The Architect's Guide to Developing and Managing an International Practice


Book Description

Start or grow your architectural firm with this masterful guide to international practice, featuring country-specific information for over 185 countries The Architect’s Guide to Developing and Managing an International Practice is the definitive resource for architects considering or already engaged in projects outside the United States. Offering expert guidance on every essential aspect of international expansion and management success, this comprehensive volume covers recruiting, licensing, strategic planning, current trends, emerging technologies, and more. Author L. Bradford Perkins clarifies and expands upon the major issues that architects face when they begin to explore how to enter a new international market for their services. This real-world guide is designed for young architects and architectural students thinking about working overseas, for firm leaders pursuing international projects for the first time, and for established global firms seeking to expand or refine their ongoing international practices. It includes advice drawn from dozens of conversations with leading architects who have worked in dozens of countries around the world. A must-read for architecture and design professionals wanting to successfully win and carry out work abroad, this book will help you: Plan an entry into international practice Pick the best initial or next international market for your services Sell and contract for your services Manage the financial aspects of international practice Invoice and collect what is owed to you Enhance your domestic practice with international work Understand the telecommunication, software, and technology platforms required Identify and avoid the common problems of international practice Understand how experienced global firms effectively deal with risks and issues Written by the co-founder of Perkins Eastman Architects, an international architectural firm with more than 1000 employees and work experience in over 60 countries, The Architect’s Guide to Developing and Managing an International Practice is an indispensable reference and guide for any architect planning to seek work outside the United States.




The Architect's Guide to Developing and Managing an International Practice


Book Description

Start or grow your architectural firm with this masterful guide to international practice, featuring country-specific information for over 185 countries The Architect’s Guide to Developing and Managing an International Practice is the definitive resource for architects considering or already engaged in projects outside the United States. Offering expert guidance on every essential aspect of international expansion and management success, this comprehensive volume covers recruiting, licensing, strategic planning, current trends, emerging technologies, and more. Author L. Bradford Perkins clarifies and expands upon the major issues that architects face when they begin to explore how to enter a new international market for their services. This real-world guide is designed for young architects and architectural students thinking about working overseas, for firm leaders pursuing international projects for the first time, and for established global firms seeking to expand or refine their ongoing international practices. It includes advice drawn from dozens of conversations with leading architects who have worked in dozens of countries around the world. A must-read for architecture and design professionals wanting to successfully win and carry out work abroad, this book will help you: Plan an entry into international practice Pick the best initial or next international market for your services Sell and contract for your services Manage the financial aspects of international practice Invoice and collect what is owed to you Enhance your domestic practice with international work Understand the telecommunication, software, and technology platforms required Identify and avoid the common problems of international practice Understand how experienced global firms effectively deal with risks and issues Written by the co-founder of Perkins Eastman Architects, an international architectural firm with more than 1000 employees and work experience in over 60 countries, The Architect’s Guide to Developing and Managing an International Practice is an indispensable reference and guide for any architect planning to seek work outside the United States.




The Architect's Guide to Small Firm Management


Book Description

The definitive guide to management success for sole practitioners and leaders of small design firms Owning and operating a small architectural design firm can be challenging, with tight project deadlines, on-the-fly meetings, rush proposals, and fluctuating workloads as part of the firm’s day-to-day activities. To help small firm owners cope with the chaos and prepare for the unexpected, here is The Architect’s Guide to Small Firm Management, a no-nonsense guide to repurposing daily demands into workable, goal-directed solutions. Crucial topics such as self-aware leadership, people management, technology, financial health, scenario planning, sustainable practice, and future trends are examined using real-life case studies and business model paradigms. This definitive text explores the whole system experience of a small firm practice to deliver organizational strategies proven to keep a firm’s creative mission on a steady, productive path. The Architect’s Guide to Small Firm Management addresses how small firm owners can: Deal effectively with unexpected circumstances and shifting work requirements Meet the demands of the marketplace while creating a satisfying workplace Set and achieve goals in an environment of constant change This book is a must-have for those facing the often harsh reality of managing small design firms in a difficult and changing economy. Entrepreneurial architects and designers will discover how to define their own personal and professional meanings of success, as well as how to refocus their business approach to replace long, unrewarding hours with manageable, satisfying ones.







Architecture-centric Software Project Management


Book Description

To fully leverage the value of software architecture in enterprise development projects, you need to expressly and consciously link architecture with project management. This book shows how, drawing on powerful lessons learned at Siemens, one of the world's leading software development organizations. The authors offer insight into project management for software architects, insight into software architecture for project managers, and above all, insight into integrating the two disciplines to maximize the effectiveness of both of them. Learn how to develop cost and schedule estimates for development projects, based on software architecture; how to clarify architecture so projects can be more effectively planned and managed; and then how to use architecture to organize, implement, and measure the project iteratively as work progresses.




API Management


Book Description

Maximize the impact of your assets and business services by providing APIs for developers and other users. The journey described in this book starts with identifying business assets. As part of the API team, you then need to identify and define the requirements of traffic management, security, mediation, and orchestration. You also must define metrics for the analytics to measure the success of the overall API program. API documentation and the ease of developer onboarding also determine the success of the APIs. Finally, monetization of these APIs leads to revenue generation for the enterprise. Author De — an expert in building and managing API solutions — provides enterprise architects, designers, and technologists with insight into the world of APIs and the various technical aspects of building and managing an effective API management solution. API Management: Developing and Managing APIs for your Organization: Introduces the basics of APIs and highlights their value Provides an overview of technologies for building an API management solution and defines the requirements, including how to build a RESTful API Offers design principles for building developer-friendly APIs Explains how to secure your APIs Shows how to use API analytics to measure the success of your APIs Demonstrates how to monetize APIs Finally, API Management touches on various technical nuances of creating, distributing, and managing an API. This book will not only help you learn how to design, build, deploy, and manage an API for an enterprise scale, but also generate revenue for your organization. What You'll Learn Discover the API life cycle Design and develop APIs Implement API security Test your APIs Deploy and monitor your APIs Who This Book Is For Enterprise architects, technology enthusiasts, security architects, and operations specialists.




The Architect's Guide to Running a Practice


Book Description

This is your essential one stop shop for information on starting and running a practice. Case studies and advice from practitioners, big and small, run alongside outlines of all the key topics, to give you an insight into the problems and challenges others have faced when setting up a design business. Accessible and informative, this handbook is the ideal first point of reference when starting a practice. Architects have many different reasons for setting up in practice; equally, there are many ways of running your own business. This handbook helps you consider whether or not you should set up on your own, examining issues such as financing, office space, recruitment, IT and workingo ut a business plan. Some architects want to stay small, while others have ambitions to grow into large businesses. Some grow big accidentally. And then there are those who pick and choose their work carefully, and even turn down undesirable contracts, while others will grab at everything possible. This book woudl explore these different models and illustrate how different kinds of practice develop into successful businesses. Importantly, the book will stress that these issues are crucial - you may be the best designer in the world, but unless your business is well managed you will fail. On the other hand, some successful architects spend a lot of time looking for new work and attending to management issues, rarely finding the time for design work. This book would illustrate how architects have struck a balance between these two extremes.




Business Architecture


Book Description

Organizations today exist in an environment of unprecedented change. They do so against a backdrop of a global, competitive marketplace, the fast-paced enablement of technology, amplified regulation and accelerating organizational complexity. Many organizations are addressing change in a sub-optimal way and they are operating without a clear view of where their operational risks lie. It is these dynamics that are leading organizations to recognise and embrace Business Architecture. Despite this environment, Business Architecture can be a difficult ’sell’ - it is often perceived to be abstract and lacking in tangible delivery. To succeed, Business Architecture must be pragmatic and, to be sustainable, it must focus on achieving long-term value and, at the same time, recognise the shorter-term tactical needs of the organisation. With these challenges in mind, this book provides a practical guide on how to employ Business Architecture and how to build a balanced proposition that delivers value to a broad range of stakeholders. As the book states, Business Architecture should not be practised in isolation, nor should it be thought of as a one-off process; it needs to be woven into the fabric of the organization. And so the authors illustrate the opportunities for weaving the Business Architecture Practice into this fabric through the various stakeholders and life cycles that exist, both formally and informally, within an organization. Whilst recognizing best practice, this book explores a new, inspirational level of Business Architecture whilst acknowledging that the best way to realize the vision is one step at a time.




Becoming a Green Building Professional


Book Description

A career guide for professionals in sustainable architecture, design, planning, development, and related consulting For those considering a new career or a career change focused on green and sustainable building and design, Becoming a Green Building Professional offers practical information on educational requirements, career options, guidance and tips, and first-hand interviews with green building professionals. Perfect for underemployed architects and other building and design professionals who want to reinvent and renew their careers, as well as students considering such a career, this is a vital and informative guide to a growing field.




Designing a World-Class Architecture Firm


Book Description

Offers architects and creative services professionals exclusive insights and strategies for success from the former CEO of HOK. Designing a World Class Architecture Firm: The People, Stories and Strategies Behind HOK tells the history of one of the largest design firms in the world and draws lessons from it that can help other architects, interior designers, urban planners and creative services professionals grow bigger or better. Former HOK CEO Patrick MacLeamy shares the revolutionary strategies HOK’s founders deployed to create a brand-new type of architecture firm. He pulls no punches, revealing the triple crisis that almost bankrupted HOK and describes how any firm can survive and thrive. Designing a World Class Architecture Firm tells the inside story of many of HOK’s most iconic buildings, including the National Air and Space Museum, Moscone Convention Center, Oriole Park at Camden Yards, the Houston Galleria and the reimagined LaGuardia Airport. Each chapter conveys lessons learned from HOK’s successes —and failures— including: The importance of diversifying to depression-and-recession-proof your firm The benefit of organizing your firm around specialized leaders and project types The difference between leading and managing your people The value of simple financial metrics to ensure your firm’s health and profitability The “run toward trouble” strategy which prevents problems from ballooning MacLeamy delivers his advice via inspirational stories such as how HOK survived when its home office in St. Louis went up in flames and humorous stories, like the time an HOK executive was mistaken for royalty on a trip to Saudi Arabia. In this tell-all guide, the driven architecture or design professional will find the tools needed to evolve or grow any firm.