Transitioning from a Traditional Office to an Activity-Based Work Environment

Hiddlestone-Mumford, Jacqueline and Hiddlestone, Jacqueline ORCID: 0000-0002-2106-8915 (2023) Transitioning from a Traditional Office to an Activity-Based Work Environment. Doctor of Business Administration thesis, University of Liverpool.

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Abstract

Organisational work environments continue to evolve as they seek ways to increase productivity, reduce costs and utilise buildings that support the requirements of the organisation in terms of regulatory compliance and support staff to undertake their day-to-day duties, including those with accessibility limitations. Specifically, in a publicly funded organisation, balancing value for money, providing suitable workspaces for existing staff and catering for growth and contraction are ever-growing issues. Activity-based working (ABW) creates flexible workspaces and is an option to accommodate changes in staffing numbers due to changing priorities while also catering to employee needs. This research was conducted at a government-run agency in Australia and focused on the research question: In implementing ABW, how can the organisational infrastructure be configured to enable an inclusive and flexible ABW workplace environment? The focus was to gain a greater understanding of the organisational complexities and examine how various infrastructure configurations could improve the workplace environment for staff, including those with accessibility needs. An action research study, with the organisation as a case study, was conducted with 12 semi-structured interviews from a cross-section of staff involved in a pilot of a potential ABW layout. The study culminated in a focus group discussion. With the support of a learning set during and after the research, the research findings were presented to the executive for approval for implementation. An infrastructure configuration that provided enough flexibility for the organisation and staff was developed. The resultant infrastructure configuration became the input to the master accommodation plans and strategy for subsequent delivery, along with supporting information for the Disability Inclusion Action Plan. Issues around organisational structure, communication and planning provided limitations to be addressed in delivering the results across the organisation. The outcomes of this research offered input to other areas of interest to the organisation that impacted the researcher’s role in terms of costs, design and other long-term transition strategies. Strategies needed to engage with staff and stakeholders in transitioning to the new work environment and supporting the implementers throughout the process became a further research focus.

Item Type:	Thesis (Doctor of Business Administration)
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Action research, Activity-based working, Disability inclusion, Infrastructure configuration, Strategy
Divisions:	Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences > School of Management
Depositing User:	Symplectic Admin
Date Deposited:	25 Aug 2023 15:21
Last Modified:	25 Aug 2023 15:21
DOI:	10.17638/03171026
Supervisors:	Fisher, Ronald Rigg, Clare
URI:	https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/id/eprint/3171026