The Resources of the System
d) Management Resources:
Under this heading we include all the equipment, personnel, etc. that are used to collect and retrieve information about the system and to
assist the decision making process. In small operations there is only one management resource, mainly the Gardener's brain or mind : he goes around the garden, collects
information visually about the plant resources and designs jobs for to be carried out by
the human and the material resources. For larger operations that may prove insufficient
and additional resources may have to be added; in general terms these resources may be
grouped in the following compartments: data aquisition, data retrieval, budgetary allocations and accountancy, strategy and decision making.
[Data aquisition] [ Data retrieval] [ Accountancy]
___|_________________|__________________|_____
|
V
[ Strategy and DM ]
present and past states of human, material and plant resources already discussed
and about the jobs or missions already performed. Data retrieval refers to a compartment including a procedure or device to extract data deemed necessary for DM
or for Reports to higher echelons (usually the latter). Accountancy deals with that part
of the total Budget already spent and how much is left. The fourth compt., Strategy
and DM, obviously the most important is where, on the basis of data retrieved and
budget left, decisions about future actions of the system are taken.
Simple minds might think that data aquisition and retrieval are irremisible linked.
This is only true in ideal organizations, in real ones this often is not the case. While
it is true that only aquired data can be retrieved the process is not always straightforward and moreover, most of the aquired data is never used at all. I am indebted here as in many others chapters to that Great Thinker, C.Northcote Parkinson. (see for instance:
Paperwork in his book In-laws & Outlaws,John Murray,1962) . A great deal ot time, energy
and effort is spent in recording data, usually by the workers; the data is then stored in its original form until, later on, some other person might ( or might not) need to use it.
There are two prior requirements for its use: a) the information has to be found and b) it
has to be understood by the other person. For a) we need a good filing system, i.e.,
easy to use by the recorder and the retriever person and for b) some agreement or compromise between the two. An example might illustrate the requirements for useful
information flow: In weed control operations it is extremely useful to keep a record
of the operation, to do this the worker has to keep some sort of diary with the pertinent data. The data should include: date, sector of garden sprayed, type of herbicide and concentration, volume used, hours spent, predominant weeds and, most important, effectiveness of the treatment (measured after a week or more). Assume that the
worker is responsible enough, goes around with a pocket notebook and then writes it
down clearly in some suitable form and files it correctly. Some time elapses, which might well be a year (about 200 such forms) and management feels that it should
evaluate the whole operation regarding cost and effectiveness. The data retrieval compt.
has then to provide a Report with amounts and costs of the various herbicides, total
time spent and work- cost, these classified according to seasons and effectiveness of
control of the various weeds. Unless this report is clear and unambigous, it will be of no use for the management to draw any conclusions. But, what conclusions? Surely any
conclusions as to cost or effectiveness are relative to what happened in previous years.
What if the reports of previous years have been lost or were never made ?. Thus
there are so many pitfalls that chances are that the end result is usually a huge waste of time for everyone concerned.
Data's Law, often attributed to Parkinson, states that: "Data expands to fill the space
available for storage". This Law is quite relevant for many a gardening computer program
where aquired data seems to take most of the available memory. The purpose of data aquisition is mostly to help the Gardener as decision maker, otherwise is fruitlesswork.
Pre-computer and post-computer management resources: The above, somewhat
cynical remarks, might be out of place in the near future with the extended use of
wireless communicators interfacing with computers for data treatment. A good computer program can answer to requirements a) and b) quoted above. Regarding
the first, computer records do not get lost as often as paper ones and the filing systems
are much simpler and may be accessed more readily than manual ones. As to b), the
compromise or agreement bet. data recording and retrieval is dictated by the computer
program itself leaving little room for ambiguities. It remains only the problem of
the time lag and "paper lag" between the moment the work is performed and that when
it is inserted in the computer. This problem might be solved with the use of
third generation mobile phones and/or communicators; the worker could record the
necessary data upon completion of the task at the actual work site and transmit the
data in real time to the PC at the office. A proper software could direct the data to two
directories : one where the data is kept in the original form as a diary or weekly
and another where Reports may be obtained. Thus the task of evaluation can be performed effortlessly and at any moment; as an added bonus, the compartment for data retrieval is left unmanned, its place being taken by appropiate software.
