HUMAN RESOURCES in DESIGN ORGANIZATIONS

Post 129 - by Gautam Shah

 

 Organizations manage their work as projects or jobs. These are divided into smaller lots depending on the skills, resources and other inputs. These are assigned to individuals or smaller groups as distinct roles. Such allocations are never consistent assignments. The chief of the organization or the project leader often offers such assignments to new or untrained or un-experienced persons for two distinct reasons, One, to get fresh ideas, inputs, and Two, to recast a person’s talent. Such recast removes the tedium of repetitions and provides new exposures. The assignments are also diverted from one to another person, to achieve optimum results.

Wikipedia image Sea saw Gimbel by Author Dkirby7518

Jobs are also given out, to infuse new thoughts, work methods, and utilize different resources (plant, equipment, tools, talents). Jobs are presented to a person or a team, as an opportunity, challenge, and incentive. In design organizations personnel are identified in terms of their talents, such as: administrative staff, drafts-persons, cad operators, model makers, designers, job-captions, associates, and so on. In medium to large organizations common pools of human and other resources are formed. Project based team captions or job-based foremen draw their requirements of human and other resources from such pools.

 

Wikipedia image by Author Moxie Sozo

Organization is formed by people of different talents and personality traits that are reflected in their attitude and conduct. Some detest routine work as much as some love methodical procedures. Some are hard-headed realists compared to the idea floaters. These are not exclusive categories, and under appropriate conditions a person takes on other characteristics.

 Wikipedia image by Author Kencf0618

Dream-weavers are prolific generators of ideas and new concepts, but lack the skill to detail them. The dream-weavers are mercurial and have a fear of failure. A dream weaver must be an extrovert otherwise never gets acknowledged. Young age and dreams are synonymous, but an older person may show lack of sincerity.

Technocrats have a talent of visualizing structured entities. For them an entity is conceivable, if only, it is structured and so practicable. Technocrats are fastidious, uncompromising, and hardheaded. A technocrat may get entwined in detailing the parts, and may lose the grasp of the holistic scheme. When projects need a rethink, a technocrat may prove useless.

Exponents enjoy advocating ideas or schemes, without bothering either its authorship or practicability. They feel that the public attention received through the advocacy is the measure of their skill and success. Exponents are good at furthering the idea of a project, where project stack-holders interests are important design considerations.

Wikipedia image Source File:Julian Assange in Ecuadorian Embassy Author  Snapperjack from London, UK.

Patrons are not necessarily resourceful people, but are ready to support any new activity that takes them away from their routine chores, provides a novel experience, and keeps them busy. A person may become a sponsor by virtue of the position and powers to allocate resources. Such people are motivated by strategic gains through various sponsorship.

Arrangers are expert manipulators, and keenly look for a chance to jump into any difficult situation to manage it. As a risk taker they collect lots of benefits, and very fast.

Conservatives are very over careful by personality. Conservatism is due to a struggle less life or due to old age lethargy. They detest change, but if instrumental of causing even minor innovation, take a great pride.

 

 

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CORE COMPETENCE and ORGANIZATIONS

Post 115 -by Gautam Shah

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 A person individually can have expertise or keen interest in a specific field. The person, however joins an existing organization to contribute the specific know-how, or such individuals come together to explore it. All organizations intend to work intensively in areas that are analogous to their aims. Organization, however, cannot operate just by intent or facilities. Organization needs opportunities to build up the core competence.

 

Core competence leads an organization into specific jobs, by way of excelling in results, efficiency of work procedure or job handling, efficiencies of input-benefit ratio, and client satisfaction. The repetition of opportunities leads to learning, experimentation and satisfaction. Core competence is perceived as an innovative pursuit that can cause enough synergies, to make the organization behave like self correcting or continuously adjusting biological entities. 

Core competence is also seen as Generalization versus Specialization. Some organizers believe that generalization, as a capacity to handle all types of projects and under whatever circumstances, is very essential for continuance. And if the need arises experts can be hired to meet the exigency. The generalization allows them to handle projects of routine nature, in an efficient, economic and time bound manner. Projects that are very large in scale, requiring little innovation, and of repetitive nature are handled by such organizations. Their service or fee’s charges are very competitive. 

Specialization cannot be achieved by intent alone. One must grab projects that reinforce their skills, even by discounting the fees or profits. And, if opportunities in the desired field are few, one must strive for excellence in the smaller sections of the routine (or ‘bread-butter’ jobs). Specialization is equated with a single person in charge of organization, rather than group based practices. An Autocratic leader stimulates an organization towards an acute specialization, whereas a Bohemian leader dissipates the energy and de-focuses and strives for generalization. A Democratic leader will continuously review and revise, the aims of the organization, and plan the resources, to make the organization creative.

Creativity is not in specialization (capacity to excel in limited fields) nor in generalization (capacity to handle many different situations) in any field. Design creativity is seen in radical solution, proficiency in sustaining the technical superiority and learning. Design efficiency is perceived for being productive, cost efficacy and organizational ranking or super-ordination.

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