Davis, MC orcid.org/0000-0003-1577-7544, Leach, DJ orcid.org/0000-0002-3152-6131 and Clegg, CW (2020) Breaking Out of Open-Plan: Extending Social Interference Theory Through an Evaluation of Contemporary Offices. Environment and Behavior, 52 (9). pp. 945-978. ISSN 0013-9165
Abstract
Offices are evolving rapidly to facilitate organizational cost reductions and to better support contemporary working practices. We investigate relationships between the design of contemporary offices (physical proximity and breakout areas) and autonomy in predicting individual outcomes (ease of communication, job satisfaction, and well-being). We extend Social Interference Theory to include features of contemporary office design and explicitly explore the moderating role of autonomy. Working in differing office configurations of a global engineering company, 406 employees provided data. Access to breakout areas was strongly related to ease of communication, higher job satisfaction, and well-being. In the absence of breakout areas, employees with higher autonomy were able to better manage the challenges arising from contemporary offices. Practical implications include incorporating breakout areas to enhance employee experience within open-plan offices, using job design to optimize employee experience in open-plan offices, and manager and employee involvement in office design.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © The Author(s) 2019. This is an author produced version of a paper accepted for publication in Environment and Behavior. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. |
Keywords: | office design; social interference; communication; work design |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Business (Leeds) > Management Division (LUBS) (Leeds) > Management Division Organizational Behaviour (LUBS) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 01 Oct 2019 15:29 |
Last Modified: | 04 Jan 2021 10:01 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | SAGE Publications |
Identification Number: | 10.1177/0013916519878211 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:151490 |