Introduction
The association must be dominated by individuals or more than two professional licentiates have regulated for more than 30 years in Taiwan. Recently, as the size of constructions is increased, the technology becomes complicated, and the number of licentiates increases rapidly, the market abruptly shrinks. The over specialized division, and the statutory form of organization disadvantageously compete against other groups. The architects all recognize the risk if the organizational structures and management have no adjust properly.
The Framework and Procedures of Study (Figure 1):
Literature review
The Performance of International Architect
The study selects four countries─Japan, Singapore where nearby Taiwan, and, on the behalf of the west, the United States and France to study the operation of architect association.
1. Japan─Japanese architects must acquire the degree of architecture and pass the national or the local test. To practice the professional service of architecture, one of them must be a registered-licentiate architect who is responsible for specialty of technique [1]. The execution form may be individuals or in the form of corporations (Proprietorship, Quasi-Partnership, Partnership or Stock or Limited Liability Corporation…). The relationships with proprietor are regulated by civil laws and contracts [2].
2. Singapore─Architects Act stipulates that architects to pass the test sponsored by Board of Architects to obtain qualifications. There are two forms of executions; one is architecture professional company with architecture licentiates, and another is multi-discipline company with relative technicians. In 1994, Architects Act amends that over 2/3 directors of the architect associations must be licentiates [3].
3. United States─All the procedures of law about architects are regulated by NCABR (National Council of Architectural Registration Boards), and executed by The Department of Consumer Affairs in each state to administer. According to the attributions, the form of execution may be divided into proprietorship, or partnership (general or limited), or corporation (professional or general business) [4].
4. France─Influenced by the mainstream of liberalism, the principal form of architecture execution is individual licentiate originally. Until 1966, work-team took shape and developed into diversified operational form. In 1985, Architects Act amend that architect can operate in any form of organization, but the form of corporation must be registered and printed in publication, and be governed by commercial court [5].
Summing-up: the executive form diversified and profession vs. management differentiated are the tendency of the world.
Literature of Organization and Management about Taiwan’s Architect Association
Along the line of literature, we are aware that the professions whose educational backgrounds are architecture face the difficulties: the architecture-code restrains the creative design and the supervision, proprietors and builders do not care about quality, fee of design is too low to support the operation of association, the authority vs. duty with other specialists differentiate blurredly, causes the architect to be a scapegoat, the form of association confuses individual and corporation tax, and the association couldn't operate continuously... Inasmuch as the external environment can’t change or fight against the trend, it is better to face the issue and to change the patterns of operation in order to improve the business and innovate the organization.
Figure 1: The Framework and
Procedures of Study
challenges
We define “the yearly affair-equivalent of practiced architect” as “the yearly total floor-area of building license be divided by the number of professional architect licentiates”. Table-1 shows the changes of the affair-equivalent of architect: the affair-equivalent of practiced architect deteriorates in ten years, but the numbers of architect licentiates increase rapidly, and over-developing result in the amount of work turn down to the bottom. Table-2 shows the deteriorating trend significantly in histogram.
The affairs per-architect was almost less half of twenty years ago; however there were triple graduates enter the field. Because the architects provide service and product after the contract is signed, they cannot but competitively cut service-fee to get the contract, then sacrificing the quality of service [6].
The current primary form of operation are architect individual,
Architects are both “the owner of organization” and “ the manager of the profession”. Their management decisions are based on personal interests.
The staffs think that all the property of association belongs to the architect. They do not identify themselves with the association. Therefore the inferior performance and the high employee turnover-rate cause the organization not able to accumulate experiences and even develop new technique.
Due to the globalized market, enlarged construction, division and integration, and the rapid-developed technology, the competition among associations will be more intensive.
Solutions
To solve the issues mentioned above, we address the following counterplots from the perspectives of management and organizational theory those must be taught in school:
Table-1
|
Year |
Total floor-area of license |
||
|
1983 |
25,781,000㎡ |
1,323 |
19,487 |
|
1984 |
1,419 |
17,951 |
|
|
1985 |
26,195,000㎡ |
1,477 |
17,735 |
|
1986 |
30,069,000㎡ |
1,517 |
19,821 |
|
1987 |
34,275,000㎡ |
1,560 |
21,971 |
|
1988 |
37,525,000㎡ |
1,620 |
23,163 |
|
1989 |
46,187,000㎡ |
1,684 |
27,427 |
|
1990 |
40,066,000㎡ |
1,804 |
22,210 |
|
1991 |
53,671,495㎡ |
1,906 |
28,159 |
|
1992 |
76,435,671㎡ |
2,069 |
36,943 |
|
1993 |
2,217 |
32,697 |
|
|
1994 |
61,214,450㎡ |
2,346 |
26,093 |
|
1995 |
45,686,642㎡ |
2,410 |
18,957 |
|
1996 |
37,688,650㎡ |
2,464 |
15,296 |
|
1997 |
45,779,247㎡ |
2,589 |
17,682 |
|
1998 |
42,783,888㎡ |
2,695 |
15,875 |
|
1999 |
37,154,211㎡ |
2,796 |
13,288 |
|
2000 |
34,986,526㎡ |
2,932 |
11,933 |
|
2001 |
21,674,000㎡ |
2,950 |
7,347 |
|
Source: www.cpami.gov.tw |
|||
n The architects have to select the appropriate organizational structure for their firms in order to improve performance and efficiency.
n The architects can utilize the “Job characteristics Model” to design the task and apply the concept of “empowerment” to promote stuff’s contribution to organization.
n The architects can apply multi-mode of “task design” and combine “work schedule options” to exercise human resource management.
n The adaptive and competitive strategies can enhance architects’ competency through self-learning and self-training [7].
Application
n Organization Design
Most of the architecture associations utilize the simple structure. Yet it will not work for the long run. The associations should reconsider develop new structure options that can better help their firms.
The medium or large size associations utilize the matrix structure. The strength of the matrix structure lies in coordinating the tasks for diverse functional specialists. The major disadvantages of the matrix lie in the confusion it creates, its propensity to foster power struggles. When you dispense with the unity-of-command, ambiguity is increased and conflict occurs.
The network structure is highly recommended in Taiwan. The advantage of the structure allows architects to concentrate their attention on core-competency― programming and design. But the control is looser than traditional organization, the trustworthy of supplier is difficult to expect, and most seriously, the innovation of associations can be stolen easily. In spite of the disadvantages, the network structure is more suitable and competitive to the architects since the innovation of information technology.
n Job Design
Job characteristics model (JCM) describes the job with five core job dimensions: Skill Variety, Task Identity, Task Significance, Autonomy, and Feedback [8]. Architects could design the jobs in accordance with the conceptual framework of model, for example:
1. Combine tasks― architect should integrate various tasks (draft, drawing, superintendence) into a novel mold, increasing the skill variety and task identity.
2. Create natural work units― architect should assign tasks to be significant and meaningful entirety. The staff can regard the constructions as his creations.
3. Establish client relationships― the client is the end user of products. The architect should establish a wide network of clients and his employees.
4. Expand job vertically― giving staff the responsibility and power of control that are originally belonged to the architect. The staffs are more satisfied at empowerment.
5. Open feedback channel ― by increasing feedback, this feedback about performance can be received directly and immediately, rather than from architect on an occasional basis [9].
n Empowerment Leader
The empowerment trend is popular around the world. There are two forces: first, in order to compete successfully in global, the management must be able to making-decision faster than ever. Empowerment improves the speed and quality of those decisions. Secondly, the process of flattening structures has left many mangers with a large control span. So managers have been forces to let go of some of their authority. (Amanda, 1982)。
When the staffs of the association who have the knowledge, technique, experience, and autonomy, empowerment could encourage the staff to share the management responsibility of architect. Then the architect could concentrate on the authorities and duties of an owner’s.
It would be a perfect state theoretically, but actually the architect wouldn’t practice empowerment for those with the required characteristics being architects too. Empowerment may encourage ambitious staff to start his own enterprise, and the architect loses the proprietor and business.
n Task Design
The term of “task design” means to integrate multiple tasks into a complete job-unit. The application to architecture association described as following:
1. Job Engrossment─ staffs in a large-sized association repeatedly do the same work (drawing or model) all day long in the past. Now such affairs have been disappeared because of the progress of computer and CAD.
2. Job Rotation─ it can broaden staff’s views and experience. Then he would be willing to shoulder more responsibilities that are belonged to higher-level manager. This way could encourage the manager to search for partnership or train professional managers.
3. Job Enlargement─ it can increase the variety of tasks. However it did little to instill challenge or meaningfulness to a worker’s activities..
4. Job Enrichment─ it refers to the vertical expansion of jobs. So the staffs have the absolute responsibility to serve and deal with client.
5. Work Teams─ association constantly apply “Integrated Work-teams” in ad hoc case-committees (program, design, oversee) of constructions. They also apply the structure of “Self-managed Work-teams” in the competition emphasizing originality, speed, and quality because its advantages of high degree of vertical integration and autonomic adaptability [10].
n Work Schedule Options
Working in the architecture association isn’t as traditional business― five days per-week, eight hours per-day. There are other types of work schedule. Architect should take account of labour market, work type, and staff needs to arrange proper schedule for association.
1. Compressed Workweek─ it’ll be difficult to coordinate complex jobs, and frequently overtime pay is a heavy load to the association.
2. Flexible-time─ flextime can reduce absenteeism, promote morale, and increase productivity. However, the major disadvantages to architecture association are inconsistence of work, ambiguity in shifting, and unable of commanding employees after work.
3. Job Sharing─ it allows two or more people to share a job, but it’s not applicable to architecture associations because the jobs emphasized of thinking, construction supervision and so on.
4. Contingent Workers─ the job loads of architecture associations significantly display the phenomenon of “peak-valley” (competing case, document examined, asking for license are the peak, depression and empty hollow period are the valley), urgently need to search for flexible pattern of human resources. The concept of “Contingent Workers” promotes associations to adopt two-stratum worker system― a section with small number hired for long term, and collocating a crowd constantly expand and shrink contingent workers.
5. Telecommuting─ association job emphasized the originality, thinking, quality, and equating the character of non-regularity could fit thus schedule. Nevertheless, the issues such as social contact, judgment, evaluation, and supervision influence the development in the future.
n Organizational Strategy
The rapid changing and intensive competing market destroys the stability of operative patterns in the past. Architects need to find systematic ways to evaluate the performance of association and to enhance their competency. That’s the organization strategy.
1. Adaptive Strategies [11] ─ the strategies consists of four strategies: Defender, Prospector, Analyser, and Reactor. The association would be successful by selecting suitable strategy. For instance, the association could aim at specialty of stuff, fixing on some types of building (such as campus, hospital, museum…) to become the essence market of association. That’s to be “Defender”. The association could encourage the professional stuff to bounder a specialized field in construct system (such as computer animation, construction pricing, exceptional material application…) to become the exploitable market of association. That’s to be “Prospector”. The association could search successful organization similar in scale and human to be the “Benchmark” in the same business, then, using the newer knowledge, lower cost, better design and service to compete certain market synchronously. That’s to be “Analyser”. The architect association never to be “Reactor”, who is done nothing or to misuse one of them above.
2. Competitive Strategies [12]─ indicating the authority ought to measure advantages of organization and weakness of competition, avoiding to be mired and fight all opponents, and set up the merit highly cause competitor lack strength to compete. When the architect attempts his association to be the lowest cost in the same trade, he’s followed by “Cost Leadership” strategy. But the product or service of association must be comparable with competitor or minimum of acceptance by proprietor. When the architect and his association attempt to be the unique and generally be appreciated, that’s following the “Differentiation” strategy. They maybe accentuate high quality, exceptional service, innovative design, technological skills, or brand image; nevertheless the diversity must be worthy of paying more than cost. When the architect distinguish a certain field from the relative business, such as building type, final-direct user sort, work source, or particular zone, and specially design systemic and peculiar tactics, that’s the “Focus” strategy. In brief, any one strategy among above-mentioned all need to act continuously, such as resisting corrosions from competitor, adapting the setting evolvement, in order to successfully obtain the advantageous position for a long term.
conclusion
1. Whatever the nominal of architect’s organization will be, the small-sized architect association should refer “Network Form” as design framework, and strongly forming an alliance with complementary profession, but should alert the authority to defence the illegitimate. From medium to large-sized association should quote ”Matrix Organization Design”, also accentuating elasticised “Work Teams” and simplifying working practices.
2. Basing “JCM” to estimate the job pattern of architect association suitable, i.e. the direct architect ought to combine tasks, producing natural work-unit, establishing the relationship with client, enlarging job vertically, and opening feedback channel.
3. Considering the application of “Task Design”, “Job Rotation” could foster manager or search partnership for association; “Job Enrichment” could increase the job depth, so staffs have the absolute responsibility to serve and deal with client. However actually the architect dare not practice thus task design, because the number of credential of architect is too much in Taiwan. Empowerment may be a good approach to increase stuff’s organization-centred conviction, and avoiding encouraging powerful staff start another enterprise and the architect lost the proprietor and business.
4. Relying on the concept of “Schedule Selection”, architects can arrange human resources as following: “Contingent Workers” very suit architect associations, its job loading significantly display the phenomenon of “peak-valley”, urgently need to search for flexible pattern of human resources. We anticipate more and more associations will adopt two-stratum worker system. Besides, association job emphasized the originality, thinking, quality, and equating the character of non-regularity could fit the “Telecommuting” schedule.
5. The perspectives of “Adaptive Strategies” and “Competitive Strategies” promote architect and stuff self-learning and self- training to own the competency in career setting.
6. Furthermore, for the students graduated and entering working world can adapt and compete against violent condition, not only to foster architecture specialty but also learning organization and management is very important.
Reference
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2. Japan Institute of Architects, Abstract of Building Standards Law and Kenchikushi”, Tokyo, Japan Institute of Architects, (1990).
3. Singapore Government Printer, The Statutes of the Republic of Singapore: Architects Act, Singapore Government Printer of Singapore, (1992).
4. AIA, The Architect's Handbook of Professional Practice, Washington D.C., AIA, (1994).
5. S.A., L'Architecture d'Aujourd'hui, LE PRATIQUE 90, Paris: S.A, (1989).
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11.
Raymond E. Miles and Charles C. Snow, Organizational Strategy, Structure, and
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12.
Michael E. Porter, Competitive Advantage: Creating and
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