Peggie Rothe, Anna‐Liisa Lindholm, Ari Hyvönen and Suvi Nenonen
The work environment has been identified to influence employee satisfaction and work performance. In order to develop and provide work environments that meet the preferences of as…
Abstract
Purpose
The work environment has been identified to influence employee satisfaction and work performance. In order to develop and provide work environments that meet the preferences of as many employees as possible, more information about user preferences and possible preference differences between different kinds of users is required. The purpose of this paper is to increase the understanding concerning office users' work environment preferences. The aim is to investigate whether there are differences in the preferences of office users based on their age, gender, their mobility, and whether they work individually or with others.
Design/methodology/approach
Office users' work environment preferences are studied through a survey directed to office employees. Statistical analysis is used in order to identify work environment preference differences between respondents of different age, gender, and the way they work.
Findings
The results indicate that there are differences between office users' work environment preferences concerning some characteristics of the work environment. The results show that the preferences vary both based on demographic issues such as age and gender as well as based on how they work.
Research limitations/implications
The research is limited to the Helsinki Metropolitan Area, Finland, so the cultural context has to be taken into account when generalising the results.
Originality/value
The paper provides several stakeholders, such as user organisations, designers, consultants, and investors, valuable information on what kind of work environments office users prefer.
Details
Keywords
Peggie Rothe, Anna‐Liisa Lindholm, Ari Hyvönen and Suvi Nenonen
The paper aims to identify the differences and similarities in work environment preferences of office users of different age.
Abstract
Purpose
The paper aims to identify the differences and similarities in work environment preferences of office users of different age.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper analyses results of a preference survey answered by more than 1,100 office employees in Finland. The survey included questions concerning user preferences in terms of location, buildings, workspaces, and services. The analysis starts with a principal component analysis (PCA). The respondents are divided into five clusters based on their year of birth, and their responses are compared based on regression analysis. The identified differences are confirmed by discriminant analysis.
Findings
The study shows that there are differences in the work environment preferences of users of different age. Significant differences were found concerning personal services, commuting, collaboration, restaurant services, and adjustability of indoor climate. The study also identifies areas in which preferences between younger and older employees did not differ remarkably, such as privacy and the virtual environment.
Research limitations/implications
While the study indicates that there are preference differences in the workforce as it currently exists, it does not explain whether the identified differences are connected to generations, or if they are simply a result of age and experience.
Practical implications
The paper includes findings that are valuable for all parties that are involved in designing and managing work environments.
Originality/value
The results give new insights on what office users of different age prefer in their work environments. The paper proposes that some general notions regarding generational differences in the workplace lack academic evidence, and presents results that suggest that the differences are not as significant as generally thought.
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The purpose of this paper is to present functional requirements for bibliographic records (FRBR)‐based model and functional requirements for authority data (FRAD)‐based model;…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to present functional requirements for bibliographic records (FRBR)‐based model and functional requirements for authority data (FRAD)‐based model; both of which incorporate an event concept that transforms FRBR and FRAD with minimal modification.
Design/methodology/approach
Relationships between the entities defined in FRBR/FRAD are transformed into event entities and relationships with other kinds of entities. The cardinality of those relationships is also examined. In addition, a comparison of the proposed FRBR‐based model with the object‐oriented FRBR (FRBROO) is conducted.
Findings
In the proposed event‐aware FRBR model, an event and its output resource are dependent on each other and necessary information about an event can be expressed with information about its output resource, and vice versa. Therefore, the usefulness and expressiveness of the proposed model is limited. In the FRBROO model, dependency between an event and its output resource is not observed, except in a few cases, since a different resource and event modeling was adopted there. The event‐aware FRAD model proposed is useful – but also the scope of its usefulness limited since dependency between an event and its input/output resource is not observed on some event entities.
Originality/value
The proposed models are meaningful in terms of understanding the basic structure and features of a model that incorporates an event concept. The usefulness and limitation of event modeling have been clarified through such model building. The proposed models provide a stable basis for examining FRBR/FRAD further.
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Jessica Karhu, Ari Laitala, Heidi Falkenbach and Anna‐Liisa Sarasoja
The purpose of this paper is to find out the green preferences of corporate occupiers in relation to their occupied offices. The study aims to focus on the preferences of the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to find out the green preferences of corporate occupiers in relation to their occupied offices. The study aims to focus on the preferences of the end‐users at the organisational level. It also aims to study the relative importance of these preferences against one another and to seek the differences between respondent groups.
Design/methodology/approach
The survey is a case study approach concentrating on the situation in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area (Finland) in the summer of 2009. The survey was conducted as an internet‐based questionnaire with e‐mail invitations. The importance of nine given green attributes of the office buildings were ranked on a five‐point Likert scale. A total of 90 responses were analysed.
Findings
The results show that location achieved the highest importance, even though it was rated in terms of the environmental sense only. The energy efficiency of a building was ranked second. The indicative results suggest that industry sector and the position of the respondent effect the importance of the preferences.
Research limitations/implications
The Helsinki Metropolitan Area was the focus of the study, but it is believed that the results can be generalised to other office market areas in Finland.
Practical implications
The findings will benefit the management of occupying organisations, real estate investors and marketers who may now deepen their understanding of the preferences of corporate occupiers. The results may be useful to organisations promoting green buildings.
Originality/value
The mainstream sustainability research in the real estate sector has focused on green buildings in the area of new construction, and economical and technical approaches. This study concentrates on end‐users' considerations at the organisational level and green preferences in the existing office stock.