Discuss about the Self-Efficacy for Meaning, Importance & Major Factors.
There are a variety of tasks and activities that an individual performs in professional environment to achieve the business goals and objectives. There are competencies and specific set of skills that are necessary for the successful execution of these activities. Another significant necessity is self-efficacy. It is the self-reflection and judgement of successfully accomplishing the task that is assigned. It allows a resource to estimate the effort and time that will be put in to achieve the goals. The document includes the meaning of self-efficacy and its difference from efficacy and also covers a literature review of self-efficacy in IT.
Self-efficacy is defined as the personal belief and judgement on the capabilities to achieve the goals of the activities that are allocated as per the enhanced performance levels.
Self-efficacy is necessary to possess in personal as well as professional life. The individuals that have good self-efficacy levels succeed in developing an optimistic viewpoint. As a result, the challenging tasks are viewed as opportunities and the mechanisms to master the same are also thought upon. The level of interest in the activities that are carried out is also high leading to better quality results. It is certain that not all the tasks and assignments will be successful. Risks and failures are a part of personal and professional commitment. The individuals with good self-efficacy levels succeed in recovering from such setbacks quickly. On the other hand, the people with weaker self-efficacy fail to do so. Thus, self-efficacy is important and necessary to develop (Wirawan and Bandu, 2016).
Efficacy is defined as the ability to carry out a specific job satisfactorily. It is often used interchangeably with the term effectiveness. Self-efficacy on the other hand is the self-belief and judgement to produce designated levels of performance and productivity to achieve the goals. Efficacy may be determined for a project or a project team or for the entire business organization; whereas self-efficacy is calculated for self.
There are certain factors that contribute self-efficacy. Mastery experiences are the primary factors that contribute towards self-efficacy. It is because with increased level of experience, an individual goes through success and failure patches and gain the understanding of best practices and ability to handle the risks and issues. The obstacles and issues in the processes provide in-depth details of the capabilities for resolution and therefore lead to improved self-efficacy (Li et al., 2013). Another factor that plays a significant role in self-efficacy is observations. The professional environment includes resources from diverse backgrounds, skills, and competencies. Observing these resources, the effort that is put in by the resources, and varied approaches that are adopted provide the capabilities to perform better in the tasks and activities. This in turn leads to enhancement of self-efficacy. Social persuasion is the third factor that strengthens self-efficacy. The resources that are motivated verbally by providing them with the assurance that they can perform an assigned task better tend to have higher levels of self-efficacy. The social and organizational models that are followed and applied in the industries also contribute towards self-efficacy (van Rooij, Jansen and van de Grift, 2017).
The journal article has been published on the influence of computer self-efficacy on the adoption and usage of Information Technology. Self-efficacy has been originated from social cognitive theory where self-efficacy refers to the confidence in self-capabilities to effectively accomplish a task. IT industry is based upon the use and application of computing tools and resources. Computer self-efficacy is therefore an essential trait that the resources must possess. It refers to the belief of an individual to adequately apply computing skills to computer-related tasks and activities. The author has described the role of computer anxiety in the area of computer self-efficacy. There are scenarios wherein certain individuals experience unpleasant emotion behaviour and reactions while using computing resources. There are certain factors that are involved in computer self-efficacy, such as computer knowledge, computer anxiety, social factors, perceived usefulness, and prior experience (John, 2013).
The impact of self-efficacy in the process of acceptance of IT in the public sector has been researched by the author in the journal. IT tools and techniques have become mandatory for a majority of business sectors and in order to effectively use IT, it is essential to accept the same. There are certain individual factors that determine the difference in the self-efficacy levels of the resources and entities in the IT industry. These include computer self-efficacy and theories. Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) is largely used in order to assess the ease of usage. The user adoption can be calculated on the basis of this model (Al-Haderi, 2013).
IT is applied in other business domains, such as healthcare, banking, marketing, real-estate, sales, entertainment, and many others. The research work discusses the role of the information technology self-efficacy on the job satisfaction levels of the healthcare system users. ERP systems are the integrated Enterprise Resource Planning systems that combine and automate the back-end functions of an organization. These systems are used in the healthcare organizations as well. IT self-efficacy and goal awareness has shown the enhanced job satisfaction levels for the users of such systems. On the other hand, the users that assess themselves with limited capabilities and knowledge on ERP systems have lower self-efficacy and in turn lower job satisfaction as well (Hwang, Lee and Shin, 2016).
Business scenarios and the set of practices that are used are witnessing major changes since the recent years with the emergence of globalization and digitization. The competition level for the organizations has gone up which has led to the need to include self-motivated and self-directed employees for better work performance. Self-efficacy of the employees and workplace spirituality are the two significant aspects in the IT industry. The conceptualized linkage of these factors in IT industry has been carried out using advanced quantitative and qualitative analysis. Structural Equation Modelling showed that positive self-efficacy levels enhance the job satisfaction, motivational levels, and ethical compliance in the IT organizations (Tiwari & Srivastava, 2017).
Self-efficacy is an important factor that has a direct implication on the motivation and performance of the employees. Higher self-efficacy levels in the IT industry determine good performance from the employees and better job satisfaction levels as well. There are numerous tools, techniques, and concepts that are used and are involved in the IT industry. Also, the technological trends keep on changing at a rapid pace due to numerous developments in the field of IT. The resources need to update themselves with these changes at regular intervals. This leads to the issue of maintaining higher-self-efficacy levels in the IT industry. There may be new technology or tool that may be required to be used in certain projects that may not have been used before. However, even under these circumstances, the resources with higher-self-efficacy levels perform better as they have the zeal to learn and adapt quickly than the rest (Cherian and Jacob, 2013).
Conclusion
Self-efficacy is a necessary trait for personal as well as professional tasks and duties. It is because it provides the self-belief to judge the capabilities to successfully perform certain task. Self-efficacy is important in every business sector and the same applies to the IT industry as well. There is a lot of competition in the IT industry with the emergence of start-ups and new entrants. Technology is rapidly changing and so are the demands of the IT organizations and IT users. The employees are therefore required to possess certain traits that distinguish them from the rest. Apart, from the technical skills and expertise, the IT employees need to showcase higher self-efficacy levels. It is because these are directly linked with good performance and increased motivation for the employees.
Self-efficacy has been evaluated as one of the necessary traits that are necessary for maintaining and improving the motivation and performance levels do carry out any activity. There have been scenarios in personal and professional lives wherein low self-efficacy levels stopped me from attempting certain tasks. For instance, while in Under-graduate College, there were newer courses and subjects that had to be learnt to achieve good grades. However, due to poor self-efficacy, there was no zeal to acquire these learnings to perform better academically. This led to adverse impact on the grades. Similar cases were also observed in the initial years of professional life.
I work in IT industry and self-efficacy is significant for this industry as well for every other industrial set-up. Self-efficacy can be developed with increased experience in the industry as the specific norms and principles become clear. There are other measures that can be adopted to improve self-efficacy. One such measure is IT training and development sessions that shall be attended to enhance IT knowledge on specific tools and techniques. These trainings may be acquired from a fellow employee or may be organized by the organization or any third-party. With the improvement in IT knowledge and increased experience, the self-efficacy levels will improve. Another way to improve these levels is through self-reflection and assessment. Assistance from management and senior administration may also be acquired in the scenarios of difficultly. Social persuasion may also show increase in self-efficacy levels and there shall be one-on-one discussions with the managers that shall be organized for this purpose.
References
Al-Haderi, S. (2013). The Effect of Self-Efficacy in the Acceptance of Information Technology in the Public Sector Sami Mohamed Saleh Al-Haderi. [online] Available at: https://ijbssnet.com/journals/Vol_4_No_9_August_2013/19.pdf [Accessed 3 May 2018].
Cherian, J. and Jacob, J. (2013). Impact of Self Efficacy on Motivation and Performance of Employees. [online] Available at: https://dx.doi.org/10.5539/ijbm.v8n14p80 [Accessed 3 May 2018].
Hwang, Y., Lee, Y. and Shin, D. (2016). The role of goal awareness and information technology self-efficacy on job satisfaction of healthcare system users. Behaviour & Information Technology, 35(7), pp.548-558.
John, S. (2013). Influence of Computer Self-Efficacy On Information Technology Adoption. [online] Available at: https://intjit.org/cms/journal/volume/19/1/191_2.pdf [Accessed 3 May 2018].
Li, X., Zhang, L., Lu, Y., Zhang, H. and Zhang, L. (2013). Creative Self-efficacy: Concept, Influencing Factors and Intervention. Advances in Psychological Science, 20(1), pp.108-114.
Tiwari, G. and Srivastava, S. (2017). Linking Self Efficacy and Workplace Spirituality in IT (Information Technology) Industry using Structural Equation Modelling. [online] Available at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/323943321_Linking_Self_Efficacy_and_Workplace_Spirituality_in_IT_Information_Technology_Industry_using_Structural_Equation_Modelling?enrichId=rgreq-d9893f43018702bb49dbb7b7e1daa62b-XXX&enrichSource=Y292ZXJQYWdlOzMyMzk0MzMyMTtBUzo2MDY5ODA0MTQ2MzYwMzlAMTUyMTcyNjgxNjcyMw%3D%3D&el=1_x_3&_esc=publicationCoverPdf [Accessed 3 May 2018].
van Rooij, E., Jansen, E. and van de Grift, W. (2017). Factors that contribute to secondary school students’ self-efficacy in being a successful university student. Research in Post-Compulsory Education, 22(4), pp.535-555.
Wirawan, H. and Bandu, M. (2016). A review of self-efficacy training for international student. International Journal of Information and Learning Technology, 33(2), pp.115-128.
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