No abstract

No abstract

No abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to propose an applicable solution to help organizations to solve the problem of participation vs privacy in office buildings.Design/methodology/approachA theoretical model is proposed based on research claims that employees' participation motivated by three issues simultaneously is likely to shape the ideal overall participation map in office layouts. These are organizational, physical planning, and personal characteristics issues. The model was applied to a case study and results were compared with employees' reaction.FindingsOnce the model was applied, results revealed misallocation of 63 per cent of staff in their workspaces. Results support employees' reaction towards their dissatisfaction with the level of participation vs privacy they possess in their workspaces.Research limitations/implicationsEach organization could have a different participation map due to variations in organizational and personal characteristics issues. Further research is needed to understand relationships among the three incorporated issues.Originality/valueThe proposed model could be easily applied and would provide organizations with ideal office layouts that would support productivity.

No abstract

No abstract

Research concerned with enhancing productivity in workplaces has considered physical environment as a key issue. Recent trends in workplace design always call for the need to use physical environment as a tool to encourage productivity. Due to the growing evidence which relates physical environment with productivity, this paper examines employees' satisfaction with their physical environment in five rented Saudi workplaces. The research is prompted by the need to demonstrate to Saudi governmental organizations that the existing situation of rented workplaces does not provide employees with enough support to perform their jobs effectively. Results out of five rented workplaces belonging to Municipality of Makkah revealed some dissatisfaction of different staff groups with nine important aspects of physical environment in workplaces. Satisfaction with Privacy, services and workspace area were found to be the strongest predictors of overall workplace satisfaction (OWS). Moreover, employees considered satisfaction with these predictors as important factors to achieve productivity.

Global experiences of planning urban areas are characterised by adopting hierarchical structures from large to small structures, i.e. residential quarter (large residential area), residential district and then residential neighbourhood. Each structure is characterised according to the area, the number of people and the services required for targeting a sustainable urban environment. This concept is a milestone in urban planning in Saudi Arabia. The research attempted to discuss the general trend of planning housing projects in Saudi Arabia and the extent of applying the hierarchal concept. Three models were chosen randomly in Makkah, showing such planning hierarchy. These are Al Shawqiyyah, Al Sharaie and Al Rabwah. These projects were planned four decades ago and became a reality. Through comparative analytical methods, findings revealed ambiguity of the hierarchal planning concept in these projects. Further, the traditional neighbourhood concept was prevalent in most neighbourhoods characterised by low-density development in planning but medium and high densities in reality. The problem is getting worse as cities grow horizontally and vertically. Consistent scientific analysis based on practice and continuous meta-analysis was used. The paper calls for the need to change the current premises of housing plans and reorganise the accumulated problems according to global experiences and local standards.