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Impact of activity-based work environments on knowledge work performance – quasi-experimental study in governmental workplaces

Heljä Franssila (Senate Properties, Helsinki, Finland)
Aleksi Kirjonen (Ministry of Justice, Helsinki, Finland)

Journal of Corporate Real Estate

ISSN: 1463-001X

Article publication date: 21 February 2022

Issue publication date: 29 July 2022

482

Abstract

Purpose

Work environment change from the traditional cell- and open-space offices to activity-based work (ABW) generates many concerns among workforce and management. The purpose of this study is to observe impacts of ABW change on several knowledge work performance drivers and outputs.

Design/methodology/approach

A quasi-experimental design was applied to distinguish the impact of ABW on several dimensions of knowledge work performance in three governmental organizations. The empirical measures that were observed in the study were: perceptions of physical environment, virtual environment and social environment, individual ways of working, well-being at work and self-assessed productivity.

Findings

Well-being at work or productivity will not collapse because of ABW change. Most of the facets of self-assessed productivity and all of the well-being facets did not change because of the adoption of ABW. ABW change had a positive impact on group work effectiveness but negative effect on perceptions of the facilities as conducive for efficient working. ABW change had an enhancing effect on the routine of protecting one’s concentration from software-induced interruptions and decreasing effect on using mobile technologies to work during idle times and using technology to avoid unnecessary traveling. ABW change made telework more acceptable.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study was one the first studies following real-world change to ABW with quasi-experimental design. The difference-in-differences approach made it possible to isolate the causal impact of ABW change on the knowledge work performance drivers and outputs from other simultaneous changes taking place in the studied workplaces.

Keywords

Citation

Franssila, H. and Kirjonen, A. (2022), "Impact of activity-based work environments on knowledge work performance – quasi-experimental study in governmental workplaces", Journal of Corporate Real Estate, Vol. 24 No. 3, pp. 190-207. https://doi.org/10.1108/JCRE-01-2021-0001

Publisher

:

Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2022, Emerald Publishing Limited

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