The bard might be right about names, but there does seem to be a lot in designations. Particularly in the information technology sector where the mindset of an entire industry has been heavily influenced by all things American.

Chief among popular designations is the prefix `chief', whether it defines the boss who runs the shop (CEO), or the technology honcho (CTO), the information mandarin (CIO) or even the housekeeping in-charge (Chief Housekeeping Manager)... okay, I was stretching it a bit there, but don't be surprised if you run into one.

For example, the Head of `Communities and Services' no longer works exclusively for an NGO. And architects need not be engaged in making building plans.

Trendy, glamorous, charismatic and even amusing - these are the new breed of fancy designations being churned out by the IT industry.

So while the recruitment manager may now be known as `Manager - Talent Acquisition' or `Manager - People Strategies', `People's Function Manager' is the new epithet to liven up the otherwise humdrum life of a human resource manager.

Similarly, the corporate planning manager is now called `Change Manager' and heading the technical ladder of a software firm is the `Chief Architect'.

And finally a V-P (Communities and Services) could be responsible for "developing strategies to expand and leverage focussed customer groups by offering them value added services".

However, one can find this new crop of fancy designations primarily in small and medium-sized IT companies. The larger players tend to follow rather more standardised designation patterns. Says Dilip Ranjekar, corporate executive V-P (human resources), Wipro Ltd, "We do not have employee pressure on this.

People join us for other reasons like the company's brand value, proven track record and stock options. Smaller companies have fewer attractions."

HR consultants claim employees bargain hard for fancy designations since there is a perceived value-addition in terms of the esteem associated with such titles.

"The esteem need is high for an employee. He wants to be continuously seen going up the corporate ladder. Hence there is a premium on designations," explains Indira Bharadwaj, regional head, Hewitt Associates. Adds TGC Prasad, director (people's function), Mindtree Consulting, "People's Manager sounds really cool. It clicked very well with our employees." With the employees identifying themselves more and more with their titles, companies are also giving more thought to designations. Says Mr Prasad, "It changes the behaviour of the title holder. At the end of the day, the client has a business problem and not just a technical problem. While a software engineer thinks of only solving the technical aspect of the problem, the same employee in a consultant's role provides a holistic solution." This also means that the new breed of designations are increasingly getting focussed on defining the exact responsibilities of the employee. For example, a V-P (New Business Initiatives).Many of the latest titles are now getting standardised across the IT sector.

A Chief Architect at the top of the technical ladder, Associate instead of Software Engineer, and consultants instead of team leaders are pretty commonplace.

Given the close interaction with the West, particularly the US, which accounts for almost two-thirds of software exports, most of these designations have obviously been lifted from that part of the world. "We have to align ourselves to the technology companies in the US," says Sudheesh Venkatesh, PlanetAsia.com. In fact, so infectious is this trend that a certain public relations outfit, styling itself as an image management consultancy, is headed by a `Chief Dreamer' whose wife is known as `Mother Goose', the potential head of the Bangalore branch is called `Maverick Monk' and other self-designation options like `Candoman' (whatever that means!). Hopefully, this writer won't be re-designated as Senior Content Generator.