Few organizational behavior textbooks discuss the impact of physical space on employee behavior at work. Three out-of-class exercises that encourage students to actively investigate how work space is used are described. These exercises can be used to supplement lectures on organizational culture, job design, power, and politics. In addition, in-class discussion points for instructors to link space to behavior at work are provided.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Barclay, L. A.
, & York, K. M. (1996). The scavenger hunt exercise: Symbols of organizational culture. Journal of Management Education, 20, 125-128.
2.
Becker, F. D.
(1982). Workspace: Creating environments in organizations. New York: Praeger.
3.
Davis, T. R. V.
(1984). The influence of the physical environment in offices. Academy of Management Review, 9, 271-283.
4.
Homans, G. C.
(1950). The human group. New York: Harcourt Brace.
5.
Korda, M.
(1975). Power!New York: Random House.
6.
Peters, T. J.
(1978). Symbols, patterns, and settings: An optimistic case for getting things done. Organizational Dynamics, 7, 2-23.
7.
Pfeffer, J.
(1981). Power in organizations. Marshfield, MA: Pitman.
8.
Schein, E. H.
(1985). Organizational culture and leadership. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
9.
Shepheard, P.
(1994). What is architecture?Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
10.
Sommer, R.
(1969). Personal space. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
11.
Sommer, R.
(1983). Social design. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
12.
Steele, F.
(1986). Making and managing high-quality workplaces. New York: Teachers College Press.
13.
Steele, F. I.
(1973). Physical settings and organizational development. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.
14.
Trice, H. M.
, & Beyer, J. M. (1993). The cultures of work organizations. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
15.
Trist, E. L.
, Susman, G. I., & Brown, G. R. (1977). An experiment in autonomous working in an American underground coal mine. Human Relations, 30, 201-236.
16.
Wilkinson, H.
(1993). Influencing people in organizations. Fort Worth, TX: Dryden.
17.
Winterton, J.
(1994). Social and technological characteristics of coal-face work: A temporal and spatial analysis. Human Relations, 47, 89-118.
