Management Of Family Resources

Lesson 17 : Resources

Classification Of Resources

2. Non Human resources:

Non human resources are external to the individual but are possessed, utilized or controlled by the family. These resources are very much essential for the achievement of goals and are limited in their availability.

Non-human resources include the personal possessions, family possessions and the resources available to the individual with his/her community, state and nation. Money is the purchasing power, used to get other resources or achieve goals or attain satisfaction.

It is an important and major nonhuman resource which has the power to purchase other resources and achieve the desired goals. The material goods that each individual or the family possesses are varied and different. They range from safety pins to the house, in which the family lives, from clothing to pens, from perishable foods to current novels, from fuel oil to furniture etc.

The community facilities are included in nonhuman resources like parks, library, shopping and recreational facilities. The non human resources are directly controlled or utilized by the human being.

The first step in management is to identify the various resources, and classify them and decide which resources are human and non human. This will help to decide what additional resources are needed, and not available readily. It is important to recognize and use all kinds of resources carefully in achievement of the goals. The success of management process depends upon the recognition, allocation and use of resources.

The resources can also be classified as economic resource and non economic resources based on the monetary value they have or they can be classified by their availability in the family subsystem in near and larger environment (Ref: Gross et al 1973)

Human resources	Examples	Nonhuman Resources	Examples
Time	An hour or a lifetime to be used in activities of the individual	Material goods	Food, An owned home, Equipment, Car, Clothing, Paper clips, Consumer goods, Property, Furnishings.
Energy	Energy needed for walking upstairs	Money	Savings, Wages, Income from Investments, Shares
Interests	In gardening, folk music, or food preparation	Space	Large rooms which make possible entertainment of large groups of people Storage space, House
Intelligence	Seeing cause- effect relationship	Power	Electricity, Fuels
Ability or skills	Ability to plan Skill in clothing construction Ability to conduct a meeting	Community facilities	Libraries, Parks,
Knowledge	Information needed in selecting a car Understanding principles of management
Attitudes	Willingness to accept change Optimism
Creativity	Coning fruit, vegetables, and a figurine for a centerpieces
Awareness	Watching for new products on market Sensitivity to problems
Standing plans	Routine for getting family off in morning

In the second method the resources can be classified into three categories.

1. Human resources:


1. Cognitive: It is the component of thinking using knowledge, setting and defining goals, making plans etc. e.g. intelligence quotient.
2. Psychomotor: It assesses the physical costs of work in terms of effects on all the systems of the body that function during work e.g. skills.
3. Temporal: It deals with one of the resources with which the family's goals are achieved e.g. time.
4. Affective: It concerns the part that personal interests and attitudes play in making the work easy or difficult e.g. values.


2. Economic Resources:


1. Money Income: They are monetary benefit or gain derived from capital or labour e.g. salary.
2. Fringe Benefits: These resources are advantages in goods and services derived as a consequence of employment but exclude money income e.g. paid vacations.
3. Credit/Elastic Income: It is the current purchasing power expanded through deferred payments e.g. loans.
4. Wealth: It is a composite of holdings, real property and other income producing assets e.g. household durables, equipment, possessions etc.


3. Environment Resources:


1. Physical: Physical environment includes
• Natural tangible environment - e.g. soil.
• Natural non-tangible environment - e.g. air.


2. Social:These resources include
• Social organisations - e.g NGO's.
• Economic institutions - e.g. banks.
• Political institutions - e.g. political parties.
• Community .facilities - e.g. public utilities

The third method of classification is based on their economic value or worth, where in all resources are classified into two broad categories.

Economic Resources: These are those resources, which are utilised for production e.g. preparing meals for the generation of income (production).

Non-economic Resources: These are those resources, which are for self consumption e.g. preparing meals the family (self-consumption).

The fourth type of classification of resources is dependent on their tangibility or perception by touch.

Tangible Resources: These resources can be perceived by touch e.g. money.

Non-tangible Resources: These resources can not be perceived by touch e.g. skills.

Personal, Family, Community, National and World Resources

The fifth classification of resources is based on the social linkages of the organisation to which these resources belong.

Thus, resources are broadly divided into the following five categories.

Personal Resources: They belong to one individual e.g. skill.

Family Resources: They belong to the entire family members e.g. house.

Community Resources: They are available to the community from the neighbourhood e.g. banks

National Resources: These are available in the nation and the whole population is provided with these resources e.g. coal.

World Resources: These are shared by the entire population of the world e.g. services of the international organisations like WHO.

Family System and Household, Near and Larger Environment Resources

The sixth classification of resources is based on ecological approach, stressing upon the interrelationship between people and their environment where these resources are found. Thus, resources are divided into the following three categories.

Family System and Household Environment: These are resources available within the household environment, surrounding the family e.g. house, equipment, private transport etc.

Near Environment: It includes markets, educational facilities, recreational groups, medical facilities etc.

Human, Physical and Psychic Capital Resources

The seventh classification of resources is based on consumption economics. In this classification all resources are divided into the following three categories.

Human Capital: They include technology, capacity, motivation and time.

Physical Capital: They include the frequency and amount of income as well as purchasing power, elastic income, wealth and community facilities.

Psychic Capital: It is the degree of satisfaction derived from the expenditure of human and physical capital. It regulates the amount and quality of other resources required in the pursuit of satisfaction by all family members.

Renewable and Non-renewable Resources

The eighth classification of resources is based on their supply. In this classification natural shared resources are divided into the following two categories.

Renewable Resources: They include all those resources which can be replaced endlessly i.e. there is an endless supply. E.g. sun, wind, water, geothermal.

Non-renewable Resources: They include all those resources which can be replaced tip to a limited period, after which its supply runs out. E.g. fossil fuels, wood etc.

Human, Non-human and Shared Resources

After studying all the above classification, a comprehensive classification is evolved, and suggested in this book, keeping in mind the resources available to an Indian family. This classification has three categories, human, non-human and community shared resources as can be seen from the following figure