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

• Author: Seok Eun Kim
• Published date: 01 July 2014
• DOI: 10.1177/0095399713479104
• Date: 01 July 2014
• Subject Matter: Articles

Administration & Society

2014, Vol. 46(5) 496 –518

© 2013 SAGE Publications

DOI: 10.1177/0095399713479104

aas.sagepub.com

Article

Physical Workplace as

a Strategic Asset for

Improving Performance

in Public Organizations

Seok Eun Kim1

Abstract

This article asserts that more purposely designed physical workplaces could

contribute to performance improvement by leveraging human capital and

management capacity in public organizations. It provides an initial survey of the

literature on workplace design by introducing a synthesis of available research

drawn from environmental design, organizational ecology, social psychology,

architecture, political science, and business and public administration. Based on

the literature review, I developed a model of organizational performance that

underscores the importance of “place” variables, such as space arrangement

and indoor environment. The model implies that physical workplace has a

significant impact on affective, behavioral, and performance outcomes in the

organization. The article concludes with implications for theory and practice

in using workplace strategy for organizational excellence.

Keywords

physical setting, workplace design, organizational performance

Just as a Ferrari performs much better on a well-paved road than on a sandy beach,

a high-performance team or organization requires a high-performance workplace.

Franklin and Steele, 1995, p. 3

1Hanyang University, Seoul, Korea

Corresponding author:

Seok Eun Kim, Hanyang University, 222 Wangsimri-ro Seongdong-gu, Seoul, 133-791, Korea.

Email: seokeun@hanyang.ac.kr

479104AAS46510.1177/0095399713479104Administration & SocietyKim

research-article2013

Kim 497

Introduction

Improving organizational performance has been a long-standing issue in pub-

lic administration. Strategic management of human capital and building man-

agement capacity of organizations have been seen as major tools for

performance improvement. In search of organizational excellence, however,

the students of public administration may have missed an important role of

physical workplace as a positive lever for organizational change and better

performance (U.S. General Services Administration [GSA], 2009a, 2009b).

This article contends that successful organizational change and better perfor-

mance require not only “people” and “management” factors but also “place”

factors such as lighting, temperature, employee-friendly workspace design,

and supporting technologies. More purposely designed physical workplaces

could contribute to better human resource management and also make public

organizations more productive.

Physical workplace in government matters in three important ways.

First, although rapid technological developments make modern govern-

ment offices more flexible and accessible from long distance (e.g., tele-

working, mobile officing, and hoteling), physical workplaces have

remained spaces where employees spend a substantial amount of time to

deliver public services (Partnership for Public Service, 2010). Second, a

poor workplace environment could bring health-related complaints or

even lawsuits that are associated with poor indoor air quality, lighting

problems, thermal discomfort, and ergonomic-related occupational inju-

ries, collectively known as sick building syndrome (Brill, Weidemann, &

BOSTI Associates, 1984; Kaplan & Aronoff, 1996).1 Third, the growth of

“knowledge work” in government requires an employee-friendly work-

space that encourages interaction, flexibility, and the exchange of informa-

tion and knowledge (Drucker, 1999).2

As an initial survey of the literature on workplace design, this article first

introduces a synthesis of available research regarding the impact of the physi-

cal workplace on affective, behavioral, and performance outcomes in an

organization. The survey of the literature transcends disciplinary boundaries

and encompasses environmental design, organizational ecology, social psy-

chology, architecture, political science, and business and public administra-

tion. The literature review highlights interdependence between people,

management, and place. Based on the literature review, a conceptual model

and six propositions were exclusively developed in terms of physical work-

place leading to affective, behavioral, and performance outcomes. Finally,

the article suggests a number of implications for theory and practice in using

workplace strategy for organizational excellence.