed each candidate the
opportunity to give valuable input about the importance of specific professional objectives.
Some of the items listed were taken from analysis done in Chapter II about why persons do not
want to work in rural communities. The answers given on this question were seen as highly
valuable as it was used to interpret the needs of the candidate and allowed the company to focus
on those needs while recruiting staff in the future. Given the researcher’s perceived importance
of this question, Table 1 was utilized to display the answers given by candidates on this question.
Promotions Location Compensation Reputation Development
? ? ? ? ?
Table 1. Professional Objectives Ranking. Displays the tool used to show the candidates
ranking for each of the professional objectives specified in question 3.
Survey Question 4. What are some of the reasons for your application for the current
position?
This question allowed the candidate to give any reason they deemed important for
applying to the position. The researcher hoped to find a trend in the answers that helped Insure
30
You Corporation in its recruitment efforts or understanding of the current problems with lack of
qualified candidates faced by Insure You Corporation. The expected results of this question
provided valuable insight to Insure You Corporation and their recruiting department depending
on the answers given.
Survey Question 5. Are you familiar with where [the company headquarters] is [located]?
o Yes
o No (I will show the person on a map where it is)
The researcher planned that all interviews would be conducted at the new office location.
After the approval of this interview questionnaire by the Institutional Review Board, the hiring
manager and human resources personnel at Insure You Corporation decided to hold the
interviews at the company headquarters. As a result of this change in venue, the researcher did
not ask this question in the interview. Its results would not have provided any beneficial
information.
Survey Question 6. Would you have applied for the current position if it were only available
[at the company headquarters]?
o Yes
o No
A candidate’s answer to this question helped Insure You Corporation understand whether
the lack of qualified candidates were a result of the candidate not knowing about job
opportunities at the headquarters. It also helped determine whether the headquarters location
was appealing to this perspective employee.
31
Data Analysis
For each of the questions listed, the researcher utilized the following techniques to collect
as much data as possible during the short interview. The researcher typed the answers to the
questions and recorded the candidates’ perceived importance when applicable. A follow-up
discussion was attempted when the candidates seemed interested in revealing more than what the
question asked. While the researcher attempted to clarify answers, additional questions,
unrelated to the primary question were avoided. This was done in an attempt to stay true to the
original survey approved by the Institutional Review Board. To protect the confidentiality of the
participants, all identifiable data was redacted from the answers given and no personally
identifiable information was recorded by the researcher. The company name and its city and
state were also redacted from this paper to protect the confidentiality of the information found
herein.
The questions in the interview were analyzed through the researcher’s own qualitative
understanding of the questions and answers. The location of the new facility would be deemed a
major influence based upon the answers to two of the questions. If the respondents rank location
of primary importance on the third question, the researcher will consider the location the primary
reason for the application. While no statistical significance can be shown with the small sample
size expected, additional research could be conducted to prove this. The second question that
can help the researcher determine whether location was a major influence for these candidates
was the last question. Since the last question pertains to whether the applicant would have
applied for the same position in another location, it gave valuable insight into what the effect
location played for the candidates interviewed. A qualitative combination of these two answers
32
would give the researcher the ability to determine what influence, if any, the location of the new
facility had on the candidates.
Limitations
The research conducted was limited to candidates applying for a position at the new
facility in Hudson, Wisconsin. The researcher was limited to asking only the questions in the
formally submitted documents to the Institutional Review Board. While other questions may
have been prudent during the interview, the researcher refrained from asking for anything other
than clarification of the candidate’s stated responses. The data collected and analysis of that data
should be viewed as only applicable to this company’s specific staffing issue. The information
received from these candidates reflects only the views of those specific candidates and should
not be interpreted for any large change to recruiting efforts.
Summary
The researcher interviewed candidates who applied for a position at the new facility in
Hudson, WI. While the number of candidates interviewed was not expected to be great enough
to determine any statistical significance, the researcher utilized the answers given to help
determine the probability of whether the location played a role in the candidates’ applications.
The results of the interviews have allowed the researcher to determine the feasibility that this
new facility location has provided the necessary employees for Insure You Corporation.
33
Chapter IV: Results
The purpose of this paper was to determine whether opening of the new facility in
Hudson, Wisconsin would entice more viable candidates to apply for positions in the information
systems department of Insure You Corporation. The applications received within the first two
weeks proved that more candidates did apply at the new location, but determining the reasons
why qualified candidates applied at this location was the key reason this research was conducted.
The responses from the qualified candidates interviewed showed some expected results and also
the reasons for their application. These candidates also provided reasons why they did not or
would not apply for a similar position at Insure You Corporation’s main campus.
Survey Question 1. Please specify the type of community you grew up in.
o Rural (populations less than 100,000)
o Urban (populations 100,000+ including suburbs)
Four of the seven candidates indicated that they were raised in a community with less
than 100,000 people. A community of this size or smaller was referred to as a rural community.
Three candidates answered that they were raised in a larger community or its suburbs. It was
unexpected to see the majority of candidate’s answer they were from a rural community since the
new facility is located in the suburbs of St. Paul and Minneapolis, Minnesota. Since these results
were unexpected, the company may utilize these answers to help determine a strategy for
advertising their positions more heavily in the rural communities surrounding the location of the
new facility. Combining a candidate’s responses to this question and the second question would
allow us to better understand the motivation for each candidate’s application.
34
Survey Question 2. When considering the location you look for employment, how would you
classify the type of community?
o Rural (populations less than 100,000)
o Urban (populations 100,000+ including suburbs)
Five of the candidates answered that they would prefer to work in an urban location;
while two answered they would prefer to work in a rural area. The responses to this question
were intriguing as well since the candidates were applying for a position in an urban area, yet
two of the candidates would prefer to work in a rural community. This may be attributed to a
lack of positions in rural communities, but more research would need to be conducted before this
hypothesis could be affirmed. To understand a candidate’s commitment to the answers given a
sub-question was asked to see how likely the candidate was to accept a job outside their
preferred area.
Survey Question 2a. How likely would it be that you would accept a job in an [urban/rural]
community if you were offered a position (1, not likely – 5, quite likely)?
This sub-question asked whether how likely the candidates would be to accept a position
that was in the opposite type of community they preferred. The mean answer was 2.57,
indicating a slight unlikeliness to accept a position outside of their preferred community. This
mean would indicate that the candidates did not show extreme partiality between a rural and
urban community. Although this does not support the hypothesis that the location plays a key
role in an applicant’s interest in the job, it does not necessarily contradict it, since the exact
community is not specified.
One of the candidates, who indicated a preference to work in a rural community and was
subsequently asked about working in an urban community answered one, showing a strong
35
preference to only work in a rural community. Since Hudson, Wisconsin is located on the edge
of the urban environment, it may have been considered a rural community by this candidate. By
the researcher’s definition, however, it is labeled as a suburb and therefore part of the urban area.
This may indicate the location that was selected would appeal to not only persons looking for
work in an urban area, but also those looking for employment in a rural community. Since only
one candidate seemed to believe this, more research would need to be conducted to determine
whether this is the case.
Survey Question 3. When considering a job offer, please rank the level of importance of the
following.
___ Promotional Opportunities
___ Location
___ Compensation
___ Company reputation
___ Developmental Opportunities
This question asked the candidates to rank their career priorities given a list of five
employment objectives. Compensation was ranked the highest, with five of the seven candidates
ranking highest. Location was the second most important employment objective. All seven
candidates ranked the location in their top three. Location was not deemed the most important
by the candidates interviewed so the researcher cannot conclude the location a major influence.
Table 2 shows the answers given by the candidates for this question.
36
Survey Question 4. What are some of the reasons for your application for the current
position?
While the other questions attempted to find out specific items, this question was more
open-ended and left the answers up to the interpretation of the candidates. There were a variety
of answers given, but each of the candidates referenced the location in their answers. They all
were pleased with the location and many of them were happy to be part of a new office.
Promotions Location Compensation Reputation Development
4 2 1 3 5
4 1 3 2 5
3 2 1 4 5
3 1 2 5 4
3 2 1 4 5
2 3 1 4 5
4 2 1 3 5
Table 2. Candidate ranking of career objectives.
One candidate said, “I think it would be nice to be in on the ‘ground floor’ so to speak, as you
build the work teams at a new location.” Three additional candidates mentioned the new
location as a positive as well. The same candidate quoted above gave more insight into why a
new location appeared to be a good thing. That candidate believed that a company that was
willing to consider different options for their hiring practices, would also be open to change and
that would allow the person have more creative input into decisions. Compensation was also
mentioned by two candidates. Only one candidate mentioned that the company’s reputation was
the key to their interest in the position.
37
Survey Question 6. Would you have applied for the current position if it were only available
[at the company headquarters]?
o Yes
o No
The candidates all responded in the negative as to whether they would have applied for a
similar position if it were only available at the company headquarters. This indicated that with
the candidate group interviewed, even if the company was to better publicize their positions at
their main offices, they would not have received applications from these candidates. That is a
strong statement and instrumental to the conclusion of this paper.
Cumulative Results
The cumulative results are available in Appendix D and showed that the location of the
new facility was well received by the candidates that were interviewed. It also provided valuable
information for the company with regards to the type of candidates available in this market.
While not all the candidates mentioned location as the key reason for their application, each of
them did indicate they would not have applied if the company only offered the position at their
headquarters. Interpreting the lack of applications at the headquarters and these answers, the
results indicated that the location was the key to both the lack of applications at the primary
facility and the increase in qualified candidates at the new location.
Summary
The interviews provided valuable insight into the candidates’ reasons for applying for
these positions. All the candidates were deemed qualified by the hiring personnel at Insure You
Corporation. The interviews showed that while the candidates did not rank location of primary
importance, slightly beaten by compensation, they did rank it highly. Also, the last question
38
regarding whether the candidates would have applied for a similar position at the headquarters
was telling in that no candidate would have applied. Additional analysis and conjecture is done
to conclude this paper.
39
Chapter V: Discussion
To determine the feasibility of hiring more qualified candidates at a new facility nearer a
metropolitan area, Insure You Corporation opened a new facility in Hudson, Wisconsin to
augment their current staff located at their headquarters. While the company did receive more
applications at the new facility than at their headquarters, they needed a mechanism to determine
whether the increase in applications was related to the facility location. The company did
consider other options, such as outsourcing, to increase their information technology capabilities,
but preferred to hire their own employees. The results of the interviews with applicants showed
the candidates were most concerned about their compensation, followed closely by the location
of the position.
In Chapter I, the company’s history was reviewed to show what led to the problems the
company now has with hiring at its primary facility. It was discussed that although the company
was using third-party software, they have continued to grow their internal Information
Technology staff and have problems recruiting qualified candidates. The purpose of the study
was to understand if the location was the primary reason for the interviewed candidates’
applications.
Chapter II endeavored to help the researcher and read better understand the situation the
company has encountered. The company was located in a rural area and there are many
documented cases of companies struggling to hire well-educated employees in these types of
communities. Alternate options were also discussed, including the option of outsourcing,
insourcing and near-sourcing. The company is using a combination of these options to make up
their current Information Technology strategy. The outsourcing portion of this strategy is the use
of third-party software. Another piece of the company’s strategy is the use of insourcing, as the
40
company has done in the past. They wish to continue this but as revealed in the Introduction,
they have had issues recruiting qualified staff. This has resulted in the company utilizing a
modified version of near-sourcing, where the company opened a new location where they can
find qualified staff, while maintaining the control, by hiring the employees to work directly for
them as they had in the past.
In Chapter III, the methods utilized to measure the successfulness of this new location
were described in depth. The researcher also included questions to help the company find
alternate reasons why the candidates applied to the positions at the new facility. These research
methods were approved by the Institutional Review Board to allow for the interview of the
human subjects.
The results were described in Chapter IV and showed a general appreciation for the
location but the candidates did not rank location as their highest priority. The candidates ranked
compensation as their highest priority in a company. While this did not prove the researcher’s
assumption about location being the primary reason for these applications, it also did not
disprove this theory. Location was ranked second in this question and was mentioned multiple
times by the perspective employees as show in Appendix D.
This chapter reviewed the information provided in the previous chapters to help the
researcher come up with the conclusions and recommendations for further research. There were
also some limitations that hampered the research and its applicability to other firms experiencing
similar issues that are described below.
Limitations
The study was conducted on a small scale only interviewing candidates deemed qualified
by hiring personnel. While there were many more applicants, only seven were interviewed by
41
the researcher, who was limited by time and the ability to commute to the company headquarters
for each interview. The low sample size did not allow for statistical analysis of the results to
provide any significance. Advertising for the positions was done primary on the Internet, which
should not affect the respondents for a technology position, but does have the possibility of
excluding some potential candidates. This study should not be deemed applicable to other
companies without further research. Since the candidates were selected based upon their
qualifications for only one specific information technology position, programmer/analyst, the
scope of the findings are further limited.
Conclusions
As suggested by the study conducted by Chung and Kahn, the effects of outsourcing and
a lack of qualified candidates may be a reason for the difficulties in hiring qualified personnel for
Insure You Corporation (Chung & Khan, 2012). The company decided to place their facility
closer to a metropolitan area in hopes of attracting more qualified candidates. The company did
receive applications from more qualified candidates and have hired several employees.
The target number of employees at the new facility is yet to be reached; however, the
number of qualified applicants suggests that this is only temporary. The company needed to
obtain more resources in their information technology department to keep up with the rising
needs of the company. They found it difficult to hire qualified employees in the rural
community where the company is headquartered. Interviews were conducted with the candidates
to help determine why the candidate applied for the current position and whether the candidate
would have still applied at the company headquarters location. The candidates all answered in
the negative as to whether they would have applied at the company headquarters location. This
42
showed the researcher that there may be an attribute or element about the headquarters location
that did not appeal to these candidates.
The fact that each candidate ranked location in their top three indicated that the leased
location was in the correct place for these candidates. While the candidates did not rank location
as their highest priority, the combination of this question with the question about accepting a job
at the company’s headquarters makes a strong case that location was a key factor when
determining what job to apply for.
A surprising result was that some candidates viewed the new facility location as a rural
facility rather than a metropolitan one. The new facility, by the researcher’s definition of
metropolitan, was located in the suburbs of a metropolitan area and is therefore considered a
metropolitan location. However, the distinction is really up to the candidate and since some
candidates called the location rural, this location may actually appeal to persons looking for
employment in both rural and non-rural settings.
The company has already utilized vendor software to increase their effectiveness and
decrease the need for a larger information technology staff. As such, the company has already
started to implement the use of a combination of outsourcing and internal information
technology staff as research suggests is effective (Han & Mithas, 2013). While this technique
was implemented without knowledge of the study, it would be sensible for the company to keep
some internal information technology staff to allow for better communication with the vendors it
currently utilizes for some portions of its business.
The results did suggest that the location of the new facility was one of the key factors for
the candidates’ applications. Given the results of the ranking question and the question about
whether the candidate would have applied if the job was offered at the primary location, we can
43
say that for the candidates interviewed, the chosen location of the new facility was a success.
The effect of opening a new facility has allowed the recruitment of qualified candidates and the
company is achieving its goal to maintain a level staff it needs to keep up with the current
demands of Insure You Corporation.
Recommendations
The research showing that retention and recruitment of personnel in a rural area is
increased through loan payback programs and incentives may be an option for Insure You
Corporation (Daniels et al., 2007). The company could implement these programs to help
recruitment at their primary office location. Also, an expansion of the company’s current
internship program may also be prudent given the same research. These options should be
considered if the company abandons the new facility.
A survey involving college students obtaining a technical degree applicable to this job
may give more insight to the thoughts and reasons behind the lack of qualified candidates in the
primary location. This additional research could be conducted to augment the results of these
findings and could give the company a more comprehensive view of their perspective employees
as well as people who would never apply.
The researcher could have interviewed all applicants to give more insight into the
unqualified candidate’s perspective. This would have allowed the company to better understand
how their job postings could be updated in the future to prevent these applicants from applying to
a position they are not qualified for. By reducing the amount of unqualified candidates, the
company would save time and resources used to look at these candidates’ applications.
In retrospect, the conclusions were based a small sample size which can provide no
significance from the answers given in the interviews. The general themes of the candidates’
44
answers did give some insight into their reasons for applying but may be inappropriately
overstated, since the candidate pool was small. The company should conduct further research
prior to implementing a large change to their recruitment strategies.
More research should be conducted to assess the ability of this facility to provide the
company with the resources they needed. An after action assessment may be conducted to gauge
the effectiveness of the employees at the new facility versus the primary headquarters location.
If the company deems this site beneficial and cost-effective, it may consider hiring other
positions and expanding the site to accommodate more staff.
One option the company may consider is to open a location inside one of the larger cities,
St. Paul, MN or Minneapolis, MN to allow for recruitment of more personnel. While the
company did tap into the resources available in the communities around these cities, it may have
missed the opportunity to hire the best employees by choosing the location it did. Information
technology professionals who live on the West side of the Twin Cities would have a commute
exceeding one hour. If the company does need the ability to hire more employees or does not
find the qualified candidates it seeks at the new location, this may be a viable option.
45
References
Carmel, E., & Abbott, P. (2007). Why 'nearshore' means that distance matters. Communications
of the ACM, 40-46.
Chung, M., & Khan, B. (2012). The effects of outsourcing of information technology on the
employment of computer professionals in the United States. International Journal of
Management, 29(3), 371-382.
Daniels, Z. M., VanLeit, B. J., Skipper, B. J., Sanders, M. L., & Rhyne, R. L. (2007). Factors in
recruiting and retaining health professionals for rural practice. National Rural Health
Association, 23(1), 62-71.
Goo, J., Kishore, R., Rao, H., & Nam, K. (2009). The role of service level agreements in
relational management of information technology outsourcing: an empirical study. MIS
Quarterly, 33(1), 119-145.
Green, G. P. (2003). Workforce development networks in rural areas of the United States.
Economic & Workforce Development, pp. 1-8.
Han, K., & Mithas, S. (2013). Information technology outsourcing and non-IT operating costs:
an empirical investigation. MIS Quarterly, pp. 315-332.
Handfield, R. (2006, June 1). A brief history of outsourcing. Retrieved April 12, 2013, from
Supply Chain Resource Cooperative: http://scm.ncsu.edu/scm-articles/article/a-brief-
history-of-outsourcing
Insourcing. (2013). Web Finance, Inc. In BusinessDictionary.com, Retrieved April 12, 2013,
from http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/insourcing.html.
Kite, S. (2004). Keeping IT closer to home. Securities Industry News, 16(41), 1-20.
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Lieberman Software Company. (2011). 2011 Survey of IT Professionals. Los Angeles:
Lieberman Software Corporation.
Outsource. (2013). In Merriam-Webster.com. Retrieved April 12, 2013, from
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/outsource.
Pearson, M. L., & Andres, L. (2010). Job location decisions of pharmacy graduates in British
Columbia. American Journal Of Pharmaceutical Education, 74(4), 1-9.
Sako, M. (2010). Technology strategy and management: outsourcing versus shared services.
Communications of the ACM, 53(7), 27-29.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration
(n.d.). How is rural defined? Retrieved April 13, 2013, from Health Information and
Technology Quality Improvement:
http://www.hrsa.gov/healthit/toolbox/RuralHealthITtoolbox/Introduction/defined.html
Wise Geek. (n.d.). What is near-sourcing? Retrieved April 12, 2013, from wiseGEEK:
http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-near-sourcing.htm
47
Appendix A: Consent Form
Title of the Study: Feasibility of Opening a Satellite Facility to Solve Difficulties in Hiring
Research Mentor: James Keyes, PhD (phone: 715-232-5165) (email: [email protected])
Student Researcher: Mark Osegard (phone: 715-495-0932) (email: [email protected])
DESCRIPTION OF THE RESEARCH
You are invited to participate in a research study about the effectiveness of opening a new location in Hudson, Wisconsin to solve difficulties in hiring.
You have been asked to participate because you applied for a position at the Insure You Corporation’s new office location.
The purpose of the research is to determine the effectiveness of the company's strategy to open an alternate location to solve difficulties in hiring.
This study will include applicants for positions at the new office location.
The research interview will be conducted after the official interview process and is completely voluntary. No information given during this interview will be given to the hiring staff before a determination is made whether to make you an offer of employment.
WHAT WILL MY PARTICIPATION INVOLVE?
If you decide to participate in this research you will be asked to answer several questions about the location of the new office.
Your participation will last approximately 15 min in total.
ARE THERE ANY RISKS TO ME?
There is no risk to your potential employment.
ARE THERE ANY BENEFITS TO ME?
We don't expect any direct benefits to you from participation in this study.
HOW WILL MY CONFIDENTIALITY BE PROTECTED?
48
This study is anonymous. Neither your name nor any other identifiable information will be recorded.
WHOM SHOULD I CONTACT IF I HAVE QUESTIONS?
You may ask any questions about the research at any time. If you have questions about the research after you leave today you should contact the Student Researcher Mark Osegard at 715-495-0932.
If you are not satisfied with response of research team, have more questions, or want to talk with someone about your rights as a research participant, you should contact the University of Wisconsin – Stout Research Services Office at 715-232-1126.
Your participation is completely voluntary. If you decide not to participate or to withdraw from the study it will have no effect on your potential employment with Insure You Corporation.
Your signature indicates that you have read this consent form, had an opportunity to ask any questions about your participation in this research and voluntarily consent to participate. You will receive a copy of this form for your records.
Name of Participant (please print):______________________________
_______________________________________ ______________ Signature Date
49
Appendix B: Interview Questions
Interview questions for candidates of the Hudson, Wisconsin location.
1. Please specify the type of community you grew up in:
o Rural (populations less than 100,000)
o Urban (populations 100,000+ including suburbs)
2. When considering the location you look for employment, how would you classify the type of
community?
o Rural (populations less than 100,000)
{Subquestion}2a. How likely would it be that you would accept a job in an urban
community if you were offered a position (1, not likely – 5, quite likely)?
1 2 3 4 5
o Urban (populations 100,000+ including suburbs)
{Subquestion}2a. How likely would it be that you would accept a job in a rural
community if you were offered a position (1, not likely – 5, quite likely)?
1 2 3 4 5
3. When considering a job offer, please rank the level of importance of the following:
___ Promotional Opportunities
___ Location
___ Compensation
___ Company reputation
___ Developmental Opportunities
4. What are some of the reasons for your application for the current position?
50
5. Are you familiar with where [the company headquarters] is [located]?
o Yes
o No (I will show the person on a map where it is)
6. Would you have applied for the current position if it were only available [at the company
headquarters]?
o Yes
o No
Thank you for your participation…
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Appendix C: Institutional Review Board Approval
February 21, 2013 Mark Osegard Technology Management UW-Stout RE: “Feasibility of Opening a Satellite Facility to Solve Difficulties in Hiring” Dear Mark, In accordance with Federal Regulations, your project, “Feasibility of Opening a Satellite Facility to Solve
Difficulties in Hiring” was reviewed on 2/20/2013, by a member of the Institutional Review Board and was approved under Expedited Review through 2/19/2014. If your project involves administration of a survey or interview, please copy and paste the following message to the top of your survey/interview form before dissemination: If you are conducting an online survey/interview, please copy and paste the following message to the top of the form: “This research has been approved by the UW-Stout IRB as required by the Code of Federal regulations Title 45 Part 46.” Responsibilities for Principal Investigators of IRB-approved research:
1. No subjects may be involved in any study procedure prior to the IRB approval date or after the expiration date. (Principal Investigators and Sponsors are responsible for initiating Continuing Review proceedings.)
2. All unanticipated or serious adverse events must be reported to the IRB. 3. All protocol modifications must be IRB approved prior to implementation, unless they are
intended to reduce risk. 4. All protocol deviations must be reported to the IRB. 5. All recruitment materials and methods must be approved by the IRB prior to being used. 6. Federal regulations require IRB review of ongoing projects on an annual basis.
Thank you for your cooperation with the IRB and best wishes with your project.
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Should you have any questions regarding this letter or need further assistance, please contact the IRB office at 715-232-1126 or email [email protected]. Sincerely,
Susan Foxwell Research Administrator and Human Protections Administrator, UW-Stout Institutional Review Board for the Protection of Human Subjects in Research (IRB)
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Appendix D: Cumulative Results
Question
#1 #2 #2a #5 #6 Candidate 1 Rural Rural 1 Yes No Candidate 2 Rural Urban 3 Yes No Candidate 3 Rural Urban 2 Yes No Candidate 4 Rural Rural 4 Yes No Candidate 5 Urban Urban 1 Yes No Candidate 6 Urban Urban 2 Yes No Candidate 7 Urban Urban 3 Yes No
Question #3
Promotions Location Compensation Reputation Development
Candidate 1 4 2 1 3 5 Candidate 2 4 1 3 2 5 Candidate 3 3 2 1 4 5 Candidate 4 3 1 2 5 4 Candidate 5 3 2 1 4 5 Candidate 6 2 3 1 4 5 Candidate 7 4 2 1 3 5
Question #4 Candidate 1 The location is great and flexible.
Candidate 2 I am from Wisconsin; [the company] has a good reputation.
Candidate 3 I live in Hudson, so the location is important to me. The pay is also good for the area.
Candidate 4
I think it would be nice to be in on the ‘ground floor’ so to speak, as you build the work teams at a new location. It appears, with this move, that [the company] is open to change and innovation and I hope to help provide new ideas for the company, at this location, with the other new hires.
Candidate 5 There was good pay. Candidate 6 The people were nice and the pay and location are great.
Candidate 7 I am looking for work in this field and my commute would be much shorter than other jobs I have applied for.