Employee reactions to office redesign: A naturally occurring quasi-field experiment in a multi-generational setting

Human Relations

Volumn 63, Issue 5, 2010, Pages 609-636

  McElroy, James C ^a   Morrow, Paula C ^a  

^a IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY   (United States)

Author keywords

Aesthetics; Change; Generational cohorts; Job employee attitudes; Office design; Organizational culture; Work environment

Indexed keywords

EID: 77951648973     PISSN: 00187267     EISSN: 1741282X     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1177/0018726709342932     Document Type: Article

References (90)

1. Allen TJ (1977) Managing the Flow of Technology: Technology Transfer and the Dissemination of Technological Information within the R&D Organization. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
2. Bal PM, De Lange AH, Jansen PGW, and Van Der Velde MEG (2008) Psychological contract breach and job attitudes: A meta-analysis of age as a moderator. Journal of Vocational Behavior 72(2): 143-158.
3. Becker FD (1981) Work Space: Creating Environments in Organizations. New York: Harper & Row.
4. Becker FD, Gield B., Gaylin K., and Sayer S. (1983) Office design in a community college. Environment and Behavior 15(6): 699-726.
5. Bitner MJ (1992) The impact of physical surroundings on customers and employees. Journal of Marketing 56(2): 57-71.
6. Boyce BR (1974) Users: Assessments of a landscaped office. Journal of Architectural Research 3(3): 44-62.
7. Brennan A., Chugh JS, and Kline T. (2002) Traditional versus open office design: A longitudinal field study. Environment and Behavior 34(3): 279-299.
8. Brill M., Weidemann S., Alard L., Olson J., and Keable E. (2001) Disproving Widespread Myths about Workplace Design. Jasper, IN: Kimball International.
9. Brisson C., Montreuil S., and Punnett L. (1999) Effects of an ergonomics training program on workers with video display units. Scandinavian Journal of Work, Environment, and Health 25(3): 255-263.
10. Brookes MJ, Kaplan A. (1972) The office environment: Space planning and effective behavior. Human Factors 14(5): 373-391.
11. Canty D. (1977) Evaluation of an open office landscape: Weyerhaeuser Co. A.I.A. Journal 66: 34-39.
12. Cohen LM (2007) Bridging two streams of office design research: A comparison of design/behavior and management journal articles from 1980-2001. Journal of Architectural and Planning Research 24(4): 289-307.
13. Cropanzano R., Mitchell MS (2005) Social exchange theory: An interdisciplinary review. Journal of Management 31(6): 874-900.
14. Danielson CB, Bodin L. (2008) Office type in relation to health, well-being, and job satisfaction among employees. Environment and Behavior 40(5): 636-668.
15. Davis JB, Pawlowski SD, and Houston A. (2006) Work commitments of baby boomers and gen-Xers in the IT profession: Generational differences or myth? The Journal of Computer Information Systems 46(3): 43-49.
16. Davis TRV (1984) The influence of the physical environment in offices. Academy of Management Journal 9(2): 271-283.
17. Dencker JC, Joshi A., and Martocchio JJ (2008) Toward a theoretical framework linking generational memories to workplace attitudes and behaviors. Human Resource Management Review 18(3): 180-187.
18. Eisenberger R., Huntington R., Hutchison S., and Sowa D. (1986) Perceived organizational support. Journal of Applied Psychology 71(3): 500-507.
19. Ellington K. (2007) The modern workplace, individual space squeezed to help the common good. Facilities Management Journal 34(May/June): 36-37.
20. Elsbach KD, Bechky BA (2007) It's more than a desk: Working smarter through leveraged office design. California Management Review 49(2): 80-101.
21. Elsbach KD, Pratt MG (2007) The physical environment in organizations. The Academy of Management Annals 1(1): 181-224.
22. Fayard A.-L, Weeks J. (2007) Photocopiers and water-coolers: The affordances of informal interaction. Organization Studies 28(5): 605-634.
23. Forteza JA, Prieto JM (1994) Aging and work behavior. In: Triandis H, Dunnette M, and Hough L (eds) Handbook of Industrial and Organizational Psychology, 2nd edn. Palo Alto, CA: Consulting Psychologists Press, 447-483.
24. Galbraith J. (1973) Designing Complex Organizations. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.
25. Glass A. (2007) Understanding generational differences for competitive success. Industrial and Commercial Training 39(2): 98-103.
26. Grajewski T. (1993) The SAS head office: Spatial configuration and interaction patterns. Arkitekturforskning 26(2): 3-74.
27. Hatch MJ (1990) The symbolics of office design: An empirical exploration. In: Gagliardi P (ed.) Symbols and Artifacts: Views of the Corporate Landscape. New York: Aldine de Gruyter, 3-38.
28. Hedge A. (1982) The open-plan office. A systematic investigation of employee reactions to their work environment. Environment and Behavior 14(5): 519-542.
29. Hickson M III, Stacks DW, and Moore N. (2004) Nonverbal Communication: Studies and Applications, 4th edn. Los Angeles, CA: Roxbury Publishing Company.
30. Higgins JM, McAllaster C. (2004) If you want strategic change, don't forget to change your cultural artifacts. Journal of Change Management 4: 63-74.
31. Higgins JM, McAllaster C., Certo SC, and Gilbert JP (2006) Using cultural artifacts to change and perpetuate strategy. Journal of Change Management 6(4): 397-409.
32. Horgen TH, Joroff ML, Porter WL, and Schon DA (1999) Excellence by Design: Transforming Workplace and Work Practice. New York: Wiley.
33. Ives RS, Ferdinands R. (1974) Working in a landscaped office. Personal Practice Bulletin 30(2): 126-141.
34. Jurkiewicz CL (2000) Generation X and the public employee. Public Personnel Management 29(1): 55-74.
35. Kanfer R., Ackerman PL (2004) Aging adult development, and work motivation. Academy of Management Review 29(3): 440-458.
36. Kornberger M., Clegg SR (2004) Bringing space back in: Organizing the generative building. Organization Studies 25(7): 1095-1114.
37. Kotler P. (1973) Atmospherics as a marketing tool. Journal of Retailing 49(4): 48-64.
38. Lawler EE III, Worley CG (2006) Built to Change. San Francisco, CA. Jossey-Bass.
39. Lee SY, Brand JL (2005) Effects of control over office workspace on perceptions of the work environment and work outcomes. Journal of Environmental Psychology 25(2): 323-333.
40. Leonardi PM (2008) Indeterminacy and the discourse of inevitability in international technology management. Academy of Management Review 33(4): 975-984.
41. Lewin K. (1951) Field Theory in Social Science. New York: Harper & Row.
42. Lewis P. (1987) Organizational Communication: The Essence of Effective Management. New York: John Wiley & Sons Inc.
43. Lippmann S. (2008) Rethinking risk in the new economy: Age and cohort effects on unemployment and re-employment. Human Relations 61(9): 1259-1292.
44. Luparello D. (2005) Office design trends: A move toward employee comfort. International Facilities Management Association's 'FM Today', 16 May, available at www.ifma.org/daily_articles/may/05_16.cfm (accessed 8 January 2008).
45. Maher A., von Hippel C. (2005) Individual differences in employee reactions to open-plan offices. Journal of Environmental Psychology 25(2): 219-229.
46. Marans RW, Spreckelmeyer KF (1982) Evaluating open and conventional office design. Environment and Behavior 14(3): 333-351.
47. Marans RW, Yan X. (1989) Lighting quality and environmental satisfaction in open and enclosed offices. Journal of Architectural Planning and Research 6(2): 118-131.
48. May DR, Oldham GR, and Rathert C. (2005) Employee affective and behavioral reactions to the spatial density of physical work environments. Human Resource Management 44(1): 21-33.
49. May DR, Reed K., Schwoerer CE, and Potter P. (2004) Ergonomics office design and aging: A quasi-experimental field study of employee reactions to an ergonomics intervention program. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology 9(2): 123-135.
50. McCoy JM (2002) Work environments. In: Bechtel R, Churchman A (eds) Handbook of Environmental Psychology. New York: Wiley, 443-460.
51. McCoy JM (2005) Linking the physical work environment to creative context. Journal of Creative Behavior 39(3): 169-191.
52. Mehrabian A. (2007) Nonverbal Communication. New Brunswick, NJ: Aldine-Atherton.
53. Meyer JP, Allen NJ (1997) Commitment in the Workplace. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.
54. Miller D. (2007) Paradigm prison, or in praise of atheoretical research. Strategic Organization 5(2): 177-184.
55. Mitchell S. (2003) American Generations. Ithaca, NY: New Strategists Publications, Inc.
56. Morrow PC, McElroy JC (1981) Interior office design and visitor response: A constructive replication. Journal of Applied Psychology 66(5): 646-650.
57. Moultrie J., Nilsson M., Dissel M., Haner U., Janssen S., and Van der Lugt R. (2007) Innovation spaces: Towards a framework for understanding the role of the physical environment in innovation. Creativity and Innovation Management 16(1): 53-65.
58. Oldham GR, Brass D. (1979) Employee reactions to an open-plan office: A naturally occurring quasi-experiment. Administrative Science Quarterly 24(2): 267-284.
59. Oldham GR, Cummings A., and Zhou J. (1995) The spatial configuration of organizations: A review of the literature and some new research directions. Research in Personnel and Human Resource Management 13: 1-37.
60. O'Reilly CA III, Pfeffer J. (2000) Hidden Value. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press.
61. Organ D. (1990) The motivational basis of organizational citizenship behavior. In: Staw BM, Cummings LL (eds) Research in Organizational Behavior, Vol. 12. Greenwich, CT: JAI Press, 43-72.
62. Orlikowski WJ, Scott SV (2008) Sociomateriality: Challenging the separation of technology, work and organization. The Academy of Management Annals 2(1): 433-474.
63. Parish JT, Berry LL, and Lam SY (2008) The effect of the servicescape on service workers. Journal of Service Research 10(2): 220-238.
64. Patterson MG, West MA, Shackleton VJ, Dawson JF, Lawthom R., Maitlis S., Robinson DL, and Wallace AM (2005) Validating the organizational climate measure: Links to managerial practices, productivity and innovation. Journal of Organizational Behavior 26(4): 379-408.
65. Paulus PB, Annis AB, Seta JJ, Schkade JK, and Matthews RW (1976) Crowding does affect task performance. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 34(2): 248-253.
66. Podsakoff PM, MacKenzie SB, Moorman RH, and Fetter R. (1990) Transformational leader behaviors and their effects on followers' trust in leader, satisfaction, and organizational commitment behaviors. Leadership Quarterly 1(2): 107-142.
67. Rafaeli A., Pratt MG (2006) Artifacts and Organizations: Beyond Mere Symbolism. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
68. Ramaswami SN (1996) Marketing controls and dysfunctional employee behaviors: A test of traditional and contingency theory postulates. Journal of Marketing 60(2): 105-120.
69. Riland LH, Falk JZ (1972) Employee reactions to office landscape environment. Technical report, Psychological Research and Services, Personnel Relations Dept, Eastman Kodak Company.
70. Roethlisberger FJ, Dickson WJ (1939) Management and the Worker. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
71. Schein E. (1990) Organizational culture. American Psychologist 45(2): 109-119.
72. Scott LI (2005) The new workplace: Design strategies to enhance space efficiency, image branding, technology integration and cost effectiveness. Facilities Management Journal, July-August, pp. 17-18, 20, 49-50.
73. Seashore SE (1964) Assessing Organizational Performance with Behavioral Measurements. Ann Arbor: Michigan Foundation for Research on Human Behavior.
74. Smola KW, Sutton CD (2002) Generational differences: Revisiting generational work values for the new millennium. Journal of Organizational Behavior 23(4): 363-382.
75. Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) (2004) Generational Differences Survey. Alexandria, VA: Society for Human Resource Management.
76. Sommer R. (1969) Personal Space: The Behavioral Basis of Design. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
77. Spector P. (1997) Job Satisfaction. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.
78. Steelcase, Inc. (2006) Millennials make their mark. 360 Ezine 34: 1-6.
79. Sundstrom E., Burt RE, and Kamp D. (1980) Privacy at work: Architectural correlates of job satisfaction and job performance. Academy of Management Journal 23(1): 101-117.
80. Turner G., Myerson J. (1998) New workspace new culture: Office design as a catalyst for change. Aldershot: Gower Publishing.
81. Tyler K. (2007) The tethered generation. HRMagazine 52(5): 40-46.
82. Tyler TR, Schuller RA (1991) Aging and attitude change. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 61(5): 689-697.
83. Vilnai-Yavetz I., Rafaeli A. (2006) Managing artifacts to avoid myopia. In: Rafaeli A, Pratt MG (eds) Artifacts and Organizations: Beyond Mere Symbolism. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Publishers, 9-21.
84. Vilnai-Yavetz I., Rafaeli A., and Yaacov C. (2005) Instrumentality, aesthetics and symbolism of office design. Environment and Behavior 37(4): 533-551.
85. Vischer JC (1996) Workplace Strategies: Environment as a Tool for Work. New York: Chapman & Hall.
86. Vischer JC, Fischer GN (2005) User evaluation of the work environment: A diagnostic approach. Le Travail Humain 68(1): 73-95.
87. Yang S.-B, Guy ME (2006) Gen-Xers versus boomers: Work motivators and management implications. Public Performance & Management Review 29(3): 267-284.
88. Yanow D. (2006) Studying physical artifacts: An interpretive approach. In: Rafaeli A, Pratt MG (eds) Artifacts and Organizations: Beyond Mere Symbolism. Mahwah NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Publishers, 41-60.
89. Yu H-C., Miller P. (2005) Leadership style: The X generation and baby boomers compared in different cultural contexts. Leadership & Organization Development Journal 26(1): 35-50.
90. Zalesny MD, Farace RV (1987) Traditional versus open offices: A comparison of sociotechnical, social relations, and symbolic meaning perspectives. Academy of Management Journal 30(2): 240-257.