A Study of the Impact ofOffice Environment on Organizational Performance
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Abstract
The global epidemic of 2020 has caused most companies to adjust their technology development, organizational changes and business goals. This has also led to new corporatere quirements for a healthy office environment. In different organizations, the concept of healthy office space has been seen in recent years as one of thefavorable conditions to promote organizational operations. A healthy office environment not only promotes knowledge sharing among members within the organization and reduces the management costs of the business, but also facilitates employees to work efficiently and increase their innovation in their work.
Following the epidemic, the corporate work environment has changed rapidly. It is important to link the concept of building a healthy office environment to the performance of the organization. In this study, the healthy office environment of three companies where the author used to work was studied as a case study. By interviewing some managers and employees of these three companies, their feelings and feedback about the office space were collected and summarized. Through the case studies, recommendations are made to address the problems of office space planning inthese three companies as a way to improve organizational performance.
Keywords:healthy office; organizational performance; satisfaction
[if !supportLists]1. [endif]Introduction
According to a survey conducted byThe Journal of Managementin 2019, almost all (97%) of respondents regarded their workplace as an indication of whether they are valued by their employer. However, only 37% felt their office environment met their requirements, while less than a third said they were dissatisfied with it and would be reluctant to bring their colleagues or clients to it(Handbook
of 2021). This is a gap in management that managers should be concerned about, a gap that would certainly be of concern to business operators if it occurred in any other area of business. In an increasingly competitive market environment, such issues may arise because the most natural response of abusiness to the same competition is to seek to reduce costs, and the venue is one where costs are easily identified and easily understood. However, as with many aspects of people's working lives, an excessive focus on cost may actually undermine value. Office space can create value for a business, not just financially, but by increasing employee productivity and by conveying positive messages about values. However, this issue has not been taken seriously by most business operators in China. Following the global epidemic in 2020, people are starting to take a real look at health issues and are becoming more concerned about the health of the environment in which they live and work. Therefore, it is important and urgent to examine the link between office space and corporate organizational performance. This research provides a positive roadmap for organizations that face challenges and opportunities in a competitive marketplace.
[if !supportLists]1.1 [endif]ResearchBackground
This topic comes from the author's work and management practice. The common features of the threeShanghai companies where the author has worked are medium-sized enterprises, middle and upper market position in the industry, distinctive corporate culture, large daily expenses, high income and benefits of employees, and high-class office space. They have high requirements for office space, and are located in prime locations in Shanghai, with perfect supporting facilities and related services.
The concept of office
space emerged early, first in agricultural societies as a place to talk about
business, and later developed into a place for government officials to discuss
various political affairs and issue orders. The modern concept of office space
is developed with the process of industrialization(Orel, M. et al. 2021). In
the process of industrialization, the original production methods and the small
local market were challenged, and the old production methods were unable to
meet the needs of the growing market capacity. At the same time, the
accumulation of capital and the development of science and technology have
further accelerated the process of industrialization. In the early stage of
industrialization, some first industrialized countries were eager to break the
original social labor organization system in order to realize the free movement
of population and provide sufficient and cheap labor. Since the 20th century,
especially after the Second World War, industrialization has become the goal of
economic development of all countries in the world. The spatial scope of
industrial production activities has obvious characteristics at different
stages of development. At the beginning, industrial production activities were
limited to a certain geographical area and were distributed in a point-like
manner, then spread outward in a line or belt-like manner with the improvement
of transportation conditions, and finally reached a relatively balanced
distribution of a country or region(Nag, P. K. 2019).Today, with the process of
globalization, there are many multinational enterprises. In the office space,
an enterprise organizes and manages all kinds of people effectively and carries
out business activities for a wide range of markets. With the rapid development
of the economy and the continuous updating of the business model, the
development of office space presents a diversified, humanized, technological,
intelligent direction of development. There are many kinds of office spaces, ranging from those of party and government organs, enterprises and institutions, commercial office spaces, academic office spaces, comprehensive office spaces and small home office spaces. This study is an in-depth study of office spaces in three different office buildings inShanghai, a first-tier city in China, where the author has worked.
[if !supportLists]1.2 [endif]ResearchPurpose and Significance
Experience from
commercial space leasing agents, office equipment and furniture manufacturers,
design professionals, and commercial real estate companies shows that the
commercial real estate industry is upgrading the functionality of office
buildings as corporate tenants demand better office space for their employees. However,
most office buildings in China are still designed to function in a
nineteenth-century work mode. Employees are asked to perform, not think. They
are brought together in a certain space and time to be managed and supervised,
and are given only the necessary office supplies. Therefore, there is a
clear boundary between work and their other activities, and the office space is
standardized and unified. Minimizing occupancy costs when designing is a key
consideration. With the advances in technology and the rapid growth of the
global economy in the 21st century, the work environment has changed
dramatically, and advances in computers and telecommunication mean that people
no longer need to be restricted to working together in space and time(Finch
& Aranda-Mena 2019).The barriers between work and personal life are
breaking down, and employees are communicating with each other more easily and
quickly. People are looking for career opportunities, not just a job that
requires constant work to make ends meet. Today's workspace encompasses a wider
range of aspects: satisfaction, technological advances, places to get work
done, facilities to support work, etc. Mobile work and borderless workspaces are on the rise, so companies should consider both quality and cost when designing their workspaces.
As part of these
changes, the concept of office space is shifting from being the backdrop and
essential condition for work, which is a passive setting, to being an active
support for employees in their work and a tool to help get things done. One of
the results of this shift is an increasing focus on employee performance in the
office space. There is growing evidence that in poorly designed
office spaces, employees may be wasting time and energy dealing with such a
poor environment. Managers are also increasingly concerned that their employees
will devote their energy to work and relationships rather than dealing with an
unfavorable or uncomfortable work environment. In reviewing the interactions and influences between employees and work environment factors, this study will summarize the results of office space research. The perspectives of research on office space are first summarized, followed by ananalys is of the types of research methods and findings. Thus, the perspectives of office space research include environmental conditions, furniture layout and ergonomics, as well as processes of treatment, such as the level of employee design involvement, and whether business, organizational goals and daily management needs are met. Common parameters of behavior or outcomes in work environment research include employee satisfaction and employee perceptions of the work environment. The latter often presented through a sense of place, ownership and belonging, employee productivity, etc.
The design of office spaces not only affects people's perceptions, but also their performance, loyalty to the organization, and organizational innovation. In addition, measures of employee perceptions of workplace conditions can be used to test the effectiveness of building performance and building systems(Jozef 2020).Therefore, the focus of this study is on employee behavior in office spaces, which includes not only employee actions and reactions, but also attitudes, feelings, expectations, and values. This study views the relationship between employees and the work environment as dynamic and interactive, which means that employees' environmental experiences also include the possible consequences of any employee actions. Employees do not experience their existing work environment in a static and passive manner, but rather the work they do in that environment changes their experience of it. This study focuses its findings on three main categories: employee satisfaction and functional comfort, sense of belonging, and productivity, and will show how these results improve office space planning and design to enhance organizational performance.
[if !supportLists]2. [endif]LiteratureReview
[if !supportLists]2.1 [endif]EmployeePerformance and Organizational Performance
Many studies have attempted to find a direct link between the design of office spaces and employee performance and organizational performance. The concept of workplace performance implies that the goal of an office space is to have a positive effect on employee performance and organizational performance, where the office space should be designed to improve employee performance and ultimately organizational performance. The concept of employee performance is often applied to desired behavioral outcomes within the context of the job. Recent research on the impact of environment on job performance has concluded that a poor understanding of the concept of performance can make it difficult to determine the impact of environmental conditions on employee performance [6].Many studies use respondents' self-perceptions of whether their performance has improved or decreased as the relevant variable, and few studies measure the" authentic or quantifiable performance of each employee or team.
There are at least three types of performance that are influenced by the work environment, each of which appears in a different way. These three categories are employee, team or department, and corporate organization performance, with each category indicating environmental influences at different scales. Employee performanceis usually assessed on the scale of individual workspaces such as desks and office spaces. Microscopic studies of how the work environment affects individual performance have concluded that individual performance is influenced by workplace conditions such as lighting conditions, changes in temperature and humidity, furniture ergonomics, and, to some extent, noise. Positive results of individual performance surveys mean an increase in the quantity and quality of work, while negative results may involve longer work completion times, higher error rates, or health hazards for employees, such as sore eyes, fatigue, or upper respiratory problems.
The performance of a team or department is usually measured in terms of the quality and quantity of the team's work processes. Teamwork is influenced by the working group or team's external environment and can be measured by tangible outcomes, such as time to market for a new product, or more qualitative outcomes, such as the number of good ideas or good (successful) suggestions in a business process.Group progress is influenced by the size of the group and the similarity of team members. Other work environment factors that influence work team performance include the location of work areas and shared Spaces, and ease of use of shared tools and equipment (Seiferlein & Kohlert 2020).
The third dimension of
performance corresponds to the overall workspace conditions of the firm or
organization, which are the macro-environmental conditions. There
are many ways to assess whether the workspace can help a company achieve its
business goals and improve its competitive advantage. Organizational
performance is influenced by locational advantages and accessibility, balance
and integration of the same work area, and manageable distances for different
teams in different locations. Office building amenities such as air training
temperature, the flow of fresh air systems, the number and speed of elevators,
the accessibility of restrooms, the adequacy of parking and the attractiveness
of eating areas all have an impact on it. Research has shown that both employee performance and organizational performance are affected when the physical environment interferes with actions taken to achieve goals (Ameen etal. 2019).
[if !supportLists]2.2 [endif]Satisfaction and Functional Comfort
Employee satisfaction with their office space has been an important concept in the assessment of the work environment since its inception. It refers to the process by which employees understand and judge the physical environment in which they work. The basic premise is that the process of workplace perception and assessment is not only related to observable physical characteristics, but also to individual employee attitudes toward a particular space. Evaluation studies, such as job evaluation, which aim to clarify the extent to which certain work environment characteristics affect user satisfaction, have been conducted in the work environment since the 1980s.
Early satisfaction
evaluation of the work environment is based on the assumption that individual
employee satisfaction scores help to understand the impact of the work
environment on employees, using a broad range of questionnaires to determine
what employees like or dislike about their work environment. Research
on employee satisfaction shows that the concept is actually a measure of office
space, where users feel positive or satisfied with a high quality office space,
and they are dissatisfied that a task was not performed well or failed in this
environment (Khoshbakht et al. 2021). Research on office space satisfaction has provided a broad understanding of employee preferences, but relatively little is known about office space performance. Most occupational assessments have questioned employees' perceptions and judgments of the work environment as measured by perceived evaluations. Evaluation in this sense consists of two basic elements: the measurable functionality of the space, which is considered to be a factor in employee performance; and the quality of the space, which allows employees to consider whether it is satisfactory(Borsoset al. 2021). Thus, a survey of employee satisfaction in a given office space can indicate which features are liked by employees and which are not.
One of the more consistent findings from the survey is that employees are dissatisfied with open plan offices due to noise levels, distractions, lack of privacy or cubicles. However, the prevalence of this finding has not stopped business operators from still preferring open plan workplaces because they are cheaper than traditional private or cubicle office layouts, can be reconfigured more flexibly, and take up less space than private offices. A more useful question is, how much positive help do employees have in an open work environment? Research shows that, on the good side, an open work environment facilitates communication and allows staff to exchange information quickly and informally.On the downside, an open work environment can be distracting and make it difficult for employees to focus on their work.
[if !supportLists]2.3 [endif]Territoriality and Sense of Belonging
A number of studies have
identified belongingness, loyalty to the organization, and domainality as tests
in work environment research because belongingness is a better measure of the
quality of the work environment than satisfaction or job performance. Unlike employee satisfaction, belongingness is related to employee commitment and status in the organization, and has a direct impact on business operations and costs. The territoriality of work transcends the physical attributes of the space each employee occupies. Belonging is influenced by the characteristics of teams and shared work areas, as well as individual work areas. It is also influenced by the level of employee involvement in the design of the office space and the level of empowerment in decision making. Employees' experiences of territoriality, control, and exclusivity combine to form psychological comfort which is one of three types of comfort environments based on employees'work experiences(Pioppi et al. 2020). Physiological comfort refers to the satisfaction of basic human needs, such as safety, hygiene and convenience, which must also be ensured by meeting the norms and standards of the work environment so that employees feel that their office space is suitable for work. As mentioned earlier, functional comfort refers to the extent to which the environment supports employees in completing their work. It is more abstract, but equally important to the working employee and psychological comfort, and includes a sense of belonging, ownership, and control over the work area.
Psychological comfort connects the psychosocial aspects of employees to the environmental design and management of the workspace through territoriality, privacy and environmentalcontrol. The main component of psychological comfort is territoriality, whichincludes individual territories such as offices, workstations, small work areas, and group territories such as teams, groups, and medium work areas. The territory in which people work has a psychological value, it represents both the space of work and the position of the employee in the organization. The individual design of space and the occupation of space is a pattern of human behavior that marks territory and establishes boundaries of control over society and the environment. Territorial ownership influences how employees interact with their work environment. Work area personalization and work space allocation behaviors become more visible in offices with denser and more open office configurations(). The introduction and use of new technologies and better virtual communication tools have also influenced employees' perceptions and attitudes towards their physical work environment. Territory does not simply consist of walls and doors; the territoriality of the workspace is also influenced by privacy, social status and control.
The concept of belonging is a social psychology expressed through territoriality at work. Territoriality is related to a sense of belonging, while privacy can be understood as the need to exercise control over others. In addition, several studies have shown a link between users' psychological characteristics and their reactions to the work environment. In focusing on cognitive processes, this line of research is linked to a recognized social psychology paradigm, namely Levin's psychological force field theory. It reduces the impact of individual employee differences and how employees' evaluations of the work area affect their perceptions of themselves. Employees' perceptions and emotions not only influence their perceptions and evaluations of the work environment, but their perceptions and evaluations of the workspace also influence their perceptions of themselves as employees and of their job functions(). A comparative study of open and closed office users showed that extroverts responded more positively to more communication possibilities and therefore performed better in open office environments than those employees who were introverted.
[if !supportLists]2.4 [endif] Types and Characteristics of Office Spaces
[if !supportLists]2.4.1 [endif]Types of Office Space
In this study, office spaces are divided into three categories, including individual and shared office space, combined office space, and flexible office space, according to two dimensions: architectural features (layout) and functional area use.
The first type of office space defined in this paper, individual and shared office space, is a combination of cubicle office space and small shared office space, which is the most common category of office space in the early years. Individual and shared office environments consist of relatively small buildings and enclosed rooms that are typically used by one to three employees. Rooms can be accessed through hallways and doors can be opened or closed. In individual and shared offices, there are other enclosed conference rooms and other shared facilities for shared use, such as tea room or printer-copy areas. In general, the windows, air conditioning and lighting in each room can be controlled by employees.
The combined office space is based on open and semi-open spaces with open and transparent characteristics. Other open and closed specific functional are as allow individuals to focus on work, phone calls and various communication and meeting activities. Possible communication is also commonly found in closed formal meeting rooms, open informal meeting areas, coffee corners and lounges eating, as well as in shared facilities, such as copy areas and locker areas.In the modular office space defined in this study, employees have a fixed assignment of workstations, mostly open or semi-open work areas. In general, open, semi-open and closed spaces are alternating areas.
Generally, transparent materials, such as glass, are used to design enclosed spaces to create open and collaborative work environments. This type of office space generally has central air conditioning and lighting systems. Employees are only able to control the lighting and temperature in smaller, enclosed spaces, which are used for focused work or communication activities to transport personal documents.
[if !supportLists]2.4.2 [endif]Privacy and Focus
There are significant differences between open and closed office space types, and these differences have different implications for employee privacy and work disruption. Individual and shared workspaces are more enclosed than modular and flexible workspaces, which can lead to higher satisfaction rates, privacy, and significantly higher productivity(). People can choose different levels of privacy in a variety of situations, and some define privacy as a dynamic process that changes depending on the degree of openness or confinement. The less satisfied people are with privacy, the less successful they will be at doing the work they need to do.
Studies have shown that increased enclosures are associated with higher levels of privacy and higher environmental satisfaction. People seem to prefer private workspaces over non-private workspaces. In open office spaces, lack of privacy is one of the most frequently cited issues. Employees here may be disturbed by the fact that they are sitting too close to their colleagues. In such cases, it is more difficult for employees to avoid contact with others and maintain the desired level of privacy.
The ability to work
independently and without distraction is an important factor in office space
design. More than half of those who work in open plan offices report that they
are frequently distracted by noise during work, particularly from telephones,
conversations between other people, air conditioning systems and office
automation equipment. Distractions caused by communication between co-workers
can affect the concentration of employees working in open office spaces(). The
level of concentration at work contributes to collaboration and increased
productivity. Employees in different types of work patterns view distraction as
a negative factor affecting productivity. The decrease in employee satisfaction
with their jobs and colleagues after moving from a traditional cubicle office
space to an open office space can be explained by a decrease in concentration. Although there is also openness in modular and flexible office spaces, which can also lead to lower levels of privacy and higher levels of distraction, modular and flexible offices also provide enclosed personal spaces, which can be an advantage compared to open offices and may attenuate the negative aspects of privacy and attention. Choosing workstations based on personal preferences seems to lead to higher job satisfaction and is considered as a positive aspect of such offices, because one can sit anywhere in a flexible office space, which makes people feel some control power.
[if !supportLists]2.4.3 [endif]Communication and Interaction
While confinement is associated with higher privacy satisfaction and concentration, several studies have shown that isolation, on the other hand, can impede communication and exchange.Office space partitioning or being on several floors not only hinders communication, but also reduces opportunities for colleagues to meet. There is more communication in open offices. Employees in modular and flexible offices have more face-to-face contact than those in individual or shared offices, but the time spent communicating appears to be reduced.
The location of an
employee directly affects the likelihood of contacting other colleagues.
Approximately 80% of encounters are spontaneous, and behavioral patterns and
proximity directly affect the frequency of contact, with those sitting closer
to colleagues having more opportunities for face-to-face interaction(Lai 2021).
Work environments, such as short distances between employees, combined with
informal conversations, can increase information exchange and sharing, and
public spaces in combined and flexible office spaces can be used to provide
more communication. They provide additional opportunities for people to
interact with each other. Spatial design that facilitates spontaneous
communication has a positive effect on productivity, and increased
communication and interaction may also lead to more effective collaboration and
innovation. Small cubicles may have a negative impact on performance when compared to large open office spaces. These results suggest that employees in small open spaces are more likely to successfully complete cognitively demanding tasks than in large office spaces, and that cubicles may not be as advantageous as previously believed.
Research shows that there are advantages and disadvantages to different forms of office space. Open office spaces offer better communication than cubicles, so business operators generally agree that workspaces should be denser when relocating office space.Although it has been suggested that office space design can explain up to 15%of employee performance, measuring the impact of office space on office employee performance is often more difficult than assessing workspace costs(Serafinet al. 2021). This hinders calculations of the financial benefits of removing cubicles and implementing an open office space design.
Therefore,
in order to measure the impact of office space design on employee performance,
other measures are necessary. For this reason, more demanding cognitive tests
of cognitive processes are needed to test specific behaviors, which can more
quickly and objectively capture the influence of irrelevant distractions on
work completion. Officespace type is an important predictor. In combination and flexible offices, where people could choose to work in different workspaces, support, attention and privacy were rated lower than in individual and shared offices. People were more satisfied with communication in individual and shared offices than they were in flexible offices. Satisfaction with the organization also leads to big differences in office space satisfaction and performance.
[if !supportLists]2.5 [endif]Control,Disruption and Satisfaction
Previous research literature on
office space has focused on subjective assessments of physical components or
attributes and their impact on employee satisfaction and performance, or
involved some pre and post assessments of office space renovation, movement,
addition and change. However, in recent years, more attention has been paid to
the control of office environment, flexible use of office space and the internal
relationship between these office space characteristics.
Open office
spaces have been commonly used by various organizations to enhance
communication. However, there are more distractions in open office spaces than
in traditional office spaces. In general, studies of environmental
characteristics in office space environments including noise, lighting,
temperature, and windows have shown that these factors of the physical
environment affect employee attitudes, behaviors, satisfaction, and
performance, defining noise as a source of stressful stimuli in the work
environment that is associated with job satisfaction. However, performance
ratings were not correlated with any source of noise. Other studies have found
that noise in open office spaces may increase stress and be demotivating, and
that open office spaces may have higher levels of distractions and lower levels
of privacy(Robelski 2019). Considering each environmental characteristic of the
physical environment in isolation may not have a predictable effect on
performance, but the concentration and recurrence of such characteristics may
be negatively correlated with performance. Interference, as a negative
attribute, is negatively associated with satisfaction with the physical work
environment.
Some studies
have found a positive correlation between job control and job satisfaction, job
performance and mental health. In related studies, control points influence work
perceptions and work-related outputs, and it is argued that personal control
differs from the concept of control points. Control points refer to the inherent
tendency to attribute outcomes to internal and external factors, while personal
control stems from whether or not one can influence the environment. For
example, control can regulate the relationship between environmental conditions
and the employee's reaction to the work environment. Similarly, control of
temperature characteristics in the work environment moderates the effects of
other environmental and behavioral variables, but this control appears to be
negatively correlated with satisfaction. To explore these inconsistent results,
it was found that participants who had personal control over lighting performed
worse than those who did not(Suk 2019). This finding suggests that it may not
be appropriate to give personal control to someone who knows less about
lighting. This is because if they are
provided with personal control, they may spend valuable time and energy on such
control.
[if !supportLists]3. [endif]TheEvolution of the Office Environment
[if !supportLists]3.1 [endif]Changes in The Way of Working
In developed countries such as Europe and the United States, the design of office buildings has developed along the same trend as business management. In the 1960s, the office space was seen as a communication system with an openness that facilitated the free flow of information. In the 1970s, the increase in the workforce in Europe and the United States, and the consequent demand for user benefits, led to the development of office space as a place of social participation. Issues such as privacy, acoustic control, individual office space, and a healthy environment became increasingly important.
With the spread of computers and the development of information technology, the workplace underwent a dramatic transformation in the 1980s. The development of network technology has facilitated the increasing globalization of specific industries, particularly financial and professional services, and has accordingly requireduni form guidelines for the use of office space around the world. European andAsia-Pacific financial centers have specifically applied North American design practices. The ubiquitous use of personal computers requires improved facility management, leading to the emergence of smart buildings, which can be defined as buildings with integrated management and ICT systems that provide a robust infrastructure for information technology and are therefore more responsive to changing user needs.
The economic downturn of the late 1980s and early 1990s led to a reassessment of the Nordic organizations' call for expensive, custom, exclusive-use buildings(Lusa et al.2019). British and American developers were forced to connect more closely with end-users through joint ventures or up-front access. As a result, there was a double shift in what kind of building should be provided to the end user. On the one hand, developers have become more respectful of the complex, variable and changing needs of the end user. On the other hand, end-users are increasingly demanding buildings and office environments that add business value by minimizing occupancy costs.
In the 1990s, the second workplace revolution introduced a new way of working that reflected the process by which information technology was changing culture, society, and technology.Virtual worlds and digital tools have reduced the need for office workers to communicate and stay together in real time to complete tasks, which has led to underutilization of office space and witnessed a shift in the perception of office space. Office space is now increasingly seen as a social and interactive space, and this trend in office architecture is still having an impact.
[if !supportLists]3.2 [endif]TheDevelopment of Profit Models
Since the mid-twentieth century, Europe has made many innovations in the design of interior office spaces ahead of others, due to the influence of different office concepts and innovative office concepts that have opened up a new phase of development. None of these ideas or office space concepts has completely replaced another. On the contrary, they all still exist and represent different basic choices in office space design, especially in the grouping of people.
Lev and Radhakrishnan claim that organizational capital investments account for 71% of sales growth.This is further illustrated by a study by Erik Brynjolfsson of MIT, who identifies a number of work practices that, together with investments in technology, yield maximum returns. He describes these work practices as:teamwork; decentralization of tasks that require local knowledge and interpersonal skills, such as product design, sales, and just-in-time adjustments within the plant; and centralization and computerization of measurable tasks, such as accounts payable. As a result, organizational culture and workspace design have become increasingly powerful tools for influencing business turnover and the extent to which knowledge workers can communicate information within and outside the business and provide a space for individuals to interact with each other. It is critical to recognize that this is essential to the ability to manage the modern workspace.
One of the most typical features of the new profit model is the shift in resource allocation from tangible to intangible assets. In the member economies of the Organization forEconomic Cooperation and Development (OECD), intangible assets account for50-100% of spending on physical assets. In 2015, the United States invested $1trillion in intangible assets, the same amount as in property, plant and equipment(C Mateo-Cecilia et al. 2018). Those tangible assets that can be measured in the traditional way now represent only 25% of the market value of some companies, while the rest is made up of intangible factors. The seintangibles require more innovative measurement methods. Some, includ ingcopyrights and licenses, have tradable value, but most, such as reputation, brand and network, are potential capabilities. BskyB, the UK's largest satellite TV provider, has few of the physical assets needed for satellite broadcasting, with profits based primarily on affiliate networks.
The knowledge of an organization is increasingly tacit, and its nature is difficult to quantify.However, this tacit knowledge, which is proprietary to the organization, is increasingly becoming a source of competitive advantage and a way to add value to knowledge, so companies are increasingly vulnerable to the loss of key knowledge workers. The cost of employee turnover is high, and the cost of middle management turnover is even higher, but it is an unavoidable cost of doing business. There is tremendous value in investing in employee retention, especially for those high performers for whom the development of appropriate measures of satisfaction is critical to business success.
[if !supportLists]3.3 [endif]TheSpeed of Organizational Change
Since the beginning of the 21st century, the number of large enterprises with more than 500 employees has shrunk in most countries. This is due to the fact that companies reflect the costs of management and exchange of information, so the cost of processing certain information has decreased significantly, which has an impact on their choice of optimal organizational structure and size.
The new economies are characterized by a shift in value from tangible assets such as bricks and mortar to intangible assets such as intellectual property and knowledge.Approximately 60% of North American GDP is now attributable to knowledge-based work. The ownership of physical assets, once the backbone of the market economy, has now become a liability in the new network economy. Fixed assets can not be reconfigured to meet changing business needs, nor can they keep up with the pace of change in organizational processes and structures. Given the significant shift between past and future business demand patterns, they may act as a hindrance rather than as a springboard for change.
The traditional
workspace factory of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries was based on
the assumption that there was little face-to-face interaction and autonomy, and
that people were working in tandem to perform specific prescribed tasks, all of
which had to be performed simultaneously and with strict management and
supervision systems. On the other hand, the new workspace expects organizations to rely increasingly on highly motivated individuals. These individuals can enjoy the high degree of autonomy that technology brings, and these individuals will also require face-to-face interaction as their business transactions become richer. Such workspaces must be designed to support knowledge transfer and connectivity, rather than linear business processes. Work styles are changing due to information sharing, and the increasing complexity of work tasks is changing the way work is done.
Increasingly, business organizations will be empowered with autonomy at the individual and project levels. The clear picture is that the appropriate level of individual and team environmental control should be included in the work environment. Work environments designed for hierarchical organizational structures are increasingly not conducive to the current situation. Such an environment can be inefficient, inflexible, and costly. A flat organizational structure requires more knowledge transfer within the workspace, connecting different work teams and supporting autonomous employees.
Work in today's companies is increasingly knowledge-based, as the speed and volume of current work does not fit well with traditional, sequential management-style work.Instead, it now relies more on people who know what to do. Knowledge workers are provided with more sophisticated tools for getting the job done. In other words, the previous command and control is shifting toward empowering front-line knowledge workers. There are already many highly mobile work models around the world where knowledge workers are authorized to work outside of the formal workplace, and virtual work requires appropriate space and assurance through direct access and connection to peers.
[if !supportLists]3.4 [endif]TheMain Factors Affecting Organizational Performance
Over the past three decades, technology has not only cut the cost of producing goods, but has also expanded the scope of innovation, leading to an explosion of consumer choice.Most new product differentiation takes the form of implicit approaches or services, so value is increasingly not in the product itself, rather in the innovation, design, marketing, response and after-sales support.
Due to the effects of economic globalization, it has become increasingly difficult for companies to differentiate themselves using only the same old formula. Organizations that didn't previously believe they had to rely on brands to succeed, such as industrial companies, insurance companies and other organizations involved in the business-to-business sector, are now realizing that they must have acorporate brand. How companies and their products are perceived by customers and clients is becoming increasingly important.
When a large part of acompany's value depends on its brand, it is necessary to use every opportunity to convey a message about that value. In this context, office space design that facilitates the communication of messages becomes critical. Workflows in the knowledge economy are being shaped by the growing relevance of communication and interaction. The office space should be designed as a social environment from which people can occasionally find private places to think, concentrate and do confidential things, rather than being seen as a place primarily for solitary activities, where people are often interrupted by social activities.
Important factors affecting organizational performance include employee motivation and loyalty, employee knowledge and skills, team cohesion and productivity, individual and team innovation and creativity, responsiveness to competitive or technological change, promotion of corporate culture, customer attractiveness and customer stickiness, and optimization of office space costs. Many analysts' investment decisions depend on non-financial information. In addition, the design of office space in contemporary companies is often completely decoupled from the broader and more important strategic business they are talking about.
Therefore, in the
context of a broader framework such as the Balanced Scorecard, it is important
to point out the contribution of office space design to business performance as
a way to counter management's focus on financial performance and for them to
give equal weight to the other two areas of business performance, which are
human capital and the business-customer relationship. The benefit of developing such a framework is a reminder of the complex nature of business and office space design. Greater efficiency brings a direct return to the business, and the savings per square meter of space can be put directly into the pockets of the business(Lindberg et al. 2018). The effect and expression contributions are indirect, and the potential they create can be leveraged by management.
[if !supportLists]3.5 [endif]MeasurementApproaches
With respect to determining the relationship between office space and measurable organizational performance, the assessment of causality and the assessment of the impact and interaction between the organization and the office space can only be tentative and provisional. A major challenge for contemporary organizations is the difficulty of measuring the impact of management and space design decisions, just as it is for measuring intelligence. This difficulty is caused by a number of realities about the work environment, including:
a.The unstable economic environment in which business organizations operate, resulting in the need to constantly plan and re-plan to fully utilize the work environment;
b.The extremely complex relationship between the work environment and business processes, organizational structure and corporate culture;
c.The large-scale, multi-layered nature of the physical work environment itself, ranging from urban-scale design to the micro-ergonomic details of individual workplaces.
d.The rapid pace of change and development in office space organization and office space technology, while office buildings are inevitably slow to be planned, acquired, erected and retrofitted.
e.Not only are directed, purposeful businesses diverse and highly political, but office buildings and interior facilities are also used as a medium for various groups to express what they value.
f.The need for corporate development and change, and the potential for managers to use the workplace environment and its development to accelerate corporate and cultural change.
g.The fragmentation of the way office supply chains are managed from the strategic and long-term investments of financial institutions to the tactical and short-term use of end-users is often without formal mechanisms for collecting feedback.
There is a particular
difficulty with the traditional supply chain of office buildings, where office
space is often changed, possessed and occupied by different people, but there
is no direct link between these short-term processes and the long-term needs of
the users. Even if these relationships were more direct, they would still be
different and complex. Office buildings and organizations are also very complex systems. Even within a single building or organization, it is difficult to assess the impact of one variable on the entire system. Determining the precise impact of a particular office space design, such as an infinite number of components, on organizational performance seems impossible.
In order to reduce this complexity to a manageable level, research is often conducted under laboratory conditions, but in order to test any hypotheses about specific components of the relationship between business and office space design, laboratory tests can only be run under extremely limited conditions, which severely limit the irreal-world application. Double-blind laboratory tests that isolate specific variables lose their explanatory power when the noise of the real environment is included. The act of changing the environment itself is probably the most important factor in improving productivity, and it is inextricably linked to any particular design improvement.
4.Case studies
[if !supportLists]4.1 [endif]Case of Company A
CompanyA is a multinational company providing core sensor components to the factory automation, automotive and telecommunication machinery industries, with operations in 12 countries and regions worldwide and over 80,000 customers. In2001, Company A established a branch office in China, with offices in 14 major cities. Shanghai is the headquarters of the China region. The sales system is customer-oriented direct business. The number of sales staff and technical support staff is large, Shanghai headquarters has nearly 300 employees .
With
the rapid development of business, the original office space is no longer able
to meet the needs of the company's development, and there is no more room for
expansion in the original office building. In such a context, the enterprise
needs to re-plan and design the office space to meet the needs of corporate
development. In the planning and design to meet the following aspects: First of all, the new office space is located in the center of the business location.The grade of the office building in the region should be the highest standard, in order to enhance the external image of the enterprise. Secondly, public transportation should be convenient, so as to facilitate the travel of employees, and the surrounding environment and supporting facilities and services should be sound. In addition, there are clear requirements for supporting facilities in the office space such as the number and speed of elevators, air conditioning and fresh air systems, lighting and communication.
In
terms of design requirements, the design of office space must not only meet the
needs of existing use, but also consider the needs of short-term rapid
development. The actual construction of the office space should take into
account environmental requirements and the health of the employees as a primary
consideration. The company's overall design requirements were based on the key
words urban, futuristic and innovative. As for the urbanization
requirements, the company plans to use metal panels, gray paint and pure glass
to create a superbly decorated interior that will make employees and visitors
feel like they are in the center of the world, while at the same time
showcasing the company's industry attributes and expertise in these materials. In
terms of futuristic, a minimalist, condensed and neat spatial atmosphere,
strict lines, moderate volume and contrasting color scheme are essential to
make the overall space present a very futuristic and dynamic atmosphere. The
company decided to be innovative by adopting light-not-light applications,
wirelessly connected computer hardware and screens, all of which are advanced
technologies that connect the future to the present and are integrated into the
design of the office space in their own way. In addition to the conventional office area, conference room, and open space, the whole space is also planned with some semi-open small meeting rooms, which can be used for leisure and brief meetings. The design of the pantry not only meets the functional needs but also reflects a different feeling in terms of visual aesthetics, so that employees can communicate and work in a more comfortable and free space(Figure 1.).
Figure 1. Company A office environment planning
[if !supportLists]4.2 [endif]Case of Company B
Company B is a financial leasing company. It is mainly engaged in financial leasing and operating leasing, and its business scope involves industrial equipment, energy and environmental protection, transportation and logistics, medical and health tourism industry, and urbanization construction. Company B is a state-owned enterprise with strong capital strength. The Shanghai branch is mainly responsible for the business in East China.
The company's previous office space is mainly cubicle-based offices, the biggest problem is the low efficiency of communication between employees and departments, this form of office is more common in the old office space type of state-owned enterprises.The financial leasing business is a relatively fast-growing business in China in recent years, with the majority of foreign enterprises and private enterprises in the same industry, the previous office space form in many cases brought a lot of inconvenience to internal management and marketing activities.
The new office is located in a Grade A office building in Shanghai, adjacent to the Huangpu River. The design of the new office space solves the main drawbacks of the previous office space. The design is mainly open office space with nearly 80working spaces, which not only meets the current needs, but also reserves space for future development(Figure 2).
Figure2. Company B office environment planning
[if !supportLists]4.3 [endif]Case of Company C
Company C is a wholly
owned subsidiary of a Japanese multinational company in China. Headquartered in
Shanghai, it has more than ten branches or offices in China as an important
part of the global service network of the head office, providing a full range of
quality freight support and services to customers in China. Founded in 1919,
the Japanese head office of Company C is a world-renowned global logistics
service provider. The company has always focused on the maritime industry, with
a large fleet of world-class professional carriers, as well as terminal
operations and third-party logistics operations. The company's main business
units include container ships, dry bulk carriers, car carriers, LNG carriers,
crude oil and product carriers, and large cargo carriers, with a global network
of shipping routes and services. The design of its office space reflects the dynamism of the company(Figure 3.).
Figure 3. Company C office environment planning
[if !supportLists]4.4 [endif]Objective and Realization of Office Space Design
Before discussing the impact of corporate office space design on organizational performance, one of the questions that needs to be discussed first is whether the design of the office space meets the goals initially set by the company, and how reasonable and how this goal is achieved. Since the scope of the study is in a Class A office building in the central business district of Shanghai, there are many constraints on the planning and design of office space for the tenants in it.These restrictions are mainly determined by the nature of the office space.This space is a place where many people conduct business activities, where there is strong mobility, where a large number of office equipment is used, and where communication, interaction and cooperation take place. Shanghai's Grade A office buildings are provided to companies on a lease basis, and the term of a lease contract is 2-3 years, so the developer, as the leaseholder, has many restrictions on the use of space in the building. The governmental authorities also have various strict regulations on the use of this space. Since there are many people and equipment, the requirements for fire and safety are very high, and the planning and design must ensure not only their own safety but also the safety of other companies in the building, and the construction must be approved by the relevant government departments beforehand. During the construction process, the transportation of materials, sounds, smells and the use of public facilities are all subject to strict government and developer regulations. The strict regulations and restrictions make the planning, design and construction of this space very difficult.
In many previous cases, it was found that nearly one-third of the projects did not achieve the goals set at the time of completion. In the second of these three cases, the goals were not achieved. In many case studies, the planning and design of office space is influenced by the following five aspects: corporate decision making system, schedule, cost budget, design and contractor, and project management.
In the three cases of
this study, the three companies differed significantly in three aspects. First,
in terms of the decision-making system, both Company A and Company C are in
charge of the general affairs department, which collects a lot of requests and
suggestions from employees and other departments without much intervention from
the top leaders of the companies. Due to the different nature of each
department and each employee's work, many suggestions and requirements are
contradictory. The competent department weighs the pros and cons and the needs
of the company's overall operation and management to form an overall clear
requirement. Company A specially hired a professional consulting
firm to jointly complete the planning and design requirements, so that the
design of the office space not only meets the requirements of business
operation and management, but also can be realized in reality. CompanyB's decision-making system is also common in China, mainly satisfying the preferences of the top management of the company without consulting the departments and employees. The person in charge of the project is also the one who is usually preferred by the leaders, but has little experience in this area, and works mainly according to the requirements of the leaders and their intentions.
Second, in terms of
scheduling, Company A, having hired a professional consulting firm, was the
most relaxed in terms of scheduling, taking into account not only normal
aspects such as the impact of holidays on the schedule, but also making
complete plans for possible changes in the whole process, such as changes in
the policies of relevant government departments. Company C's schedule was
also very reasonable, allowing a longer period of time for its possible
existence. Among the three companies, Company C's schedule allowed for a large
margin. Although Company B had also made a plan, the business leaders changed it at will and did not follow it at all. As a result, there was a legal dispute with the developer of the original building.
Third, in terms of cost budget, when preparing the budget, the company must be clear about the focus of their requirements, quality and low cost is very difficult to achieve in reality.
Company A takes quality and environmental requirements as the most important goal, and because of the high requirements, the corresponding budget is also the highest. Company requires to control the overall project cost while meeting the basic requirements, and takes project cost control as the main goal. Company B had a very large gap between the budget and the requirements, and always hoped to wait for unrealistic prices in the process of project implementation, and constantly changed materials and subcontractors in the process of project implementation, while objectively reducing costs was the only goal. This practice seriously affects the schedule and construction quality.
[if !supportLists]4.5 [endif]FactorsAffecting Organizational Performance in Office Space
Research by The WorldGreen Building Council (WGBC) has identified the following factors in office space that have an impact on employee and organizational performance(Wohlers et al. 2019):
[if !supportLists]a. [endif] Airquality
Better air quality can increase employee productivity by 8-11%, and good indoor air quality significantly reduces the probability of common illnesses such as influenza and reduces absenteeism(Carrer & Wolkoff 2018).
[if !supportLists]b. [endif]The right temperature
Temperature that is too low will lead to a reduction in employee productivity of about 4%,while too high will lead to a reduction in employee productivity of about 6%.
[if !supportLists]c. [endif]Lighting
Office workers who are exposed to good natural lighting during the workday experience an average of 46 minutes more deep sleep per night. Personal control over ambient lighting levels is considered an important element of workplace lighting satisfaction.
[if !supportLists]d. [endif]Noise
When exposed to noise, the productivity of office workers decreases by about 66% due to distraction. There is a strong correlation between the layout of office space, the use of building materials and the level of noise disturbance caused.
[if !supportLists]e. [endif]The artistic atmosphere of the space
69%of employees born after the 1980s claim that a stylish office space is conducive to their productivity.
While there is no universally accepted way to measure the impact of office space on organizational performance, it is generally accepted that self-assessed performance measures are better than no performance assessment(Sakellaris et al. 2019).
In
this study, questionnaires and interviews were distributed to the above three
companies, and relevant data were collected and analyzed. The questionnaires
were collected in various ways, including distribution of paper questionnaires,
mail and web-based questionnaires through online links.Out of a total of 376 questionnaires, 228 contained all relevant variables and data which were used in the analysis. In this viable sample, 48 respondents (22%)worked in clerical jobs, 64 (30%) in technical positions, 33 (15%) in managerial positions, and 70 (33%) in other jobs. Table 1 shows the distribution of these job types in four different types of office environments, as well as some additional details of the office environments.
The original questionnaire consisted of 39 items, 23 of which are presented in the appendix, all of which were generated from several different stages. First, several items used measures of job satisfaction criteria and team work inventory measures, as well as subjective measures of individual and team productivity to assess perceptions of the work environment at the individual and team levels.
Individual employee-related entries include the participant's age, gender, job type, and type of office environment(Lee et al. 2018). Job types included clerical positions such as administrative assistant, secretary, customer service, etc.,technical positions such as industrial designer, graphic designer, engineer, specialist, etc., managerial positions such as supervisor, manager, vice president, and CEO, and other positions. Office environment types include private office space, which means a door on four walls, closed space with the ceiling, high partition office space with partition greater than 1.4 meters, low partition office space with partition less than 1.4 meters, and open office space (as shown in Table 1).
Table1. Type of Work and Type of Office Space
Clerical PositionsTechnical PositionsManagerial PositionsOther PositionsTotal
Private Office Space045110
High Partition Office Space171972265
Low Partition Office Space29311936115
Open Office Space182819
Other Types12036
Total48643370215
In the three cases of this study, a combination of office space design is commonly used, with most areas of the office space being open and semi-open. This open space design can greatly reduce costs and is very adaptable to changes in the business organization. Company A also designed a flexible office space to meet the needs of employees from other branches when they travel to Shanghai, reducing the impact on other functional areas of the office space and on local employees in Shanghai. The other two companies also have many branches in China and their employees often come to Shanghai for business trips, which are often found to occupy the office and other employees' workplaces.
[if !supportLists]4.5.1 [endif]EnvironmentalIndicators
The office space in this
study is located in a Class A office building in the commercial center of
Shanghai, which is almost completely enclosed and can only rely on the central
fresh air system for air exchange. This type of space is often characterized by
a high density of personnel and a variety of office equipment, which makes the
employees' work stressful and intense and more likely to lead to a decrease in
body resistance. The environmental indicators of office space seriously affect the health of employees and work efficiency, and can have an important impact on organizational performance. Among the three companies, Company A attaches the greatest importance to environmental indicators, and lists them as the first indicators to be achieved in the design and construction of the office space, and quantifies all the parameters of there levant pollution indicators. Following the completion of construction,Company A conducted professional treatment of the office space and then commissioned an independent inspection agency to conduct tests in accordance with the values of the indicators, and only after all environmental indicators were passed did the office move in.
There have been many
cases in the past where employees have left and taken a lot of time off due to
the redesign and construction of office space. In Company A, three employees
left due to concerns about the hazards of the redesign, none in Company B, and
one in Company C. All of the employees were female, mainly due to concerns
about the impact on maternity. Among the employees who were working, the
proportion of leave and absence increased significantly within one month of the
new move, which had a significant impact on their work.Although
environmental inspections and remediation are conducted after the completion of
projects, most employees, especially young female employees, are concerned
about environmental issues. Environmental indicators are rarely covered in the
research literature in Europe and the United States, but in China is a more
serious problem. After the construction of the last office space in company A was completed, the employees refused to move into the office because the individual indicators exceeded the standard values, and the company did not rent another office space, but moved in after six months of treatment and testing.
This period has had a
significant impact on organizational performance. In other cases, the impact of
this factor is most pronounced in large multinational companies, especially
those with a large female workforce, often within 3-6 months of moving in. For
example, the number of departures increased, sick leave increased, and
employees left the office more often and spent more time outdoors. CompanyC is the most obvious of the three companies. Company A was well prepared for this project because of previous serious problems, including the development of material brands and models, the hiring of a professional company to supervise the implementation, and the implementation of a comprehensive management plan after completion. Employee representatives were involved throughout the entire process, and the number of people leaving the company was significantly reduced compared to the last time when 12 people left after the project was completed.Company B has the most serious environmental problems among the three companies, and there were more complaints in the survey, but no one left because of this, probably because of the management model and staff structure.For example, the work intensity is low, the management is relatively loose, the staffs are older.
Environmental indicator shave the most significant impact on employee productivity within the first 3-6months of occupancy, increasing employee turnover, reported health problems, and a significant increase in time off and time away from work, which has a significant impact on organizational performance. This factor is particularly important in foreign companies with a high number of young women, and is therefore particularly important in the planning and design of office space inChina, where Company A provides a good case study.
[if !supportLists]4.5.2 [endif]Noise
Noise has been
identified as one of the most unsatisfactory factors for employees working in
open spaces, and it can have a negative impact on employees. Noise in office
spaces can be disruptive and detrimental to employees' ability to focus on
their work, leading to frustration and increased stress. Although
office sound can be measured in a quantitative manner, noise in office spaces
can be considered a subjective phenomenon because it relies on individual
perceptions of sound. This can be influenced by a number
of factors, including an employee's ability to control the effects of noise,
the type of work activity being performed, gender, and their personality type. Unless
the ears are plugged or headphones are worn, the instinctive ability to hear
constantly scans for background noise, and meaningful speech background sounds
cause a higher level of distraction than irrelevant speech(Haapakangas et
al.2018). This suggests that employees should be with persons who behave differently because their speech is less relevant to the open office environment or because the privacy of speech is necessary.
Company A is a Japanese high-tech multinational enterprise, which requires high quality and ability of employees in all aspects, and the management of the enterprise is also very strict. When employees communicate with each other, they pay attention to the environmental impact, and there are clear requirements for sound insulation in meeting rooms and discussion areas. There is also a space designed for employees to answer their cell phones. Although it is an open office space, the entire space is very quiet, which led to the lowest feedback on noise impact in the survey report.
Company B had the highest noise level in the open space, but the feedback from the questionnaire w as that the noise work did not have much impact. In the follow-up siteobservation, it was found that most of the communication and exchange betweenemployees was not related to work. The analysis concluded that this may bebecause the work is not very intensive and easy to complete, so it does notrequire a high degree of concentration.
Company c gives feedback on the most serious impact of noise impact on work. The analysis found that, among the three companies, the company C has a higher density of employees and the type of furniture is more suitable for multiple employees to talk to each other, and has the most obvious impact on each other. Since it is a traditional logistics enterprise, there is also a strong relationship between the composition of employees and noise.
There has been more response to the impact of noise in the early days, especially from traditional cubicles to open office spaces, but the impact of this factor has been decreasing in recent years, mainly because employees have gradually adapted to the open environment. However, the control and management of environmental noise, the noise solution of the office space design, all determine the impact of noise on organizational performance.
[if !supportLists]4.5.3 [endif]EnvironmentalControl
Due to the differences
in the physical conditions of each employee, so the perception of the office
space environment has a great difference. The two most obvious aspects are
temperature and lighting, even the same person may not be the same state every
day, so in the open space this adjustment will be very difficult. At present, most office buildings are glass curtain walls, which have a great impact on the temperature and lighting in different directions and at different times of the year. The rationality of the overall layout of the office space has the greatest impact on the environmental control factors, so the capacity of the air conditioner, the location of the air outlet and the lumens of the artificial light source should be combined with the physical space for accurate measurement and accounting.
Working in a separate office increases employees' ability to have more personalized control over their level of privacy and other features such as air quality, noise, lighting and temperature. Employees in open office environments often do not have the same level of control over these factors, which leads to dissatisfaction with the office environment(Tan et al. 2020).
Company A required higher lumens of artificial lighting to increase the excitement and attention of employees at work. The lighting in the office space, especially in the workstations, is usually white light of 5000K, which is close to the natural light effect to make the office space more luminous and improve the work efficiency. Company B uses a warm light source in the workplace, which is very unsuitable for the office space, because the head of the company likes it, it may be an exception to be avoided. Company C requires the comfort of lighting, and the lighting control of each work area is divided more carefully.
Previous research has moved from environment to perception, and changes in the environment can affect people's physical feelings and psychological changes(Genjo et al. 2019). But on the other hand, people's physical state and emotions also affect their ability to adapt to the environment. The office environment is relatively fixed, but the physical state and emotions of employees will often change. Therefore, it is very meaningful to design a space with a high degree of personal control and relative independence for employees in the whole office environment, whichCompany A has considered very well in this regard.
[if !supportLists]4.5.4 [endif]SpaceLocation and Privacy
Employees are very
concerned about their location in the office space, probably due to their
interpersonal relationship with the surrounding employees and privacy concerns. There are certain tasks that need to be done in an environment where one can think deeply without being disturbed, such as writing a report, working on a projector reviewing a case. These activities often require periods of concentrated attention.However, in an open office environment, these periods of concentration may be interrupted in different ways, including physical interruptions from colleagues and auditory interruptions caused by background noise. The types of interruptions are divided into interruptions in face-to-face interactions and interruptions through communication media, such as cell phones, landlines and desktop computers. On average, there are about 12 interruptions per day from other colleagues, and the most frequent communication activities, accounting for 20% of the workday, are face-to-face, which are classified as unscheduled meetings and involve interactions with people at work or going to the office.
Not all interruptions have a negative impact on the performance of office occupants. If the interruption is directly related to the task at hand, then it may have a positive impact on performance. However, if the interruption is related to something completely different, then it requires a shift in cognitive processes and can be a disruptive interaction(Colenberg et al. 2021). Studies have found that interruptions of as little as twenty minutes can cause participants to experience significant increases in stress, frustration, and workflow.Interruptions of no more than two seconds can break someone's mind. Once distracted from a task, it could take an average of 25 minutes for a person to return to that task. In addition, once a thought has been broken, it can take up to 15 minutes to get back to the task before the disruption occurred. The ability to handle interruptions and reduce disruptive effects has always been associated with the personality type of the employee. For example, people who are open-minded to new experiences and require less personal space and are therefore more flexible, and they can reduce the negative impact of disruptions. This suggests that customizing offices requires solutions that take into account disruption tolerance and personality differences(Gupta et al.2020).
The flexible working space in the space design of company A solves this problem very well. The flexible space not only contains working space but also independent small office. The small semi-open negotiation area makes the solution to the problem more complete. Company B is more considerate to the managers, the supervisor shave a relatively independent work space, but the needs of employees in this regard are not considered. Company C does not consider this kind of problem at all in order to make full use of space.
[if !supportLists]5 [endif]Conclusion
Based on a large amount
of literature, the author of this paper made full use of the data accumulated
by enterprises over many years of operation, and adopted a case method that
combines macro and micro, qualitative and quantitative, to conduct an in-depth
and detailed study on the relationship between office space design and
organizational performance. The conclusions of the study are as follows:
[if !supportLists]a. [endif]For most companies, the choice of office space depends on the economic benefits and expectations of individual and organizational performance. With the development of enterprises themselves and the continuous innovation of business models, the design of office space is constantly adapting to the needs of business development. The types of office space have their own advantages and disadvantages. In the planning and design of office space, enterprises should consider the business strategy, management model, organizational structure, as well as business processes and the way employees work, and choose the office space model to fit the enterprise.
[if !supportLists]b. [endif]Among all types of office space, flexible office space is the least expensive in terms of space costs because it can be equipped with fewer workstations than the actual number of employees, less leased space, and fewer amenities, and it is the type of office space that is most adaptable to organizational changes.However, the most serious problem in recent feedback data is the lack of a sense of belonging to the organization. In large companies that have adopted flexible office space, managers generally report a lack of efficient communication with employees in their departments and between departments, most often in the form of taking longer to find someone. So in preparation for the adoption of flexible office space solutions in the enterprise, it should be noted to avoid this problem. Flexible office space in large enterprises should not be over-represented, otherwise the increased expenditure on management costs may be higher than the cost savings from leasing.
[if !supportLists]c. [endif]Pay attention to the feelings of employees, create an equal space environment, and strengthen communication and exchange. In terms of overall space design,Japanese companies use more open spaces and few independent management offices, emphasizing communication and standardization of management, but in the Chinese environment there are still many interfering factors. European and American companies focus on privacy and equality between employees, and the comfort of employees will be stronger. Chinese companies pay more attention to the feelings of the leaders, who often have large offices, large desks, and the best positions, but such a concept is not adapted to modern corporate management.Many employees of Chinese enterprises feedback that they do not want to go to the leader's office to report their work, there is a sense of oppression, very uncomfortable, let alone the equality and efficiency of communication. In manyEuropean and American companies, the managers' desks have been designed in around shape, which is hoped to convey a message of equal communication in form and strengthen the willingness of employees and managers to communicate on an equal footing.
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Appendix
Questionnaires
Work environment satisfaction
[if !supportLists]1. [endif]In general, my work area suits my work.
Yes, definitely 1234567 No, definitely not
[if !supportLists]2. [endif]Overall, my workspace environment is harmless.
Yes, definitely 1234567 No, definitely not
[if !supportLists]3. [endif]I like the style and quality of my device.
Yes, definitely 1234567 No, definitely not
The performance
[if !supportLists]1. [endif]Compared to my usual performance, I would now rate my job
performance as:
very creative 1234567
not creative at all
[if !supportLists]2. [endif]I would rate the quality of the work as compared to my usual
work:
Good 1234567 Bad
[if !supportLists]3. [endif]Compared to my usual job, I would rate the number of jobs
now:
Good 1234567 Bad
Job satisfaction
[if !supportLists]1. [endif]Now I would rate my job satisfaction compared to how I
normally feel
very high 1234567 very
low
[if !supportLists]2. [endif]I would recommend my job to a qualified friend who is looking
for a job.
Yes, absolutely 1234567
No, absolutely not
[if !supportLists]3. [endif]If I had to, I would choose to work here again.
Yes, absolutely1234567 No, absolutely not
Unity and cohesion
Cohesion is a group characteristic that involveswhether members like each other, work well together, communicate sufficientlyand openly, and work well together.
[if !supportLists]1. [endif]Comparedto the usual level, I would now rate the cohesiveness of the team as:
very high 1234567 very
low
The tendency to work in enclosed areas
[if !supportLists]1. [endif]Iprefer a completely open office (no partitions) to the usual cubicle work area.
Stronglyagree 1234567 No, not at all
[if !supportLists]2. [endif]Iam most productive in typeof workspace.
Private and closed 1234567 open accessible
Interference
[if !supportLists]1. [endif]I find it hard to concentrate on my work.
Stronglyagree 1234567 No, not at all
[if !supportLists]2. [endif]Ifeel an auditory disturbance in my work area.
Yes, always 1234567 No,
never
[if !supportLists]3. [endif]Iexperience visual interference in my work area.
Yes, always 1234567 No,
never
[if !supportLists]4. [endif]My work environment is too noisy.
Yes, always 1234567 No,
never
[if !supportLists]5. [endif]Idecide the layout or appearance of my work area.
Yes, always 1234567 No,
never
[if !supportLists]6. [endif]Ican personalize my workspace.
Yes, always 1234567 No,
never
[if !supportLists]7. [endif]Ifeel that my work life is under my personal control.
Strongly agree 1234567 No, not atall
[if !supportLists]8. [endif]Ican adjust, rearrange and reorganize the facility as needed.
Strongly agree 1234567 No, not atall
[if !supportLists]9. [endif]Ihave a variety of work environment types to choose from for my job.
Strongly agree 1234567 No, not atall
[if !supportLists]10. [endif]Ican hold small ad hoc meetings in my office area as needed.
Strongly agree 1234567 No, not atall