Employee perceptions of South African office spaces

Koor, Muneeba

Employee perceptions of South African office spaces

dc.contributor.author	Koor, Muneeba
dc.date.accessioned	2017-04-12T06:19:50Z
dc.date.available	2017-04-12T06:19:50Z
dc.date.issued	2016
dc.description	Research report is submitted in partial fulfilment to the requirement of the degree of Master of Science (Building) in the field of Property Development and Management, to the Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment, School of Construction Economics and Management, University of the Witwatersrand, 2016	en_ZA
dc.description.abstract	The purpose of this study was to explore the type of office spaces in South Africa together with the presence of generational and cultural/ethnic differences in employee’s perception in the office environment on particular aspects. The research was carried out as a single case study of an office using private consultancy firm, located in Johannesburg, South Africa. Questionnaires were sent out to employees based in various segments within the firm. The study showed that the leading office typology is open plan/group office spaces as opposed to all other office configurations within the firm, such as private/cellular offices. The case study highlights the trade-off between collaboration and privacy in the primary office typology, open plan office spaces. The findings demonstrated that no significant differences exist between the different generations’ and cultures’ ability to conduct activities which are influenced by personal and interpersonal aspects of the office spaces. Furthermore, findings illustrated that no generational and cultural differences exist in the environmental, personal and design aspects of the office space. Lastly, findings showed that generational and cultural differences do exist in group cohesion and intension to stay. The main limitation of research is the small sample size which may have resulted in an untrue reflection in the generalisation of the population. The paper’s findings add to the cultural and ethnic differences experienced in open plan offices on personal/interpersonal, environmental and design aspects. Further studies need to explore the possible theoretical links between the workspace, group cohesion, intension to stay and productivity for South African office using firms. Keywords: generational differences, cultural/ethnic difference, employees’ experiences, collaboration, privacy, team work	en_ZA
dc.description.librarian	MT2017	en_ZA
dc.format.extent	Online resource (83 leaves)
dc.identifier.citation	Koor, Muneeba (2016) Employee perceptions of South African office spaces, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, <http://hdl.handle.net/10539/22351>
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10539/22351
dc.language.iso	en	en_ZA
dc.subject.lcsh	Offices--Design and construction
dc.subject.lcsh	Office buildings--Design and construction
dc.subject.lcsh	Office buildings--Design and construction--Environmental aspects--South Africa
dc.subject.lcsh	Office buildings--Tenant satisfaction
dc.title	Employee perceptions of South African office spaces	en_ZA
dc.type	Thesis	en_ZA