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Article
Publication date: 1 December 2003

U.J. Udosen

Presents a computerized approach to workplace design using computer aided design of workplace assembly layout (CADWORK) to design a workplace for the assembly of a product…

Abstract

Presents a computerized approach to workplace design using computer aided design of workplace assembly layout (CADWORK) to design a workplace for the assembly of a product comprising 11 components. The software accepts product data (assembly sequence), workplace data (working area) and anthropometric data (relating to the operator) and heuristically designs a detailed workplace layout. The software also calculates the standard time to complete the assembly. The resulting layout can then be modified interactively to improve on the basic design. In this case such subsequent improvement was marginal.

Details

Work Study, vol. 52 no. 7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0043-8022

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 14 December 2022

Taran Kaur, Sanjeev Bansal and Priya Solomon

The purpose of this study is to describe the success story of a software company, Adobe, in redesigning the workplace environment from cubicles to a connected collaborative…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to describe the success story of a software company, Adobe, in redesigning the workplace environment from cubicles to a connected collaborative workplace, which helped the organization optimize workplace usage. The goals were to design an innovative work environment to optimize the usage of the office portfolio, improve workplace service quality and infrastructure facilities of the portfolio, increase employee productivity, reduce technology costs, engage employees in a better way to enhance employee satisfaction, align workplace design with the brand, mobilize technology and enable a globalized workforce to facilitate higher productivity.

Design/methodology/approach

An exploratory research design method was adopted using the purposive sampling technique to collect data through semi-structured interviews with a team of nine property professionals from the operations team responsible for workspace redesign at Adobe in India.

Findings

The main observations of the corporate real estate (CRE) manager were on what value parameters drive workplace redesign and how different software companies were creating strategies to manage workplace design or redesign change for optimal use of the organization portfolio. To discuss the CRE strategies of global software leaders, IBM and SAP were pointed out in this case.

Research limitations/implications

The number of interviews were limited. The related parameters for workplace transformation are not necessarily complete. However, the parameters are regarded to include the most important aspects of workplace redesign.

Practical implications

This study provides useful insights into how benchmarking in the workplace transformation function of the CRE industry can be applied to address portfolio-related challenges, divergent employee needs and improve workspace usability following energy-efficient policies. Practitioners can use this study as a guide to develop more effective workspace designs.

Social implications

This study may guide other firms on successful workspace design initiatives that may overcome many obstacles in the workplace transformation process to have their intended impact on workplace efficiency and employee satisfaction. The case can be used as an inspiration for developing specific user-focused innovative workspace design in practice.

Originality/value

Adopting the theoretical background of the person–environment fit theory, this study adds to the understanding of the operational model of a digitally connected workspace designed as per real estate needs and strategies to manage the CRE portfolio of the company.

Details

Facilities , vol. 41 no. 3/4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0263-2772

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 21 January 2021

Kusal Tharinda Nanayakkara, Sara Jane Wilkinson and Sumita Ghosh

Office layout arrangements have a significant influence on many important aspects of organisations, and design firms need to liaise with the client to determine the most…

1977

Abstract

Purpose

Office layout arrangements have a significant influence on many important aspects of organisations, and design firms need to liaise with the client to determine the most appropriate design process. The purpose of this paper is to explore the factors design firms consider when designing new office layouts and the nature of future offices from the design and workplace strategist firms’ perspectives.

Design/methodology/approach

A qualitative study comprising interviews with leading international and nation design firms and workplace strategy consultant firms in Australia. Qualitative data was analysed using a thematic approach, which adopted within case, and across case, analyses.

Findings

Research identified major factors considered when identifying appropriate workplace strategies. These included the existing and preferred culture of the organisation, the level of flexibility required, functionality and technology requirements, acoustic strategies, sense of community and generation gap between employees. Participants believed future offices would be technology driven, community oriented, sustainability, health and well-being focussed, smaller in size with satellite offices, such as co-working and office spaces.

Research limitations/implications

This research has implications for industry and academics, as it provides an in-depth understanding of workplace specialists’ and design firms’ perceptions of clients’ contemporary and future requirements from office spaces. It also illustrates what they look at when designing office spaces for large corporates.

Practical implications

Research demonstrates how the office environment should match with the physical and psychological needs of the organisation and its employees. Findings have practical applications to professionals in human resource management and the design, management, development and valuation of office buildings.

Originality/value

This paper provides in-depth insights into how design firms and workplace strategists meet organisations’ changing demand for physical spaces, their main considerations in developing new workplace strategies, process followed and nature of future workplace in Australian context.

Details

Journal of Corporate Real Estate , vol. 23 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1463-001X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 December 2005

Arnold Craig Levin

With the continuous changing nature of work and increasing demands on business organisations to remain competitive and to continually innovate, while controlling ever increasing…

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Abstract

With the continuous changing nature of work and increasing demands on business organisations to remain competitive and to continually innovate, while controlling ever increasing real estate costs, the role of the workplace remains the battle ground between an organisation's cost savings strategy, its efforts to retain the status quo, serve as a facilitator of change and stand as a visual statement of the brand. While organisations continue to build facilities that range from newer adaptations of their previous model to what some may deem radical departures with the goal of creating new ways of working, the selection of what course of planning direction to take is still often left to a methodology that is removed from the long‐term strategic objectives of the organisation. Even organisations wishing to use the workplace as an enabler of transformation rely on the imagery of more open and collaborative work areas as the basis for change. Rarely is a connection made to the business strategy and business model of the organisation. Recognising that no matter what the organisational model, work processes are becoming more and more collaborative in nature, businesses appear to be confusing the design of collaborative workspaces with connections to a business strategy. This has created a vacuum in the perception of the role of the workplace within the business organisation and on the way in which workplace‐planning concepts are developed by design consultants. This paper attempts to identify the underlying issues that differentiate workplace design from workplace design strategies and to present a new way of developing these strategies that will change the perceived role of the workplace within the organisation.

Details

Journal of Facilities Management, vol. 3 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1472-5967

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 28 November 2023

Chiara Tagliaro, Alessandra Migliore, Erica Isa Mosca and Stefano Capolongo

This paper aims to explore how the scientific literature and company reports have addressed inclusive workplace design and strategies to date.

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Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to explore how the scientific literature and company reports have addressed inclusive workplace design and strategies to date.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper adopts a scoping review to answer the following question: To what extent is inclusion present in workplace design and related strategies? An analysis of 27 scientific papers and 25 corporate social responsibility reports of the highest-ranked companies in the Great Place to Work global ranking disentangles the main aspects related to workplace design and strategies for promoting inclusion.

Findings

This paper opens avenues for four macro-categories of diversity (psycho-physical aspects; cultural aspects; socio-economic conditions; and ability, experience and strengths) to support the development of inclusive workplace design and strategy. Besides, multiple spatial scales emerged as material and immaterial elements of the workplace encountering inclusion and diversity.

Originality/value

Nowadays, the workforce is becoming more diverse. Although diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I) has become key to many organizations, it remains unclear how DE&I principles are applied in workspace design and strategies. This scoping review provides a novel perspective on the topic by integrating scientific knowledge and practice-based approaches which still address this matter independently.

Details

Journal of Corporate Real Estate , vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1463-001X

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 3 February 2022

Piia Markkanen, Eevi Juuti and Aulikki Herneoja

This study aims to find ways to bridge the gap between workplace design and research. Exploring the design process from general design aims to site-specific design makes the…

2405

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to find ways to bridge the gap between workplace design and research. Exploring the design process from general design aims to site-specific design makes the process visible to support workplace design research.

Design/methodology/approach

Participatory design methods were used to understand employees’ needs and preferences in work-related situations to support the design process. The design process was divided into three phases. The office was temporarily refurbished for the intervention study, and evaluation data was collected with qualitative methods.

Findings

Participatory design-generated data revealed typical knowledge work needs, such as the need for privacy, interaction, exposure and preferences for the atmosphere in the workspaces during different situations. The authors identified the following key points to obtain design data: design aims, affordance design and site-specific multidimensional design. An intervention study in a small organisation revealed that lack of activity-supporting spaces created undesirable overlaps for focused work, collaborative work and client communication.

Research limitations/implications

The findings of this paper are explorative and limited to a small knowledge work company. The present approach identifies valuable data collection points in different design phases of workplace design processes. Sharing knowledge from practice to research and vice versa could inform research and improve workplace design.

Originality/value

This study makes the workplace design phases more visible. It supports finding new ways to study the connection between the user-needs and workplaces; and understanding how different design solutions impact workplace experiences, such as satisfaction. This study also brings focus to understanding the versatile needs of small organisations and their workplace design.

Details

Journal of Corporate Real Estate , vol. 24 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1463-001X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 May 1995

Zdenka Bezjak and Blaz Knez

Presents some factors that influence the design of workplace and worker loading in the process of sewing garments. Researches both existent and suggested work methods in workplace

352

Abstract

Presents some factors that influence the design of workplace and worker loading in the process of sewing garments. Researches both existent and suggested work methods in workplace design and worker’s loading, with regard to sewing men’s shirts. The use of the suggested working method enables minimization of measured working time of the analysed technological operation of 21.77 per cent. The estimation, by OVACO working postures analysing system, the OWAS method shows that worker’s loading for a newly designed workplace compared to the suggested working method brings, in principle, advantages for the workers.

Details

International Journal of Clothing Science and Technology, vol. 7 no. 2/3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0955-6222

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 24 May 2013

Mahbub Rashid

The purpose of this study was to understand the effects of colocation on office workers' perception of workplace design and interaction freedom in organizations.

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study was to understand the effects of colocation on office workers' perception of workplace design and interaction freedom in organizations.

Design/methodology/approach

The study was conducted at six different departments of an office organization that moved from geographically dispersed office buildings to one office building. The pre‐move data were collected three to six months before the move, and the post‐move data were collected almost one year after the move through questionnaire surveys. Out of 284 workers, 169 office workers filled out the questionnaire in the pre‐move survey, and 175 filled out the questionnaire in the post‐move survey.

Findings

Based on statistical analyses of the data, the study found that colocation did not help improve office workers' overall perception of interaction freedom in the organization, but it helped eliminate perceptual disparities concerning interaction freedom among its different departments. The study also found that office workers' perception of workplace design support for interaction and workstation location were strong predictors of their perception of interaction freedom in the organization. Overall, the findings of the study indicated that the purpose of colocation might be defeated if organizational behavior and culture were not modified simultaneously to promote workers' perception in support of interaction freedom.

Research limitations/implications

The study considered only one type of colocation that involved bringing people of different organizational units together from geographically dispersed places to one place. Therefore, these findings cannot be generalized for all other types of colocation.

Practical implications

The findings of the study are important for corporate real estate (CRE) strategists and organizational leaders who are actively considering colocation as a strategy to improve interaction and team effectiveness in the organization.

Originality/value

The study investigates different mechanisms involving the effects of colocation on office workers' perception of workplace design and interaction freedom in organizations; and identifies important distinctions to consider for achieving the benefits of colocation in terms of face‐to‐face interactions in the workplace.

Details

Journal of Corporate Real Estate, vol. 15 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1463-001X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 11 December 2018

Deepak Bangwal and Prakash Tiwari

The hotel industry suffers from retaining its employees, and to retain their employees is a big challenge to the hotel industry. So, the purpose of this study is to examine the…

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Abstract

Purpose

The hotel industry suffers from retaining its employees, and to retain their employees is a big challenge to the hotel industry. So, the purpose of this study is to examine the causal relationship between workplace design features of hospitality industry with employee job satisfaction and their intent to stay through empirical validation.

Design/methodology/approach

As per the objective of the study, three hypotheses were proposed based on a comprehensive literature review on workplace design features of the hospitality industry. The proposed relationships were examined by using structural equation modeling approach with AMOS 18 as prescribed by Hair et al. (1998).

Findings

Significant evidence was found in favor of proposed hypotheses. The result of hypothesis testing showed workplace design features of hospitality industry to positively influence employee’s intent to stay through job satisfaction.

Originality/value

While the employee satisfaction and commitment has been a significant research topic for more than decades, barely any research has been conducted that focuses specifically on workplace design features of a hospitality industry. This study tries to make a link between workplace design with the employee intent to stay through employee satisfaction. These links are rare from an Indian perspective.

Details

International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, vol. 31 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0959-6119

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 7 September 2015

Maria Karanika-Murray and George Michaelides

Although both job design and its broader context are likely to drive motivation, little is known about the specific workplace characteristics that are important for motivation…

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Abstract

Purpose

Although both job design and its broader context are likely to drive motivation, little is known about the specific workplace characteristics that are important for motivation. The purpose of this paper is to present the Workplace Characteristics Model, which describes the workplace characteristics that can foster motivation, and the corresponding multilevel Workplace Design Questionnaire.

Design/methodology/approach

The model is configured as nine workplace attributes describing climate for motivation at two levels, psychological and organizational. The multilevel multi-time questionnaire was validated with data from 4,287 individuals and 212 workplaces and with integrated regulation as the criterion outcome.

Findings

Multilevel factor analysis and regression indicated good internal reliability, construct validity, and stability over time, and excellent concurrent and predictive validity of the questionnaire.

Practical implications

The model could help to optimize job and workplace design by contextualizing motivation. The questionnaire offers advancement over single-level climate measures as it is validated simultaneously at two levels. Further research can focus on overcoming the low response rate typical for online surveys, on need fulfillment as the mediating variable, and on the joint influence of job and workplace characteristics on organizational behavior.

Originality/value

This work responds to calls to incorporate context in research into organizational behavior and job design. An understanding of the workplace is a first step in this direction. This questionnaire is the first to be validated at multiple levels of analysis. Ultimately, workplace design could support job design and the development of inherently motivating workplaces.

Details

Journal of Organizational Effectiveness: People and Performance, vol. 2 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2051-6614

Keywords

1 – 10 of over 62000