Physical Workplace as a Strategic Asset for Improving Performance in Public Organizations

Abstract

The theory and practice of public management have focused on “people” and “management” variables of an organization while largely neglecting another important organizational variable?“place” or physical setting at work. The paucity of research on the physical workplace in organizational research would be misleading as it affects the way people and system work in an organization. This article provides an initial survey of the literature on workplace design by introducing a synthesis of available research drawn from environmental design, engineering psychology, architecture, political science, business, and public administration. Based on the literature review, I developed a model of organizational performance that emphasizes the importance of physical workplace, such as space arrangement, indoor environment quality, and supporting technologies. The model implies that physical workplace has a significant impact on affective, behavioral, and performance outcomes in the organization. Therefore, physical workplace should be treated seriously as a strategic asset for improving organizational performance, especially given that personnel costs are substantially higher than the costs of providing a good physical workplace. The article concludes with implications on theory and practice in using workplace strategy for organizational excellence.