Individual Workspaces Research Articles

Swedish crisis preparedness planners' understanding and sense‐making of preparedness work in a public organisation: Implications for future development

AbstractThe sometimes rapid development of (new) threats and extraordinary events calls for a robust, flexible, and well‐equipped civil crisis preparedness system to respond and limit the damage of crisis events. To achieve this, Swedish municipalities and regions are required by law to regularly perform and report risk and vulnerability analysis ‘bottom up’ to governmental agencies. When performed in large and complex public organisations, crisis preparedness planning activities require negotiation, coordination, and cooperation among large numbers of people. Crisis preparedness planners facilitate and produce this proactive crisis preparedness work. However, research has revealed that preparedness planners face organisational and practical challenges when performing their work.This study aims at increasing the knowledge of crisis preparedness planners' understandings and sense‐making of their work in one Swedish region when fulfilling the requirements set by the Swedish national regulations. The objectives of this paper are to present findings on (1) how the preparedness planners understand and make sense of their crisis preparedness work; (2) which major enablers and barriers that affect their work; and, based on the results, (3) forward possibilities for improvement.Semi‐structured interviews were conducted with the 10 crisis preparedness planners. A narrative stepwise analysis approach was applied. The analysis results revealed challenges in the crisis preparedness work due to uncommitted managers, unclear goalsetting, and the planners' sometimes limited skills in crisis preparedness work. It also report on managers' autonomy and varying focus on crisis preparedness, planners' unclear individual work space, and many different and sometimes strong voices about the work performance and content. This raises the question whose interest that in practice sets the agenda for crisis preparedness planning in the organisation.The study demonstrates needs for increased organisational sense‐making on the concept of crisis preparedness and how it should be performed, and for conceptual and technical skills to perform the preparedness work. To increase sense‐making and strengthen generic subjectivity on crisis preparedness work, further discussions are needed about enablers and barriers in preparedness work and an increased joint focus on possible internal and external threats. There are also needs for increased manager‐coworker‐planner cooperation when developing the preparedness work, and strategic changes in the organisational development involving goalsetting for crisis preparedness ‘top‐down’ as well as ‘bottom‐up’.

Impact of HR Policies on Employee Relations

Employee relations look unequivocally to making and staying aware of positive relationships with an alliance's employees. While employee relation is a piece of HR, its enormous occupation is liaising among chief and employees as well as working in benefits and policies to make a sound workplace. Employee relations rose out of present day relations, but in a post-current world, have changed. Master's affiliations really exist, particularly in the public sector, yet drives in individual work space significant entryways prescribes that employee relations managers need to choose demands inside in a fair way that benefits both business and employee. The endless paper recalls the impact of HR policies for employee

Towards work-life balance or away? The impact of work from home factors on work-life balance among software engineers during Covid-19 pandemic.

The paradigm shifts of conventional office spaces for virtual workspaces which practiced Work from Home (WFH) due to Covid-19, created a serious change in the lifestyles of employees, due to the overlap of 'work' and 'life' domains in one's life. Since software engineers have a possibility of permanently adapting into WFH, the objective of this study is to unveil factors which would have a significant impact on the work-life balance of software engineers in Sri Lanka, while WFH. Only a very limited researches have shed light on this context, thereby this study would contribute to fill the empirical gap. The study undertook a quantitative approach by collecting primary data through a questionnaire from 384 participants, based on simple random sampling, and analyzing collected data based on Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM), using Smart PLS 3.3.9 software. Study results revealed that 'supervisor's trust and support' and the 'individual workspace,' have a significant impact on work-life balance, while 'working conditions,' 'possibility to access the organization's networks' and 'number of children' have no such significant impact. Thereby the study infers that, sound support and trust extended by supervisors and a designated distraction-free workspace; as measures to demarcate the boundary of work and life. Distinctive findings of this study would primarily be fruitful for software engineers to dive into a balanced state of work and life not only during Covid-19 but in future too. Study findings will also contribute to software industry personnel and policymakers in Sri Lanka as well as other developing countries, to establish effective strategies in favor of software engineers who WFH. Further, considering IT industry's significant contribution towards Sri Lanka's economic growth amidst Covid-19, results of this study would be high-yielding to indirectly succor IT-services-supported economic growth amidst the pandemic-driven hardships in Sri Lanka.

The Role of Creative Placemaking

The Role of Creative Placemaking

Crafting, connecting, and commoning in everyday maker projects

Makerspaces have spread to schools, museums, and libraries around the world. These are spaces that make technology construction more accessible and afford practices that situate makers as everyday designers. In this paper, the connection between makerspaces and makers' everyday lives is examined. For this study, thirteen makers were interviewed about the process of their everyday maker projects, and the data material was analyzed for practices, reflections on agency, and relations to places like the makerspace, the home, and beyond. Three distinct practices have been discovered and are described. Crafting is an individual, recreative, skillful, and immersive practice that connects to an individual workspace aside from the makerspace. Connecting is a creative, object-oriented, and interventionist practice that connects to everyday life situations open for inventions. Commoning is a social and communal practice that connects to the makerspace community. The makers' practices inform a discussion of the agency the makerspace enables, and the spatial practices that both enable and constrain actions. Also, because makerspaces are places that intend to make technology construction accessible and inclusive, diversity in maker communities, barriers to inclusion, and strategies to overcome these are discussed.

Understanding the synthesis of anthropometric diversity and workspace dimensions in ergonomic design of light armored vehicle

AbstractBackground and objectiveTo ensure effective carrying, scouting, patrolling, and large‐scale combat operations, the workspace design of light armored vehicles (LAVs) should be compatible with anthropometry and range of motion (ROM) measurements of the soldiers. This study examines the extent of mismatch between the anthropometric dimensions of the Ethiopian army and existing workspace dimensions of the LAV. Predictive equations have been formulated for design dimensions considering anthropometry and ROM of the target population to avoid possible incompatibility.MethodThe assessment was conducted on three existing Ethiopian LAVs, and mathematical equations were framed to predict the vehicular design dimensions. Anthropometric and ROM data of Ethiopian soldiers (n = 310) from an earlier reported survey by the authors were utilized. The accommodation capacity of existing LAVs was evaluated using a one‐way or two‐way (mis)match criterion, based on individual workspace characteristics. Along with the predicted dimensions, key vehicular dimensions were compared with other globally accepted vehicular standard dimensions.ResultsTwenty‐two basic design dimensions that comply with ergonomics principles were proposed. A high mismatch (in terms of the accommodating capacities of the three LAVs) between the existing and predicted design dimensions indicates the incompatibility of the existing design dimensions in their accommodation of most Ethiopian army personnel. The predicted dimensions comply with different global vehicular standards, thus validating the results.ConclusionThe research findings indicate that the incompatibilities between vehicular space dimensions and army personnel's anthropometry must be addressed to evade the adverse consequences on occupational health. The LAVs should be redesigned according to the anthropometry and ROM dimensions of Ethiopian soldiers.

Reflections on adapting group model building scripts into online workshops

Reflections on adapting group model building scripts into online workshops

Rethinking libraries—Three case studies

As the nature of library usage changes, traditional book stacks and individual workspaces are giving way to group activities, informal meetings, classes, and makerspaces. In the past, distraction was managed not through the acoustic environment, but operationally through behavior enforcement and having separate physical spaces for different activities. Now excessive reverberation and inappropriate background noise levels significantly inhibit the usability of a library. Conversations from the café must not disturb small group work areas or instruction on the three-dimensional printer, community meetings need to happen at the same time as classes on digital photo processing, and childrens' story time occurs while the local entrepreneur researches how to register their business. We examine the acoustic design for a community library as collaboration center, a community library as recreation center, and a school library integrated into the common space.

Guides crafting meaning in a flexible working life

ABSTRACTCertified guides are exemplary, well-educated, self-employed, casual labourers in a liberal and competitive job market. Applying grounded theory, this exploratory study builds on in-depth qualitative interviews with Danish, Italian and French certified guides. Informed by the theory of job crafting and adding a critical perspective, we understand the guides’ agency, and how they craft scope, tasks and relations in order to sustain a positive self-image and a meaningful working life. Comparing certified guides’ job-crafting practices, we learn that guides are alike across the three countries, and they perceive themselves as natural-born who engage in self-actualization. They thrive on connecting with tourists, whom they empower or enlighten, as they craft idealistic or social objectives. At the same time, the guides work in individual workspaces, and they adapt to a competitive labour market, by assuming extra tasks and working for free or below tariffs, while they engage in fierce competition particularly with newcomers in order to make themselves employable. However, the study also indicates that organizational structures such as guide associations, which act as brokers to the market, may take the brunt of the individual competition in regard to the employers.

Determination of Constant Orientation Workspace of a Stewart Platform by Geometrical Method

Determination of workspace is one of the main considerations in the design of any robot since the workspace geometry is considered a fundamental issue for robot design. This also plays a crucial role in trajectory planning. Among parallel manipulators, 6-DOF Stewart platforms is the most researched and widely used robot. However, till date there is no closed form expression of workspace volume for Stewart platform. In this paper, a novel method is proposed to find out the workspace volume of Stewart platform. In this paper, individual workspace of each leg of the manipulator (P-U-S) is determined and then translated by a common distance towards their geometrical center thus generating constant orientation workspace. To determine the workspace volume, geometric intersection of the six spheres is computed. This results in workspace of definite shape and size, whose volume is calculated using simple formulae. It is observed that the geometric way of determination of workspace area is computationally less tedious than the algebraic method. This also helps a lot for workspace optimization of such manipulators.

재사용과 공유를 위한 수업 자료 큐레이션 시스템 기능에 대한 연구

This study intends to design a curation system to support elementary and secondary schools for reusing and sharing instructional materials efficiently. It is proved through interviewing teachers at the chalkface that they utilize instructional materials, and there are some differences between elementary schools and secondary schools about the media for creating the instructional materials, and the purpose of using them. The functional requirements of curation system for reusing and sharing instructional materials are derived from questionnaires. The investigation of the existing curation systems was conducted to identify the strategies for policy, design, standard, and tools for effective operation of the digital curation system. The tasks and the functions of the curation system designed by reflecting the results of this study are as following. The tasks related to individual workspace include `authentication`, `system configuration`, `registration` of created materials, `material keeping` for the individual, and `reusing (editing)`. The tasks related to sharing workspace contain `receiving` for sharing, `archiving` for accessing, `peer evaluation`, `accessing` through the retrieval, and `bulletin board`.

Estimating Dynamic Workplace Capacities by Means of Public Transport Smart Card Data and Household Travel Survey in Singapore

The number and the temporal and spatial distribution of work locations are crucial information for any transport demand model. To generate the initial transport demand of MATSim, an activity-based multiagent simulation framework, it is necessary to determine dynamic workplace capacities with high spatial resolution, either on a parcel or even a building level. Commonly applied methods to derive work locations are based on census of enterprises information, unemployment insurance database, or combined information of a building's gross floor area and individual work space requirements. As an alternative, the authors present a methodology that combines public transport smart card transaction data, travel diary surveys, and building information data sources. Work activities are detected from smart card transactions based on observed activity duration and start time and therefore related to public transport stops. To link the observed work activities to individual buildings, a linear programming optimization technique is applied that minimizes the walking time between public transport stops and potential work locations. The method classifies work activities in representative work schedules obtained by clustering methods. Information on maximum allowed building gross floor area derived from land use regulation is combined with estimates on individual work space requirements to ensure that buildings are only assigned with work activities according to their maximal capacity. To account for private transport based work activities, mode shares as observed in a travel diary are taken into account. To demonstrate the applicability, the proposed approach is implemented in Singapore and the results critically reviewed.

An empirical study of MEP workspace modeling approaches for 4D model-based time-space conflict analyses: Case study on the international linear collider project

The use of 4D model-based time space conflict analysis to detect potential workspace conflicts can be vital in projects with highly compacted Mechanical/Electrical/Piping (MEP) systems. However, manually modeling individual workspace requirements can be time consuming and error prone. Whereas existing research have focused on formalizing workspace types and conflict taxonomies, determining the appropriate 3D modeling approach available in commercial CAD applications have not been examined in detail. This research addresses this need by performing a case study using the International Linear Collider project, which requires installing MEP components in heavily congested areas and in limited time. Three modeling approaches — isotropic tolerance, solid and parametric modeling — are used to model workspaces and subsequently evaluated with respect to the accuracy and efficiency in generating workspaces, and also the ease in updating workspace requirements. Results indicate that parametric modeling, which enables automatic update of workspaces, provides the greatest leverage in model reuse and flexibility.

Green buildings, environmental awareness, and organizational image

PurposeThe study seeks to investigate the mechanisms for the effects of environmental design features of a green building on occupants' environmental awareness (EA) and organizational image (OI).Design/methodology/approachOne mechanism investigated the direct effects of environmental design features of a green building on occupants' EA and OI. The other mechanism investigated the indirect effects on occupants' EA and OI resulting from the direct effects of environmental design features on occupants' workplace satisfaction. The data were collected from 175 occupants of the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED)‐certified green building using a questionnaire instrument.FindingsBased on frequency, correlational, and regression analyses of the data, the study found no evidence for direct effects of environmental design features on occupants' EA and OI. The study, however, found some evidence for indirect effects, indicating that individual workspace and departmental space features affected occupants' satisfaction with individual workspaces and the building, which then affected occupants' EA and OI.Research limitations/implicationsThe study involved only the employees of an organization who occupy a single LEED‐certified green building. Future studies should involve a larger sample of green buildings. Future studies should also involve other stakeholders of these buildings.Practical implicationsThe study is important for the long‐term market growth of green buildings, because it provides supporting evidence for the organizational leaders who want to use green buildings to enhance organizational values and benefits.Originality/valueThe study makes an original contribution to the field, because studies focusing on the potential links between green buildings and organizational benefits and values, and the mechanisms that may help explain these links are still rare.

A Retrospective Analysis of Recommendations for Workplace Accommodations for Persons With Mobility and Sensory Limitations

Many studies of workplace accommodations have primarily focused on a particular disability or functional limitation. The need exists for a broad-based study of the types and frequency of accommodations recommended for a variety of functional limitations, including multiple limitations. The researchers conducted a retrospective analysis of 266 persons who received vocational rehabilitation assessment to determine the frequency and types of recommended workplace accommodations. Computer systems/components and special tools/furnishings were the most frequently reported types of recommendations, regardless of functional limitation, whereas adaptive strategies were least likely to be suggested. In general, most job accommodation recommendations targeted the individual work space and were intended to assist in the completion of specific job tasks. Findings indicate that recommendations for workplace accommodations were surprisingly similar across all functional limitation groups.

Collective consciousness and its pathologies: Understanding the failure of AIDS control and treatment in the United States

We address themes of distributed cognition by extending recent formal developments in the theory of individual consciousness. While single minds appear biologically limited to one dynamic structure of linked cognitive submodules instantiating consciousness, organizations, by contrast, can support several, sometimes many, such constructs simultaneously, although these usually operate relatively slowly. System behavior remains, however, constrained not only by culture, but by a developmental path dependence generated by organizational history, in the context of market selection pressures. Such highly parallel multitasking – essentially an institutional collective consciousness – while capable of reducing inattentional blindness and the consequences of failures within individual workspaces, does not eliminate them, and introduces new characteristic malfunctions involving the distortion of information sent between workspaces and the possibility of pathological resilience – dysfunctional institutional lock-in. Consequently, organizations remain subject to canonical and idiosyncratic failures analogous to, but more complicated than, those afflicting individuals. Remediation is made difficult by the manner in which pathological externalities can write images of themselves onto both institutional function and corrective intervention. The perspective is applied to the failure of AIDS control and treatment in the United States.

フリーアドレス形式オフィスレイアウトでのＶＤＴ作業者の姿勢および身体的疲労感

A free-address system is a new office layout in which a worker can freely sit in their favorite place with a computer and materials. Since this layout has recently been introduced in offices, we conducted a questionnaire survey which aimed to clarify the effects of the free-address system on visual display terminals (VDT) workers' posture and workload. A total of 203 male VDT workers who were system engineers aged 20 to 59 using a notebook computer were evaluated, of whom 150 used the free-address layout, and 53 used the fixed-address layout. The free-address layout was effective in the improvement of individual work space compared with the fixed-address layout. Also, in this layout the worker did not feel dissatisfaction with communication or support between workers. However, workers using the free-address layout assumed an unsuitable work posture, without adjusting the height of their chairs. Furthermore, this layout might have risk factors which increase neck/shoulder and low back stiffness and/or pain. Therefore, the free-address layout may have incipient problems, and it will be necessary to examine further the effects of this layout on VDT worker's health.

A Study of Computerized Offices in Greece: Are Ergonomic Design Requirements Met?

In this study, an investigation was conducted into the extent to which ergonomic requirements for work on computers are met in Greek office workstations. The ergonomic requirements considered were those included in Council Directive 90/270/EEC (1990) of the European Union and the ISO 9241 (1997) standard. 593 office workstations were assessed using an assessment tool consisting of 70 assessment points. The assessment results show that the ergonomic requirements that are independent of the specific characteristics of individual work spaces and environments (e.g., design standards for seats, monitors, and input devices) are adequately met. Ergonomic requirements that should take into consideration the specific characteristics and constraints of individual work content, work spaces, and environments (e.g., requirements dealing with workplace layout, environmental conditions, software, and work organization) are inadequately met. Based on these results, issues are indicated on the effort ergonomists should focus to improve working conditions in computerized offices.

Research about office workplace activities important to US businesses ‐ And how to support them

A research‐based approach was used to develop business supportive office workplace design concepts during individual projects for multiple US‐based clients. Together, the databases for those projects represent about 13,000 responses to data‐gathering questionnaires. Analysis was done across those responses to determine whether there were common patterns or findings that would be of benefit to the design community. The results of this across‐project analysis show that the two workplace qualities that consume the largest portion of the workday and have the greatest effects on individual performance, team performance and job satisfaction are support for distraction‐free solo work, and support for impromptu interactions anywhere in the workplace (but primarily in or near individual workspaces). The noise generated by conversations of all kinds can be an impediment to distraction‐free solo work, creating a potential conflict. Effective workplace design can both enhance support for these two most important activities by themselves, and allow them to coexist effectively within the same individual workspace areas.

Physical and psychosocial aspects of the learning environment in information technology rich classrooms

This paper reports on a study of environments in emerging Internet classrooms. At issue for this study is to what extent these ‘technological classrooms’ are providing a positive learning environment for students. To investigate this issue, this study involved an evaluation of the physical and psychosocial environments in computerized school settings through a combination of questionnaires and inventories that were later cross-referenced to case studies on a subset of these classrooms. Data were obtained from a series of physical evaluations of 43 settings in 24 school locations in British Columbia, Canada and Western Australia. Evaluations consisted of detailed inventories of the physical environment using the Computerised Classroom Environment Inventory (CCEI): an instrument developed specifically for this study. Data on psychosocial aspects of the environment were obtained with the What is Happening in this Class? (WIHIC) questionnaire administered to 1404 high school students making routine use of these computerized classrooms. Potential deficiencies in the physical environment of these locations included problems with individual workspaces, lighting and air quality, whereas deficiencies in the psychosocial environment were confined to the dimension of Autonomy. Further analysis of these classroom environment data indicated that student Autonomy and Task orientation were independently associated with students' Satisfaction with learning and that many physical (e.g. lighting and workspace dimensions) and psychosocial factors (e.g. students' perceptions of Co-operation and Collaboration) were also associated. The results provide a descriptive account of the learning environment in ‘technology-rich’ classrooms and, further, indicate that ergonomic guidelines used in the implementation of IT in classrooms may have a positive influence on the learning environment.