Abstract

The implementation and operation of services based on digital asset management (DAM) and variable data printing (VDP) technologies in the graphic communication industry call for new skill sets among the employees. This study examines how successful providers of DAM and VDP are obtaining their employee skills and clarifies the importance of these skill sets in relation to business success.

The research data was hypothesized and analyzed out from two major groups of respondents. One group consists of 33 companies that have hired employees within their IT administration, DAM, and/or VDP functional areas within the past two years, the "hired" group. The other group consists of 67 companies that did not hire employees for deployment within the DAM, VDP and/or IT administration functional areas within the past two years, the "no hires" group. Having hired employees for deployment in these functional areas is assumed to be equal to having an active, continuously developing business with DAM and/or VDP technology.

All four hypotheses of this study were supported by the data and exploration of them revealed that:

  • 34.9% more of the companies in the "hired" group experienced revenue growth in the last 12 months than the companies in the "no hires" group.
  • On average, the companies in the "hired" group are larger than companies in the "no hires" group.
  • 30% more of the companies in the "hired" group are willing to offer higher entry-level salary to DAM and VDP employees than of the companies in the "no hires" group.
  • 35.5% more of the companies in the "hired" group have a human resource function than the companies in the "no hires" group.

Even though the all the hypotheses were supported and several other statistically significant relationships were discovered as well, these relationships do not all contribute to the measure of successful business with DAM and VDP - revenue growth. By adding information from interviews with industry experts and performing a linear regression analysis, this study is able to conclude the following about successful business with DAM and VDP technologies:

  • Hiring the employees with the right skills is the most important contributor to successful DAM and VDP.
  • Paying more for these employees is the second greatest contributor to the successful DAM and VDP deployment. The level of the mindsets and skill sets is following the entry-level salary.
  • The level of sophistication of the DAM and VDP technology deployment increases with the level of mindsets and skill sets of the employees. This result in more leverage in the business based these technologies. This leverage can be used for delivering a quality and a product beyond the expectations of the customer, establishing a closer relationship to the customer through workflow integration and intelligent use of technology, and for expanding these functional areas according to business growth by training existing employees internally to take on operation of DAM and VDP.

Library of Congress Subject Headings

Digital printing; Printing industry--Management; Printing--Data processing; Databases; Vocational qualifications

Publication Date

2006

Document Type

Thesis

Student Type

Graduate

Degree Name

Print Media (MS)

Department, Program, or Center

School of Print Media (CIAS)

Advisor

Franziska Frey

Advisor/Committee Member

Patricia Sorce

Comments

Physical copy available from RIT's Wallace Library at Z249.3 .C47 2006

Campus

RIT – Main Campus

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