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Despite repeated calls for research to explore the effects of the physical work environment on employees within the servicescape literature, gaps in knowledge remain. There is a need to understand the nature, influence and impact of environmental stimuli (e.g. music, colour) on employees. Extant research remains ambiguous on whether employees perceive individual stimuli within their work environment or perceive and interact with their physical work environment as a holistic experience. This study aims to explore the influence of environmental stimuli on employees within their physical work environment and the effect on their satisfaction and loyalty.

A two-stage approach was applied, with expert interviews followed by an employee survey which was analysed using structural equation modelling.

This research validates a holistic physical work environment construct, consisting of five dimensions: Colour & Design, Cleanliness & Odour, Music, Lighting and Layout. This study provides empirical evidence of the impact of environmental work stimuli on employee satisfaction, a relationship which is mediated by pleasure.

Firstly, this study examines the neglected side of servicescape research: employees. Secondly, the findings support the view that employees do not perceive individual elements of their physical work environment as distinct and separate elements but rather perceive, and interact with, their physical work environment as an integrated whole. Evidence of how environmental stimuli at work increase employee job satisfaction is a key takeaway for retail practitioners focussed on improving service experiences for all actors.

The recent COVID-19 emergency has brought to light issues connected to physical work environment, particularly to offices and to its impact on service employees’ internal responses, behaviors and outcomes. As the topic is characterized by fragmented theoretical approaches as well as a lack in consolidated empirical research, this study aims at providing a clear understanding of the main – as well as the most recent – issues debated in academic literature today.

The study is a systematic literature review. Specifically, 124 papers, retrieved by Scopus, Web of Science and EBSCOhost research databases, are here systematically analyzed.

The main findings are connected to the prevalence of studies investigating employees’ satisfaction and productivity as main outcomes, the increasing attention by academics to new workplace designs, characterized by peculiar attributes such as flexibility and nonterritoriality, and finally, the lower interest in nonoffice working environments.

The review sheds light on the current knowledge of the relation between physical work environment and service employees to identify the main issues debated in academic literature and make suggestions for further research. First, the need to explore aspects of the physical work environment and employees’ outcomes that have not been adequately studied. Second, the relevance to investigate the above relation in public sector. Moreover, the importance of careful planning of the physical and virtual work environment in the context of the COVID-19 emergency.

The purpose of the paper is to examine the effect of the physical environment on employee commitment. It explores how favourable working conditions can affect an employee's sense of well‐being which in turn can generate higher levels of employee commitment.

A questionnaire instrument based upon previously validated measures was completed by 65 front line call centre employees. The Baron and Kenny four‐step procedure for testing mediation effects was adopted.

The statistical analysis confirms that employee well‐being mediates the relationship between physical environment and employee commitment.

The call centre industry needs to make employees more autonomous by reducing the level of scripting, encouraging greater involvement and participation in work systems and setting targets and the organization of regular team events.

This study aims to investigate the characteristics of the physical work environment that are known and used in practice to promote creativity for innovative start-up workplaces. The first part of the study identified these characteristics from a content and visual analysis, and examined the current state of implementation of these characteristics in the work environments of innovative start-up companies. The second part of the study examined criticalness and practicality of these characteristics in the workplace with a group of experts in the workplace design, evaluation and management.

A content and visual analysis for written and visual images was conducted to identify a comprehensive list of characteristics of the physical work environment critical to creativity of the workplace. With the seven characteristics identified, an instrument was developed and interviews were conducted to assess the physical work environments of 22 innovative start-up companies in Michigan. Following up the interviews, an expert group was formed with 26 professionals including architects, interior designers, facility managers and CEOs. A survey was conducted with them to understand the significance and implementation issues among the seven characteristics.

The most frequently incorporated characteristics in the innovative start-up companies in Michigan were spaces for idea generation, technology interface for collaboration and spaces for a short mental break or social hangout. The three most important physical work environmental characteristics for companies to produce creative, innovative ideas and products/services for growth and market competitiveness were balanced layout, technology interface for collaboration and spaces for idea generation.

The study provides a comprehensive framework to evaluate creative workplace regarding the physical environment. It also offers insights on the work environments of the innovative start-up companies for increased creativity and innovation performance in the workplace.

This chapter focuses on the physical work environment, in particular, the possibilities and limitations of biophilic design in hotel office space. Biophilic design has already gained attention in directly influencing the guest experience, but little focus has been given to workspace. Traditionally, the hospitality industry places employees' office spaces in parts of the hotel not appropriate as guest space due to lack of daylight and windows. Many studies have shown that improving the workplace with nature-based features can play a role in increasing employee well-being. Data collected from employees with both extensive managerial and back-of-house hotel experience established that employees would welcome the opportunity to work in such an environment and currently find back-of-house design basic and lacking any aesthetically pleasing elements. An understanding of the obstacles in initiating such changes was shown as well as employee initiatives to improve work spaces. This initial exploratory study concludes that the needs of employees in terms of comfort, wellbeing, motivation and work satisfaction are often overlooked when considering back-of-house spaces. There is a general understanding and expectation that management needs to develop awareness and practical initiatives to address the deficits of the physical work environment. Biophilic design can be influential in promoting a calming and restorative environment at the workplace and thus positively impacting employee motivation and performance.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of organizational climate, physical work environment and organizational encouragement on enhancing employee creativity in the Indian automobile industry.

The study used descriptive research design. Through a stratified random sampling method, the authors collected 250 valid responses which were considered suitable to carry out the study. Structural equation modeling was used to validate the hypothesized research model, whereas confirmatory factor analysis was incorporated into the study to check the reliability and robustness of the constructs.

The results of the study indicated that creative instinct within the employees working in the automobile units becomes more profound when an organization provides a climate and physical work environment which is conducive to stimulate the creative thought process of the employees by encouraging its employees for exchanging ideas among themselves, which motivates them to think out of the box and subsequently foster their creative ability.

This study incorporates measures that are essential in enhancing the creative ability of the employees working in the Indian automobile industry which can be tactically nurtured by these factors.

The findings add to the existing literature by developing visions and enumerating how organizational climate, physical work environment and organizational encouragement enhances creativity within individuals in Indian automobile units.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the role of the physical environment characteristics on artists’ creativity.

Based on mixed-method of research the data was collected through questionnaires and interviews with 40 artists. The parameters of the physical environment characteristics included light, object design, color, window, the possibility of communication, flexibility and the existence of personal space.

The effect of these factors used simply and naturally on artists’ creativity was evaluated to be positive. It was found that if these factors were not present and only a simple, non-inspiring space was designed, the results would be simpler and less creative. It was suggested that designers need to design a space according to the artists’ individual and social needs and their perceptions.

This study is mostly limited to Iranian artists; however, it is a starting point for broader implications.

The main contribution of this research is providing environmental characteristics, which can assist in creating an appropriate workspace for artists.

Although the physical environment provides an important context for employees' work, there remain divergent findings regarding how different spatial settings, such as more open or more closed workspaces, impact employees. Employing research on the functions of the physical work environment, we contribute to a growing body of research on employees' interactions with their workspace by developing and measuring the notion of person–space fit (P-S fit). This construct affords examination of the multi-dimensional nature of employees' interactions with their workspaces, to understand how their perceived fit with the key functions of their workspace impacts their experiences and social network activity at work.

We first develop a new P-S fit scale and test its factorial, convergent, discriminant, and incremental validity over other person–environment fit concepts (N = 155). Next, in a naturally-occurring, quasi-field experiment of a workspace change intervention moving employees from predominantly closed workspace to more open workspace (N = 47 pre-move; N = 37 post-move), we examine how changes in both workspace layout and P-S fit impact workers' experiences of their workspaces (needs for task privacy and spaciousness) and collaborative behaviors (social network activity).

Our P-S fit scale consists of theoretically and empirically validated dimensions representing fit with four workspace functions: aesthetic fit; identity fit; instrumental fit; and collaboration fit. Instrumental fit is positively associated with experiences of task privacy, whereas aesthetic fit and identity fit positively associated with experiences of spaciousness, but no forms of fit were related to social network activity. However, the findings show that work-related social network ties tended to decrease, and new ones were less likely to form, in open office spaces.

Contributing to a growing body of research linking person–environment fit literature to workspace design, this study offers a new scale assessing P-S fit and provides some empirical evidence of its importance for understanding the complexity of the employee-work environment interaction.

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.

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.

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.

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.

This paper aims to propose and provide an overview of a model analysis that considers the main spatial design attributes that influence and produce the most relevant salutogenic outcomes. These results are essential for a healthy work experience, especially in shared workspaces.

This study departs from the theoretical contributions of the salutogenic approach, principles from supportive design theory, psychosocial supportive design and the environmental demands and resources model. After a scoping literature review covering different fields of workspace design, environmental psychology and evidence-based design of health-care facilities, a conceptual analysis is done on a proposed understanding of work, health and environmental relations to overview spatial attributes that enhance specific salutogenic and well-being-promoting outcomes needed for a healthy work experience.

The model of analysis, as a theoretical element that helps create methodological tools, combined with the application of a post occupancy evaluation, is thought to assist architects, designers, workspace owners and stakeholders in their new designs or to evaluate existing ones.

Studies on defining spatial attributes and their intended salutogenic outcomes have been formally done in health-care facilities. However, applying this idea to shared workspaces is something new and is expected to contribute to their design and evaluation, especially if the notion of environmental demands and resources is complemented.