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10.11

Hyperspecialization

By Terrance Malkinson

In the July-August 2011 issue of Harvard Business Review, Thomas Malone, Robert Laubacher and Tammy Johns discuss the idea that the future of work is one where employees will become highly specialized to a level where they are hyperspecialized  ["The Age of Hyperspecialization," pp. 56-65].  This concept is particularly relevant for today's knowledge worker.  Projects and tasks previously done by one person will be divided into highly specialized small pieces, each completed by a highly skilled specialist; not necessarily a full-time employee of the company, but may be outsourced locally, nationally or internationally.  The authors describe the advantages, disadvantages and implications for managers of increasingly specialized workers. From society’s perspective and from the employee’s viewpoint, this hyperspecialization earlier described by Adam Smith in 1776 as “the division of labor,” has many interesting implications:

• The employees may have no knowledge of or ever see the end product or service that they are contributing to. How might this influence strategy that a manager might use to divide work into discrete assignable tasks (i.e., how do you ensure quality, how do you integrate the tasks, and how do you motivate the employee)?

• Exploitation of workers might occur as the specialized tasks are outsourced to less expensive labor markets, or work is performed on speculation with no guarantee of payment.

• What could be the effect on innovation as workers increasingly become task performers?

• What happens to the individual if the specialized task that has taken many years to develop becomes obsolete?

Hyperspecialization is not necessarily a poor or undesirable development, particularly with rapidly expanding bodies of knowledge and the complexity of our business environment.  Historically, specialization of jobs has always occurred naturally and has proved to be advantageous.  Improvements in quality, speed and cost reduction often occur. Employees often have the advantage of much more flexibility in employment relationships. From a career point of view, it is important to think futuristically and understand career trends.  Do you want to be a generalist, a specialist or a hyperspecialist?  What do you think?

Other Bytes

Here are some of the things going on in and around the community:

• The cover story of Bloomberg Businessweek [19-25 September 2011, 64-70] is on the topic of unemployment in America. Drake Bennett, in “Can Retraining Give the Unemployed a Second Chance?,” discusses the importance of retraining so that you have the skills that are required to achieve employment success.  Examples of those who have successfully engaged in retraining, and how they did it, are provided. An interesting statement by the author is that “of the 47 million jobs that the country is expected to create by 2018, only a third will require a bachelor’s degree or higher while 30% will instead require an associate’s degree or industry certification.”

• New regulations governing light bulb efficiency begin to take effect in the United States in January, a result of the 2007 Energy Independence and Security Act, which requires a more effective conversion of energy into light.  Incandescent bulbs convert less than10 percent into light, losing the rest as heat.  In his article “Let There Be LED” [Wired, 110-119, September 2011, www.wired.com],  Dan Koeppel describes how LED lighting is seen as the future of lighting.  Interesting insets in the article provide information on features to look for when buying a light bulb and a comparison of various types of lighting sources.

• Starting in 2000 with George Lucas and the production of Star Wars Episode II, there has been a transition in cinematography from traditional film to digital motion picture cameras.   In “The Status of Cinematography Today” [Motion Imaging Journal,  120(6): 39-44,  September 2011, www.smpte.org], Curtis Clark provides a historical perspective on the transition to digital motion picture cameras.  Clark describes the evolution of this technology and future directions.

• Inc’s 30^th annual ranking of Americas fastest-growing private companies is the cover story of the September 2011 issue [“America’s Fastest Growing Private Companies,” September 2011, www.inc.com].  Leading the ranking is Ideeli, followed by Solazyme and C2C Outdoor. Common among these growing companies is job creation in newly formed growth companies rather than in large corporations. Of this year’s 500 honorees, 488 added jobs from 2007 to 2010. A profile of this year’s leader, Ideeli, an apparel, accessories, housewares and travel provider, is provided by Leigh Buchanan.

• A set of four articles on the topic of writers' agents is provided in Writers Digest [91(7):21-43, October 2011, www.writersdigest.com].  Writers' agents are professionals who specialize in marketing and promoting your book. They are important for a writer seeking to get published, as the majority of publishers will not entertain your idea unless you are represented by a reputable writing agent. The four articles include a listing of 25 agencies looking for new writers, what an agent can do for you, submission tips, and selling your nonfiction book proposal in the digital age.

• David Sirota et al.  provide eight proven practices for maintaining a motivated and enthusiastic workforce in “Why Your Employees are Losing Motivation & What to Do about It”  [Nonprofit World,  29(4):20-21, July/August 2011, www.snpo.org].  As the authors states in the introduction, most employees are enthusiastic when they start a new job, however, morale declines thereafter.  Despite the plethora of historical information on employee motivation, the reality is simple: poor management is generally to blame.  As the conclusion states, “there may be no single motivational tactic more powerful than freeing competent people to do their jobs as they see fit.”

Terrance Malkinson is a communications specialist, business analyst and futurist. He is currently an international correspondent for IEEE-USA Today's Engineer, an associate editor for IEEE Canadian Review, and a member of the editorial advisory board of IEEE The Institute. He was Vice-Chair of the IEEE-USA Communications Committee (2004-2010), and editor-in-chief of IEEE-USA Today's Engineer Digest (2004-2008). He was an elected Senator of the University of Calgary and an elected Governor of the IEEE Engineering Management Society as well as an elected Administrative Committee member of the IEEE Professional Communication Society. He has been the editor of several IEEE conference proceedings, and past editor of IEEE Engineering Management. He is the author of more than 420 publications, and is an accomplished triathlete. His career path includes being an accomplished technical supervisor and medical researcher at the University of Calgary a business proposal manager for the General Electric Company, an associate for Sears Canada Inc. and research administrator with the School of Health and Public Safety/Applied Research and Innovation Services at SAIT Polytechnic in Calgary Canada.

The author is grateful to the professional support of the Haskayne School of Business Library at the University of Calgary. He can be reached at todaysengineer@ieee.org.