Job Analysis For Laboratory Manager In Biochess Research Facility

Requirements for a laboratory manager at Biochess

The current assignment has been undertaken in order to provide an overview demonstrating the various complexities of managerial roles andthe importance of interactions with various people within an organization in order to fulfil the organizational roles. The current assignment has been composed of the viewpoint of a lab manager working in Biochess research facility. In order to succeed as well as safely run the laboratories, this kind of organizationshires lab managers who are required to use their managerial knowledge for efficiently running these facilities. The current context will help in understanding the solutions to the real-world problems.

The essential requirement of laboratory manager is to bring together the managerial skills as well as technical knowledge in order to enhance the safety of a lab and ensure that the laboratory procedures to be undertaken does not hamper the flow of operations. The managerial duties that are prerequisites for this job are scheduling, maintenance of safety, security and operational standards as well as procurement of necessary reagents, Chemicals and apparatuses that are necessary for the day to day operation in any laboratory. Any individual with a degree of Bachelor of Science in Medical Laboratory Science is a perfect candidate for this role (De Clercq, Dimov & Thongpapanl 2015). However,the experience is valued while selecting an individual for the position of lab manager.

As a lab manager, I am supposed to be familiar with the regulatory requirements that are specific to a lab and ensure compliance by reviewing the protocols. I am also responsible for updating and maintaining the lab safety manual and periodic inspections of the laboratory. I am also required to maintain compliance with the several local as well as Federal regulations and in extension is responsible for enforcing and communicating the safety guidelines to the internal as well as external visitors. At times I have been involved in training individuals to appropriately operate lab equipment and also looked after the hygiene and sanitization of the facility (Clegg, Kornberger & Pitsis, 2015).

I am responsible for managing a specific laboratory run by Dr Paine, in the Department of Biological Sciences of Biochess. He is assisted by four research scholar who basically utilises all the facilities in the laboratory. They have chosen a fellow scholar as their representatives namely Mr Miles who makes a list of the necessary reagents and apparatuses. In case there is a slip up, the other scholars can also approach and add to the list. I am in contact with various suppliers and distributors and most frequently contact Ms Elena, customer representative, sales at Sigma Aldrich for necessary reagents and MrBala at Tarsons for the desired apparatuses. The bill of procurement is signed by me, followed by Dr Paine. It is then signed by Professor N’golo, Head of Department, Department of Biological Sciences and finally countersigned by Mr Raghavan, an accountant in the finance department of Biochess which is then forwarded to Pyro Blaine in the records section.

Name of individual/Group Save Time On Research and Writing Hire a Pro to Write You a 100% Plagiarism-Free Paper. Get My Paper	Organizational Position	Age	Gender	Personality and pattern of interaction
Dr Harry Paine	Senior scientist	47	Male	Learned and knowledgeable. Verifies the list requirements submitted by the students. Hands over procurement order once deemed okay. Strictly adheres to safe lab practices. He is also the first person to scrutinise my work as a lab manager.
Ivan Miles	Junior Research Fellow	27	Male	Young and bright. Helps me to maintain the records of the procurements, distribution of commodities and is also responsible for highlighting day to day needs. Requires guidance from me while operating lab equipment. He is also under the supervision of Dr Paine.
Elena Knope	Senior customer representative	32	Female	Exuberant and enthusiastic. Believes in developing business relations with a personal touch by providing timely service and prioritizing lab orders.
Jagadish Bala	Senior customer representative	40	Male	Warm and business oriented. Unlike MsKnope, MrBala is a no-nonsense person and likes me to be very specific about the orders I wish to place.
Professor N’goloT’challa	Head of the department	51	Male	Prideful and busy. As head of the department, MrN’golo is always surrounded by administrative work and needs reminders for signing the bills of transactions. Can be impatient and rude at times, but mostly remains calm before taking decisions.
Sai Raghavan	Accountant	50	Male	Lazy and unhelpful to some extent. Delays countersigning by claiming to be busy in other administrative work and requires gentle persuasion and nudging to complete the job.

Interactions with stakeholders

                                   Table 1: Principle characteristics of interactions

                                                       (Source:Self)

The three types of interdependencies are:

Pooled	In this type of interdependence, the different departments within the organization perform different functions and do not directly interact on depending upon each other (Dressler, 2016). However, they are part of the same organization and work together effectively running theorganization.
Reciprocal	In reciprocal interdependence, the end result of department becomes the input parameter for another department along with the fact that this offer in a cyclic fashion (Fischer, 2016). There is a high intensity of interaction between the various groups and individuals.
Sequential	Similar to reciprocal interdependence, the performance of one department is based upon the output generated by the department which comes first sequentially in the hierarchy (Jimenez et al. 2016).

                                      Table 2: Concept of interdependencies

                                                           (Source: )

In the current context, Dr Paine is the heart and soul of the lab as he is responsible for developing projects that can receive monetary funding from an external source. As he is the boss, all his wishes are commands and this is a type of sequential interdependence as he needs my skills to keep the lab running efficiently and safely and I need his support to maintain the lab. My relationship with Mr Miles is reciprocal in nature as he is responsible for informing about the lab stocks and procurement requirements and I’m responsible for restocking and ordering (Dusseau 2016). On the other hand, the rest of the research scholars pool their requests to Mr Miles who forwards it me, which means that it is a type of pooled interdependence between them and me. After understanding the needs, I place the orders with Ms Elena and MrBala which is reciprocal in nature. This followed by signing and forwarding the bill of receipt from Dr Paine to Prof. N’golo to Mr Raghavan is again sequential in nature.

                                       

                                                          Figure 1: Type of interdependencies

                                                                           (Source: Self)

In the current context, we have been able to identify four different interdependent groups namely the student coordinators, the suppliers, a labincharge, the head of the department and finally Administration and accounts (Koppal, 2012). When considered the interdependence between the student coordinator and myself as well as with lab incharge, the effectiveness is very high as the research scholar are able to put forward the list of requirements to me and Dr Paine who then carefully goes through the entire list before approving it or removing any unnecessary requirements which help in maintaining the budget limit of the research facility (Lane, Owen-Smith, Rosen & Weinberg 2015). The interaction with the students is necessary as it helps in effectively determining the stock of various reagents, chemicals, glassware and apparatuses. As soon as the approved list is forwarded to me, eye contacts the necessary individuals who can provide the requirements in a timely fashion and at the same time be cost effective (Leminen, Nyström, Westerlund & Kortelainen, 2016). Once the order has been completed, the bill of the transaction needs to be filed into the recording system present in the organization and it moves in a sequential manner wherein the bill is countersigned by the lab incharge, Department Head and accounts department respectively. This maintains a system of checks and balances in order to monitor and resolve any discrepancies (Lowman, 2016).

Types of interdependencies

While the lab manager is a vital part of the research lab, in case of absence of the lab manager will cause disruption in work which is why it is necessary to have a bypass through the research Scholars can order the various requirements. Once they have pooled their request, they need to identify and prioritize the requirements and get them approved by the student coordinator and the lab incharge before they can place the order themselves (Mom, Fourné & Jansen, 2015). The lab can maintain a filing system which will be useful for preserving the transcripts of the transaction while the original copies can be forwarded Administrative Services. Another recommendation for improving the effectiveness of the process is that the students can themselves contact the department held for countersignature before submitting the same to the accounts department.

Conclusion:

The current assignment highlights only one of the many roles that are played by the lab manager. We have been mainly discussing the procurement of chemicals and Apparatus fora research facility and in some way have been able to highlight the theoretical knowledge that can be applied in a practical and real-world situation.

References:

Clegg, S. R., Kornberger, M., & Pitsis, T. (2015). Managing and organizations: An introduction to theory and practice. Sage. California, USA

De Clercq, D., Dimov, D., &Thongpapanl, N. (2015). Structural and relational interdependence and entrepreneurial orientation in small and medium-sized enterprises: The mediating role of internal knowledge-sharing. International Small Business Journal, 33(5), 514-536. Doi: 10.1177/0266242613502801

Dressler, M. (2016). Aligning Service to Mission: Managing Technology in the Language Center and Across Campus. IALLT Journal of Language Learning Technologies, 37(1). Retrieved from https://ialltjournal.org

Fischer, J. (2016). Managing Research Environments: Heterarchies in Academia. A Response to Cumming. Trends in ecology & evolution, 31(12), 900-902. Doi: 10.1016/j.tree.2016.09.010

Jimenez, I., Sevilla, M., Watkins, N., Maltzahn, C., Lofstead, J., Mohror, K., … &Arpaci-Dusseau, R. (2016). Standing on the Shoulders of Giants by Managing Scientific Experiments Like Software. USENIX; login, 41 .Retrieved from  https://www.usenix.org

Koppal, T. (2012). Ask The Expert: Trends in Laboratory QA/QC. Lab Manager Magazine, 7(2), 50.

Lane, J. I., Owen-Smith, J., Rosen, R. F., & Weinberg, B. A. (2015). New linked data on research investments: Scientific workforce, productivity, and public value. Research policy, 44(9), 1659-1671. Doi: 10.1016/j.respol.2014.12.013

Leminen, S., Nyström, A. G., Westerlund, M., &Kortelainen, M. J. (2016). The effect of network structure on radical innovation in living labs. Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, 31(6), 743-757. Doi: 10.1108/JBIM-10-2012-0179

Lowman, M. (2016). Life in the lab.

Mom, T. J., Fourné, S. P., & Jansen, J. J. (2015). Managers’ work experience, ambidexterity, and performance: The contingency role of the work context. Human Resource Management, 54(S1), s133-s153. Doi: 10.1002/hrm.21663

Park, J. J., Choe, N. H., Schallert, D. L., & Forbis, A. K. (2017). The chemical engineering research laboratory as context for graduate students’ training: The role of lab structure and cultural climate in collaborative work. Learning, culture and social interaction, 13, 113-122. 10.1016/j.lcsi.2017.04.001