Search results

Reports on a study undertaken to explore the implications of planned changes to the way client services are organized in Employment Service Jobcentres (ESJs). Surmises that space use measures can be used to improve the layout of ESJs as environments for interfacing job and benefit information with the public. Concludes that information access is the key problem in layout design, and that the study′s methodology may be valuable for other organizations.

One of the least pleasing aspects of the development and estate agency worlds is the belief that a handful of magic numbers will tell you all you need to know about building design. This tendency was very evident after a recent talk given to property people by your editor in which the whole point of the presentation had been to draw attention to the vast number of new and emerging options in office design and location. The question from the floor was, in effect, That's all very well, but what depth should the new office building be?' As if there were one right office building depth, one golden number, which would satisfy all possible tenants, in all possible locations. Whereas, as two writers point out in this month's issue—Paul Stansall on the problems of assessing the occupational capacities of office building (page 4), Francis Duffy on sophisticated space planning techniques (page 7)—questions of design and occupation are complex and interrelated.

In the face of proliferating information technology, facilities managers are increasingly being confronted with symptoms of ‘cable‐stress’, ranging from congested risers and ad hoc cable trays to hazardous, trailing leads around workplaces. At the same time, manufacturers of partitions, floor and ceiling elements and office furniture are making claims for cable management which are often hard to evaluate until the systems have been installed, by which time the money has been spent. Problems of cable management must be treated in a systematic and interrelated way if expensive errors are to be avoided.

While distinguishing between the roles of property and facilities managers, identifies how they may need to be interfaced in the process of developing, designing, planning, managing and using buildings to increase the changes of a successful outcome. Addresses the need to deal with potential conflicts of interest, where giving due consideration to the interests of building users and input from outside consultants can be useful.

In a black binder with Facilities stamped neatly on the front, the first six issues gave us a warm glow of satisfaction — for a few minutes. Then the old familiar worry returned. Who exactly is the facilities manager? Is he a supercharged executive, like the director of Sedgwick interviewed in these pages, with overall responsibility for telecommunications, data processing and accommodation? Is he a harassed facilitator with his ear grafted to the telephone as one crisis follows another? Or is he a reformed architect, wringing his hands over his thoughtless past? Is he even a he? We are being made more aware all the time of how dangerous it is to assume anything about the facilities manager, from the scope of his job to the proportion of the total work force his department will represent. Two recent examples come to mind: a London headquarters building in which over 100 facilities staff look after 1 000 people, and a facilities management plan for a projected building in San Antonio, Texas, where 25 people are detailed to look after 500 people. The ratios are 1:10 and 1:20. Doubtless greater extremes exist.

This study examines the built environment in the preserved historic settlements of the Najd region of Saudi Arabia, providing insight into shared core concepts and forms that were commonly shared across the settlement's dwellings before the Kingdom's period of modernization.

Space syntax convex mapping and the justified access graphing as the main techniques to examine several internal elements at the building level. The study created elements such as connectivity, access graphs and depth graphs to understand the integration and placement of these elements to overcome surrounding forces. Also, the author combined graphical architectural analysis with space syntax techniques to understand the spatial and physical integration in three-dimensional space. This helped to establish a link between what is two-dimensional (the building layout) with what is three-dimensional (the physical form).

The paper found that the hierarchical order of internal spaces and the order's role in shaping the physical form served to satisfy the social behavior and environmental conditions. As a result, all building elements generated with the guidance of the main culturally rooted in support with internal spaces order. This order of spaces inside the house led the urban spatial hierarchy to connect but not conflict, as the whole process of generating the physical forms is to complement each other and to produce a unified built environment.

This study is limited to Najdi dwelling form and culture, the author believes expanding the number of study samples in the five traditional settlements or expanding the scope of the study to examine other Saudi regions may result in new findings and insights.

The paper offers and discusses two mechanisms on how to enhance the process of designing modern houses in similar cultures or elsewhere in the world. Also, how traditional dwelling elements generated with the guidance of the main, culturally rooted values and beliefs, in support of the internal spatial order.

The purpose of this paper is to identify the possible gaps in use of Web 2.0 tools and human resource (HR) functional performance, and to identify the potential areas of future research for the upcoming researcher and industry practitioners.

By having a thorough literature review on the said Web 2.0 and HR functions’ concepts, the study develops a conceptual model with seven propositions that assist in answering two major research questions, i.e., whether Web 2.0 tools can benefit the four major functions of human resource management (HRM), and to what extent Web 2.0 tools help HR Managers to reap maximum (efficiently and effectively) out of four major functions of HRM. By identifying the possible gaps in use of Web 2.0 tools and HR functional performance, the study identifies potential areas of future research for the upcoming researcher and industry practitioners.

HR 2.0 regime (right alignment of Web 2.0 tools and HR functions) will allow both the ends (employee and employer) to drive the organization toward sustainable, long-term business success. Excellence in HR functions following the HR 2.0 concept, can lead the organizations get best desired HR and business outcomes across sectors and industries. Though using Web 2.0 tools in HR functions can encounter various challenges as management of bulky information, time wastage, personal conflicts, threats of losing information confidentiality, etc., but these potential threats can be made less risky by transforming organization culture.

As the scope of the study was limited to the use of Web 2.0 tools in HR practices, the study provided a generic view of the use of Web 2.0 tools in HR domain. Thus the findings should be used only in HR domain in a variety of contexts.

The current study adds value to in the exploration of the link between Web 2.0 and HRM in a systematic way because of the fact that Web 2.0 tools as drivers or facilitating tools can play a vital role in execution of HR practices and processes in a secure, effective and efficient manner. The current study also paves the way for the HR practitioners and researcher to extract manifold benefits from the use of Web 2.0 tools in all of its functions with the right understanding. Critical role of HR can be favorably facilitated by Web 2.0 in favor of both, i.e., employees and the employers which could ultimately enable them to create a competitive edge in the market place. The organizations in general (whether private or public, manufacturing or public, small and medium enterprises or MNEs) can extract the real benefits from the right use of Web 2.0 while performing any of their HR function. Enhanced decision making may also be gained using the right mix of Web 2.0 tools and HR practices in any organization. The study also provides a track to the researchers to excavate more associations among the said constructs and to test these relationships in different industries so that maximum HR challenges may be addressed related to the employee and the HR process.

Social implications of the current study can be derived as the main focus is HR practices which are executed by the employees, who if are positively addressed, may gain economic and social up gradations. As for the employers use of Web 2.0 tools in their HR functions not only will bring economic prosperity for themselves but for the employees and the society.

Conceptual analysis of links between the use of Web 2.0 tools and HR functions to draw the attention of HR practitioners to benefit both employers and employees. Though the use of Web 2.0 is being popular in various other business areas but not for internal employees regarding HR functions. Paper provides the conceptual link of Web 2.0 applications, i.e., blogs, wikis, folksonomies, RSS, podcasts and online social networks with human resource functions.

Analysis of architectural space is commonly conducted by examining architectural drawings that project spatial information by means of walls and partitions. To capture the lived experience of space, which is richer than what we can see from drawings, a new method is proposed to quantify the cognitive dimension of space and re-present it as an audible format.

Using an urban vernacular house in Seoul as a case study, this research takes a syntactic approach to quantify one's changing perception through their movement from the main gate to the most private reception room. Based on Luigi Moretti's theory of hollow space, a new method is proposed to measure the level of spatial pressure exerted on a navigating body. The numerical data of spatial pressure are then converted to a sound using musical techniques of the chromatic scale and chorale textures.

Building on Moretti's abstract concept, it has been shown that a rule-based quantification of users' spatial perception is possible. In addition, unlike conventional approaches of treating architecture as a static entity, this study showed an alternative approach to represent it as a sequence of sensorial experience that can be readily converted to a sound of music.

This research developed a quantification method to measure the perception of pressure inside buildings by revisiting Luigi Moretti's theory proposed in 1952. It has been also demonstrated that the visual stimuli in space can be translated into an audible experience. This new method is applicable to a wide range of buildings including important historic architecture.