Improving organisational performance by exploiting workplace flexibility

Abstract

Companies large and small, in every industry, face a common challenge: do more, better, with less. The organisational problems to be solved, while meeting this kind of corporate mandate, are also widely shared: attract and retain high quality employees; strengthen brand identity; increase flexibility in the face of highly uncertain market conditions and new technologies; assimilate mergers and acquisitions; accommodate frequent changes in group and team size and structure. This paper describes findings from research that examined the workplace strategies of independent small startup initiatives, as well as those initiated inside large corporations. The findings suggest that it is possible to identify aspects of overall workplace planning and design that reduce costs and increase flexibility while maintaining or enhancing organisational effectiveness.