Design Economics for the Built Environment: Impact of Sustainability on Project Evaluation

Chapter 13Space Planning and Organisational Performance

Benedict Ilozor

13.1 Introduction

There is a renewed debate on whether work environments engender perceptible organisational change that translates to improved performance. This contemplation has arisen as a result of the substantially changing work settings, in which the dominant trend is towards a more open-plan and democratic style (Duffy and Tannis, 1993; Knight Frank Hooker, 1995; Duffy, 1997; IFMA, 1997; Gillen, 2006; Elsbach and Pratt, 2007; Davis et al., 2011). Although the current discourse seeks to uncover how the built environment promotes or retards organisational change, whether or not significant change arises at all is yet to be definitively established. Hence, a contribution to the school of thought in this direction is considered invaluable.

The role of the physical properties of work setting and environment, as well as management processes over time, in bringing about improved organisational performance in terms of management effectiveness and increased productivity, has been noted by several authors (Williams et al., 1985; Leaman and Bordass, 1993; Uzee, 1999; Steiner, 2005). Office space is a tool that can be leveraged to improve business results and help achieve corporations’ objectives, as Mohr (1996) reported. Nevertheless, “organisational ecology” (Steele, 1986), or pattern of relationships between work/workers and the characteristics of work settings, is not well understood, as Brown (1996) claimed. ...