Economics of Space and Productivity Trade-off

In the modern day office environment, administrators and managers seek to maximize the use of scarce resources in the process of production and service delivery. 

In addition, the proliferation of service firms and rising costs of the urban space has led to increased use of space management techniques in office accommodation – cubicles and open spaces. 

However, in pursuance of space management objectives, most administrators are oblivious of the productivity effects of using such space-saving forms of office accommodation. 

Since the use of cubicles and open space has come to stay, it is important to evaluate the current and potential effects on firm-level productivity for both indigenous and foreign-vested firms.  

It is also imperative to appraise the effect of current organizational practices on indoor environmental quality and broad-based implications for the urban labour market.

Albeit some studies within the African context have examined factors that contribute to employee productivity - motivation, innovation, organisational structure amongst others, the role of indoor environmental quality on worker productivity is scarcely investigated. 

There are several research questions calling for answers with respect to this: In what work settings are cubicles or open spaces most appropriate and in what settings could they impede productivity? 

To what extent does indoor environmental quality affect worker productivity? What is workers’ perception on the influence of workspace on their productivity? How can workspace management-productivity trade-off be managed to create win-win scenarios for administrators and employees? 

How may work community education on workspace etiquette improve worker satisfaction and productivity? What are the cultural determinants in the design and implementation of workspaces?

A study within a developed country setting reported in Harvard Business Review noted that ‘cubicles are the worst’, considering the differences in worker satisfaction when they use enclosed office spaces, a cubicle and open spaces. 

Specifically, Green reported that workers in enclosed offices were the happiest of the lot, stating minor experiences of frustration, while workers in cubicles with high partitions were the most miserable having reported low rates of satisfaction in 87 percent of factors surveyed! 

I am very interested to find out what the situation is for workers in an African context. For many African office settings, most of which lag in providing orientation on workspace etiquette, workstations are characterised by endless distractions, eavesdropping, and inconsiderate behaviour. 

In any case, the onus rests with administrative managers to train their working community on workspace ethics, especially in firms whose productive activities require serenity.

I expect that the findings of the impending study will contribute to organisational policy, community education and national policy on indoor environmental quality. The study also has implications for HR orientation programmes of indigenous and foreign-vested firms in Africa.

The discussion continues…