Small- and medium-size firms (49 or fewer employees) that are nimble and can leverage technology will survive and prosper, and may even be competitive with their larger counterparts, yet many are hesitant to make the investment in technology needed to improve productivity and performance.
An expected trend regarding project delivery, noted by Mark Zweig, founder of the AEC management consulting firm ZweigWhite, is that even though traditional design-bid-build is still the most dominant method—accounting for 60 percent of firm billings—it is slowly being superceded by other methods.
If your firm isn’t called Gehry Partners, or Herzog & de Meuron, you probably believe in the importance of having a Web site that offers viewers an abundance of information about your company’s projects and services. Even though the American Institute of Architects’ newly published Firm Survey says that repeat business brings over half of the new work to architecture firms, it can only help to show the world who you are and what you do. Alice Kimm, AIA, says the purpose of John Friedman Alice Kimm’s site (jfak.net) is “to recruit the right kind of client.” 64North (64north.com) designed
The Web sites designed by Huge (hugeinc.com) for Hillier (hillier.com) and DeStefano + Partners (dplusp.com - below) open with pages that tell the viewer about how each firm looks at architecture and design. Hillier’s is very people-oriented; DeStefano’s speaks about the things that influence the firm’s work. Design principles One reason to hire an independent Web designer is to get an outside eye. As aesthetically oriented as architects are, they still make basic design errors when taking on the design of their sites. There are many, including unattractive background colors with unreadable type, use of pointless animations that can’t be
Succession plans should be more than schedules for transferring ownership— they should be integral to a firm’s strategic plan to recruit and develop talented staff
Woody Allen’s famous quip, “I don’t want to achieve immortality through my work. I want to achieve it through not dying,” perfectly expresses the kind of wishful thinking that often gets in the way of preparing for the future.
Succession plans should be more than schedules for transferring ownership— they should be integral to a firm’s strategic plan to recruit and develop talented staff The process of succession planning For a group of principals that’s just starting, the main task is to become fully informed in general about all elements of succession planning and how they specifically apply to their firm. The best way to do this is by talking to colleagues who have done it, and reading about the process for professional service firms. It will probably be necessary to hire a consultant. The most prudent use of
Succession plans should be more than schedules for transferring ownership— they should be integral to a firm’s strategic plan to recruit and develop talented staff inancial components of a transition plan The human-resources-related strategizing that one must do to put a transition plan together comes pretty naturally to most principals and their successors. The financial mechanics of the ownership transfer present the greatest potential for trouble. Firms really benefit from a specialist who is experienced in firm ownership transfers. Lowell Getz, an accountant from Houston and a financial consultant specializing in ownership transition planning, has succinctly explained the three elements,
Succession plans should be more than schedules for transferring ownership— they should be integral to a firm’s strategic plan to recruit and develop talented staff Financial strategies and ESOPs Mechanisms should be considered to promote the purchase by young associates who typically do not have a lot of cash. Usually firms use bonuses, apply salary increases, and sometimes bank loans to accomplish the transfer, so in effect, the firm funds the buyout through its profitability. Payroll deductions from the buyers’ salaries over a period of years can ease the burden as well. But to make the process “real,” prospective owners
Embedding architects Electronic mail may help in overseas working relationships, but it isn’t everything: design architects and their collaborating architects often place their respective staffs in each other’s offices during the phases of schematic design, design development, construction documentation, and construction supervision. Gruzen Samton, which associated with Bernard Tschumi, AIA (then dean of Columbia University’s Graduate School of Architecture, Preservation and Planning), for Columbia’s Lerner Hall [record, November 1999, page 94], sent architects to Tschumi’s office at the beginning of the schematic-design phase. “We were all looking at various alternatives, with lots of sketches,” says Samton. “Bernard had a lot
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