A model of satisfaction with open-plan office conditions: COPE field findings

Abstract

/npsi/ctrl?lang=en http://nparc.cisti-icist.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca/npsi/ctrl?lang=fr Access and use of this website and the material on it are subject to the Terms and Conditions set forth at http://nparc.cisti-icist.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca/npsi/jsp/nparc_cp.jsp?lang=en NRC Publications Archive Archives des publications du CNRCThis publication could be one of several versions: author's original, accepted manuscript or the publisher's version. / La version de cette publication peut être l'une des suivantes : la version prépublication de l'auteur, la version acceptée du manuscrit ou la version de l'éditeur. For the publisher's version, please access the DOI link below./ Pour consulter la version de l'éditeur, utilisez le lien DOI ci-dessous.http://dx.doi.org/10. 1016/j.jenvp.2007.04.002 Journal of Environmental Psychology, 27, 3, pp. 177-189, 2007-09-01 A version of this document is published in / Une version de ce document se trouve dans: Journal of Environmental Psychology, v. 27, no. 3, Sept. 2007, pp. 177-189 doi: 10.1016/j.jenvp.2007 The material in this document is covered by the provisions of the Copyright Act, by Canadian laws, policies, regulations and international agreements. Such provisions serve to identify the information source and, in specific instances, to prohibit reproduction of materials without written permission. AbstractThis paper describes the factor structure of an office environmental satisfaction measure and develops a model linking environmental and job satisfaction. The data were collected as part of the Cost-effective Open-Plan Environments (COPE) project, in a field study that also included local physical measurements of each participant's workstation. The questionnaire was administered to 779 open-plan office occupants from nine government and private sector office buildings in five large Canadian and US cities. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses revealed that the 18-item environmental satisfaction measure formed a three-factor structure reflecting satisfaction with: privacy/acoustics, lighting, and ventilation/temperature. Structural equation modelling indicated that openplan office occupants who were more satisfied with their environments were also more satisfied with their jobs, suggesting a role for the physical environment in organizational well-being and effectiveness.

Gender differences in office occupant perception of indoor environmental quality (IEQ)

“…This is possibly the result of a failure on the part of researchers to agree on common or standardized POE tools to measure occupant ratings of the built environment [47,48]. Therefore the empirical analysis in the present paper is based on an "industry standard" post-occupancy evaluation (POE) database from CBE (Center for the Built Environment) at the University of California, Berkeley.…”

The Potential for the Use of the Occupants’ Comments in the Analysis and Prediction of Building Performance

“…The current situation is far from ideal and the potential for improving the indoor environment is high." In a similar vein, Zweers et al [2] found that lower levels of indoor climate complaints were associated with higher job satisfaction and the authors of the COPE Study [3] noted that "For knowledge workers, job satisfaction is likely a far more important predictor of organizational success", with Veitch et al [4] going so far as to assert that "… these findings, and others reveal that a satisfactory physical environment is one component of a satisfied workforce and an effective organization. "…”

Individual Control over the Physical Work Environment to Affect Creativity

“…In fact, satisfaction with work environment happened in situation when employees can meet and answer their fundamental needs and requirements at workspace such as appropriate working condition, suitable lighting, appropriate room temperature, etc. (Choi, 2011;Lee, 2007;Rashid et al, 2009;Sundstrom et al, 1994;Veitch et al, 2007). So in condition while employees have more control over the ambient condition of the workplace they may have more satisfaction too.…”

“…Lack of privacy and uncontrollable working condition affect employees through decreasing their concentration, increasing stress (Rashid et al, 2009) and inclination to work in private rooms (Lee and Brand, 2005). So, as suggested by previous studies environmental distraction as a negative feature of uncontrollable environment in open-plan offices is expected to be negatively associated with individuals' satisfaction with the physical work environment (O'Neill, 2008;Brennan et al, 2002) and decrease their performance (Veitch et al, 2007;Roelofsen, 2008).…”

“…Satisfaction with work environment happened in situation when employees can meet their fundamental needs and can enhance their well-being and may positive mood and emotion (Choi, 2011;Lee, 2007;Rashid et al, 2009;Sundstrom et al, 1994;Veitch et al, 2007). Therefore since affection, feeling and emotions have a significant effect on individual creativity (Amabile et al, 2005;Fredrickson and Branigan, 2005), so satisfaction with work environment may have positive role to enhance individual creativity at work.…”