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The purpose of this study is to determine the effects of window proximity on perceptions of employees in the call center offices.

A semantic differential scale composed of nine bipolar adjectives, four of which dealt with “planning,” three of “privacy,” while the rest measured “lighting” was applied for evaluation. In total, 92 employees at the TEPE Call Center in the Bilkent District, Ankara, Turkey participated in the research.

The results showed that window proximity directly affected the call center employees’ perceptions. In addition, a positive approach was even less affected when the location of the workstation was more at the inner part of the workspace. On the contrary, workstations in front of the window were evaluated more positively, presumably because the employees were happy at feeling roomy and by giving them a higher level of privacy, while also minimizing distractions and interruptions. It was also found that call center employees with secondary education responded more positively than higher educated employees.

This study was limited to examining the effects of window proximity in a call center on employees’ perceptions of an open-plan office. The study supports the results of planning, privacy and lighting, as well as the study on physical environmental factors, such as design, ambient and social, which are thought to be realized in the future.

This study presents suggestions that would be useful for increasing the working and solution-focused perceptual performance values in call center environments from the new generation of work areas. They should be appropriate for the psychological and physical needs of employees in twenty-first-century communication environments, especially in spatial environments and for the suitability of the technological equipment used.

Presents the development of the Information Commons in the new Lied Library at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, from conceptualization to realization. Discusses the goals of the facility, including the need to create a space that simultaneously supports access, collaboration, and production in scholarly endeavors. Also addresses the impact of the Information Commons concept on patterns of service, and illustrates the challenges in designing Information Commons workstations, including such considerations as user authentication and resources for those with disabilities.

This paper aims to develop a lean manufacturing road map for industrial firms by selecting the appropriate lean tools relying on the predefined strategic objectives and the firm constraints. It also illustrates how to prioritize these tools considering their interrelationship.

Relying on the predefined strategic objectives, operational objectives can be set by using the balanced scorecard (BSC). Afterwards, the theory of constraints (TOC) is introduced to investigate the manufacturing system and to determine its constraints. For these constraints, the principle of fault tree analysis (FTA) is used to determine their root causes. Consequently, lean manufacturing tools/initiatives can be proposed. Finally, the fuzzy-decision making trial and evaluation laboratory (fuzzy-DEMATEL) method is implemented to prioritize these initiatives and to construct a suitable lean road map by managing experts’ knowledge.

The practical results indicate that diagnosing the manufacturing system and managing experts’ knowledge to select the appropriate lean initiatives, and prioritizing these initiatives relying on the understanding of their interrelationship could support achieving the strategic targets without consuming extra time or resources.

The study is limited to manufacturing firms. Besides, it reinforces the need for investigating the effectiveness of the proposed approach on service sectors.

The study provides a methodology with a real application, to manage experts’ knowledge for developing an effective lean improvement road map. The methodology could be adopted by any manufacturing firm.

The study supports decision makers of a firm to select the improvement initiatives by an original structural approach, which integrates BSC, TOC, FTA and fuzzy-DEMATEL. Besides, the interrelationships among the selected lean initiatives are considered, and results show the importance of analysing these interrelationships during the construction of the lean improvement plan. Moreover, its effectiveness and applicability are validated via a practical case study.

The purpose of this conceptual paper is to highlight the increasing need for libraries to support collaborative learning and to review possible physical arrangements of computer laboratories that are supportive of collaborative learning.

A review of the literature was conducted to look at the interface of the concepts of collaborative learning and physical arrangements of computer laboratories.

The review of the literature surfaced four suggested physical arrangements of computers for collaborative work; kidney‐shaped tables, trapezoid tables and half‐circle tables, and Center for Science, Mathematics and Technology Education sociopetal workstations. After reviewing these arrangements, the paper suggest an additional arrangement with increased potential for face to face collaboration; full‐circle with recessed monitors.

As new libraries are built and others renovated, these five physical arrangements provide for ways that computer laboratories can be designed to meeting the increasing need for user collaboration.

Various staff methodologies of a just‐in‐time (JIT) apparel assembly cell with various numbers of walking workers, and various levels of process time variation were discussed and evaluated by simulation models. Decouplers are placed between two workstations (or subcells) to improve capability and flexibility in an apparel cell. Decouplers enable JIT pull cells to operate with minimum stock‐on‐hand and allow parts and information to flow in opposite directions. Decouplers also provide the JIT pull cell with “make one, check one, and pass one on” capability. A manned assembly cell’s throughput rate depends on the number of workers in the cell and on the variation in each worker’s processing time. Normally, as the processing time variation increases, the throughput rate decreases. However, these simulation studies show that doubling the decoupler capacity increases the cell’s output, even as the processing time variation increases.

Corporations balancing real estate holding (CRE) costs with recruitment-retention increasingly use activity-based flexible offices (AFO) to right-size environments for a mobile workforce. In this layout, workers have the option to select between a mix of unassigned workstations and alternative work settings (AWS) that support autonomy and mobility. The open layout encourages visibility and access to colleagues to enhance communication and collaboration. Nevertheless, studies into the effects of AFO environment attribute effects on worker needs and work outcome are sparse. Therefore, this study aims to focus on understanding how environmental features and psychological or job needs impact observed and perceived satisfaction, communication, collaboration and perceived productivity.

Data were collected in a case organization piloting an AFO before implementation across their CRE portfolio. A mixed-methods approach was used, including systematic observations, space syntax and surveys collecting information on the observed and perceived satisfaction, communication, collaboration and productivity.

Collaboration instances were higher in AWS, especially more visible and accessible open areas, supporting higher impromptu interactions and enhanced perceptions of productivity of team members and cross-team members. Privacy requirements linked to a greater demand for enclosed AWS. Team communication satisfaction depended on how easily teams were located. Almost half of the user teams clustered within workstation zones corresponding to territoriality needs. Job autonomy satisfaction depended on the availability of preferred workstation or AWS, enabling private, uninterrupted work that enhanced perceived productivity.

The case study findings indicated a correlation between the AFO environment and worker needs impacting workplace satisfaction, communication, collaboration and perceived productivity.

The findings form this case study indicated that a fit between the AFO environment and needs impacted workplace satisfaction, communication, collaboration and perceived productivity.

The growth in flexible working by employees in many office‐based organisations means that workstation sharing at the employer's premises is increasingly attractive. However, because of peaks and troughs in demand it is difficult to decide how many workstations should be provided. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the cost‐effectiveness of alternative workstation sharing strategies.

The study used an agent‐based simulation model with two input variables: the employees' reaction if they are blocked (i.e. they find that all workstations are already occupied), and the number of workstations at the employer's premises. The simulation was run for 56 scenarios. The results were evaluated by assigning cost penalties for workstations, blocking and displacement; there were eight cost regimes reflecting different organisational characteristics.

The simulations showed trade‐offs between the activity and space variables, in terms of utilisation, blocking and displacement. When costs were applied the output of the simulation runs, the most cost‐effective scenarios varied markedly with the different cost regimes.

The variation in optimum strategies with different model input values suggests that cost‐effective workstation sharing strategies must be developed on a case‐by‐case basis. The simplifying assumptions in the model must be considered when applying the findings to real organisations.

Quantified analysis of the cost‐effectiveness of workstation sharing strategies has not been found previously in the literature.

Many researchers require access to computer facilities beyond those offered by desktop workstations. Traditionally, these are offered either through partnerships, to share the cost of supercomputing facilities, or through purpose‐built cluster facilities. However, funds are not always available to satisfy either of these options, and university departments are under increasing pressure to obtain the maximum return on investment. The purpose of this paper is to describe the development of a low‐cost cluster computing facility using existing workstations in undergraduate computing laboratories.

Drawing on a previous feasibility study, experiments were conducted with cluster configurations of increasing size to determine the benefits and drawbacks. This was followed by identification and resolution of problems, and assessment of effects upon existing users of the computers.

A working cluster was built to supply the needs of researchers, with almost no impact upon existing users and at very little cost.

At present, the workstations can only be used as a “processor farm” and it is unclear how MPI type processing may be achieved, because there is no guarantee of the number of workstations available at any specific time.

Any institution requiring access to high performance computing can build a useful resource from existing computers at minimal cost. The usefulness of the resource depends on existing computers being under utilised.

The novel aspect of this work is that the facility was built using existing student computing laboratories.

The PRISM SaveScreen facility and function keys provide alternatives in producing data for budget planning and PRISM search cost estimation, and also facilitating PRISM search training. By combining the SaveScreen function key with frequently used PRISM function keys such as 〈SEND〉, 〈DISPLAY RECORD SEND〉, 〈FOR〉, and 〈BAC〉, the activities of a PRISM user can be recorded and stored in a predefined data file for later analyses. For example, from the results of the analyses, the usage levels of OCLC workstations and the approximate monthly PRISM search cost of each workstation were obtained. In addition, based on the recorded search activities, a retraining in PRISM search can be planned. Certainly, by familiarizing oneself with PRISM search commands and search structures, a user can perform cost‐effective and efficient searches. Toward that end, also presents methods of performing cost‐effective PRISM searches.

The purpose of this article is to provide a perspective on the role of public computing in the daily operations of reference services at an academic library.

An overview of approaches to managing and supporting public computing workstations in academic libraries, in general, is provided. Specific aspects of operations at the University of Nebraska at Omaha Library are presented.

Challenges and opportunities associated with reference's role in providing support for technology are identified.

Other academic libraries may find this helpful as they consider the management and support required when providing public computing workstations to patrons.

This paper provides a public service perspective on managing technology in an academic library. Specifically, an alternative approach to other management models is highlighted using the University of Nebraska at Omaha Library as an example.