Physical and Technological resources Essay

These are the resources that the business needs to maintain in order to carry out its activities and it includes things like the buildings, facilities, plant and machinery. Management of physical resources involves planning maintenance and refurbishment and it includes organizing insurance and security to keep those resources safe. For JCC there are different types of physical resources however the main ones are as follows: * College premises and facilities: any business will need to have premises from where it can operate for JCC it’s the college it self which they operate by providing facilities to the students. The premises should be aesthetically pleasing in order to attract customers however for JCC if the premises are pleasing then more students would likely to come and study at JCC. * Materials and waste: The materials that are needed by a business will very much depend on the type of operation it is running and the individual people working there. A car-making factory will need access to steel, paint, plastics, etc. to be able to make cars. However for JCC they will need teachers to teach the students otherwise they would not be able to educate the students. For JCC the materials they use are paper, stationery and printing inks etc while the waste are printer cartridges, plastics , laptops as when they dispose them off. They manage the waste as follows: the computer equipment they can’t just throw throw them or give it to someone because its registered in the college name in this case they dispose computer equipment to a company called WE which deals with the waste and this charges them à ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½10 per item in order to dispose them safely. * Plant and machinery: Like materials and buildings, each business has specific requirements for the type of plant and machinery that it might need. JCC spends large amount of money to purchase the machinery such as projectors, televisions, video machines, computers, table and chairs and many more as without the resources they would not be able to meet the objectives. * Equipment including IT: Equipment is essential for a business to operate smoothly. For example, the teacher is unable to work effectively without a board marker or access to the registrar to check the who is present. Equipment is very vital for JCC such as computers, projectors and printers in order to work efficiently. * Planned maintenance and refurbishment: All buildings, plant and machinery require regular maintenance and updating. Even factories that work using flow production 24 hours a day have to allow time to check that machines are working properly and make minor adjustments to them if necessary. If this maintenance does not take place machines may break down, stopping production and leading to a loss of profits. Building maintenance such as regular cleaning and painting, is also needed to keep buildings in good order, clean and safe. JCC do regular maintenance with the equipment such as computers every summer holidays to ensure everything is working properly. They also paint the building every summer holidays if needed. * Emergency provision: The Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 requires organizations to draw up policies and provisions for what should happen in the event of an emergency within a building. This means for JCC they have to change their resources such as the building since the law of disability act came in force they had to install lifts and the ramp in order to cater for disable students. * Insurance: All buildings owned or leased by businesses must have insurance. If the business owns the building it will arrange this cover itself but if the building is leased it is often arranged with the landlord. A fee is paid each month and then protection is given to the business in the event that something happens to or within the building such as floods, fire, and damage to any equipments etc. For JCC they need to insure the building is insured as it will need if any thing happened in the college then the insurance will pay for any claims. * Security: The building must be made secure and looked after, even when employees have gone home. Some businesses will employ full-time security staff to do this and they patrol the building, sometimes using dogs to help them. Other organizations will use security cameras and alarms which are linked to police stations. JCC use a full time security site manager who is responsible for the security of JCC as he monitors via the use of CCTV cameras. Technological Resources Technological resources are more than just equipment. Computer hardware, such as a modem and monitor, is a physical resource and is treated as such. Technological resources in this instance are things like software, music or text. These resources are owned, like physical resources, and have to be managed in the same way. Technological resources can be considered in four main areas: intellectual property, accumulated experience and skill, software licensing and patents and copyright. * Intellectual Property: These are the rights allow people to own ideas and have rights concerning what happens to these ideas, including how often they are used, what they are associated with and if they have permission to be copied. There are considered to be five different types of intellectual property: designs, drawings, text, music and video. This shows us that JCC have to have copy right laws to be followed other wise they can be fined and sued if the breach the law. JCC logo has been copyright protected as no one can copy their logo. * Accumulated Experience and Skill: This means experience gained over a number of years when a person has come across lots of different issues to do with the job. This can mean it protects the business by keeping people in their jobs – so that the level of experience in the business can grow. Experienced employees are more likely to be able to do a good job in an organization and should be managed carefully. Sometimes this might mean paying people more or giving them special conditions. For JCC they have to manage this as the teachers get experienced and the work gets more faster and more accurate, for instance the head of the business department would be responsible of registering students every year and have to meet deadlines as this case would be the teacher will be experienced and unlikely to make mistakes however if another new staff comes in and the experienced teacher goes out of JCC then problems might arise and the work might be done slowly. JCC have to maintain this in order to run the organization smoothly. * Software licenses: Many businesses invest a lot of money into software and its use within the working day. Sometimes bespoke software will be designed for a business or they will use someone else’s software and play a license fee to use it. As any software e.g. Microsoft word you have to pay a license fee to the Microsoft however when we individual buy the software the license fee is already included unlikely for large business organization where they purchase one software and use in more than one computer in which they have to pay extra fee for the license. JCC they have to pay for the license for the use of different software they use, if they not pay the license fee they can be fined as breaking the law. They have to make sure they have purchased the license. * Patents and Copyright: It can be difficult and costly for businesses to protect technological resources. Legislation can help to prove if someone has taken your idea and used it. Patents and copyright are two areas of intellectual property law. Patents- protection for inventions or new and improved products that can be made by industry while Copyright- protects the use of literary or artistic material. This includes songs, software, multimedia and films. For JCC they have to have a copyright logo in order to protect their logo not to be used by others, they have to pay a fee for this copyright protection. While they have to patent their website in order for not others using their ideas and design.