Professional Services Firms Ideal Location and Building Layout - Assignment Example

Answer to Question 1 Professional Services Firm Firms which provide individuals and other companies with specialized services which are based on personal interaction between the individuals of the firm and the individuals who are acquiring these services are known as professional services and the firms providing these services are known as professional services firms. These services include the jobs which the individuals and businesses/companies cannot do on their own and have to hire highly qualified individuals from these firms which have a very deep knowledge of highly technical matters like matters of law, accounting, management and marketing. Examples include accountants, architects, attorneys, brokerage firms, software consultants, business consultants and engineering design consultants etc. The similarity between the above stated professionals is that that the jobs which are done by these individuals cannot be done by the individuals or the businesses on their own. For example a business setup cannot have a software consultant of its own which is certainly needed by the business setup for software development. Such capabilities and technical knowledge is not expected to be possessed by any individual or employee of a business so these capabilities have to be acquired by hiring the services of professional services firms. Factors Governing the Selection of Location The location decision for a professional services firm depends on the following factors: 1. Services being already provided in the vicinity 2. Employment at the site 3. The area available 4. Other businesses already present at the site 5. The availability of the required workforce in the locality 6. The rent of the site and the financial matters related to the site allocation 7. The extent of customer interaction with the firms already working at the site 8. Location (downtown, near downtown, elsewhere in city, suburban or rural) 9. Previous history of similar kind of businesses working in the area 10. The financial considerations regarding construction in the locality if a permanent office has to be established 11. Accessibility for the customers 12. The traffic control, environmental pollution and noise pollution levels in the area. Deciding Factor All of the factors stated above are important somehow or the other but if we consider the availability of the workforce and the right type of employment in the area it can be the final deciding factor because in a professional services firm the asset of the firm are its employees because there is no material productivity of the firm. The productivity of the firm is all about the ideas and negotiation skills of the employees. If a locality is known to be a potential source of providing individuals who can perform better in a professional services providing environment then the decision of location should be taken on the basis of the availability of the workforce in the area. However other factors cannot be neglected altogether. The accessibility of the location to the potential customers of these services is very important because a good workforce cannot work on its own and start bringing profits to the organization, the firm certainly requires customers for its working and for earning profits. A firm which is present in a vicinity where the customers are more the firm can earn extra profit, this extra profit can be utilized for hiring better working individuals from far off places and paying for their logistics, which will ultimately increase the net earnings of the company. Summary and Conclusion The businesses of professional services firms, as these are not conventional businesses, depend upon a lot of factors and these factors also act as the deciding factors while deciding the location of the firm. Importance is given to the availability of workforce in the vicinity but the presence of potential customers in the locality is more important for the better running of the professional services firms. Answer to Question 2 Professional Services Firm Firms which provide individuals and other companies with specialized services which are based on personal interaction between the individuals of the firm and the individuals who are acquiring these services are known as professional services and the firms providing these services are known as professional services firms. These services include the jobs which the individuals and businesses/companies cannot do on their own and have to hire highly qualified individuals from these firms which have a very deep knowledge of highly technical matters like matters of law, accounting, management and marketing. Examples include accountants, architects, attorneys, brokerage firms, software consultants, business consultants and engineering design consultants etc. These firms work on an outlined pattern which defines the interaction between staff and the interaction between staff and clients, the later being more important. All the productivity of a professional services firm depends upon these interactions. All types of professional services firms have something in common regarding these interactions as their ultimate goal is same i.e. Satisfaction of the Customer. Giving importance to the interactions between client and the staff, all the PSF’s have call centers and communication centers of their own and the prime duty of these departments is to respond to the customer promptly. These communication centers are also responsible for giving regular updates to the clients and telling every single detail about the client’s job. The role of the communication center is to act as a bridge of communication and interaction between the client and the personnel from the firm who is dealing with that particular client. The interaction between the staff of a firm is important when more than one personnel is involved in one client’s case, in such a scenario all PSF’s try to ensure that all the people from the firm involved with that particular client know exactly about each other’s goals, roles and needs. Open Plan Office Open Plan Office is the one which makes large use of space and minimizes the use of small enclosed rooms which includes private offices. Open plan office layouts create more open work environments that are more open and create more opportunities. In an open plan office the inexperienced individuals can learn a lot from the experience of other individuals and transfer of skills also takes more effectively. Being more economical is another advantage of open plan office. More employees can work in a relatively small space and the productivity is also not affected. Communication between individuals and the work stations becomes easier reducing the time wastages. Supervision is also facilitated in an open plan office. These types of offices are also very energy efficient. However there are certain disadvantages associated with open plan offices. Open space offices are noisier and can be more chaotic than closed plan offices this can lead to distraction and reduced productivity. The security is reduced in an open plan office and all the employees do not have lockable doors of their own. Sickness and infections like flu spread more rapidly. The air-conditioning requirements varies from individual to individual and this variation is not possible in an open plan office. Deciding Factor The final decision of selecting the type of office between an open plan office or a closed plan office depends upon the type of organization, the space available and the nature of jobs of different individuals of the firm. In case of professional services firms the requirements of the customers is the most important deciding factor, between an open plan office and a closed plan office, because while providing professional services the client and the staff has to interact very frequently and sometimes this interaction also requires privacy. Open plan offices are preferable for their economy but a good final selection would be an amalgamation of both open and closed plans so as to provide privacy to the customers when required (as in law firms) while having a larger area designed according to open plan design for economy. Summary and Conclusion Professional services firms employees have to interact with the customer and the also with other employees within the organization. This interaction sometimes require privacy therefore an absolute open plan office is not suited a professional services firm but a designed based on an amalgamation of open and closed plan should be adopted which will guarantee required privacy and will also be economical. Works Cited Bengtsson, Cecilia, and Karin Amerlov. Open Plan Offices. N.p.: VDM Verlag, 2008. Print. Boje, Axel. Open-plan Offices. N.p.: Business Books, 1971. Print. Maister, David. Managing the Professional Service Firm. N.p.: Simon and Schuster, 1997. Print. Read More