Documenti di Didattica
Documenti di Professioni
Documenti di Cultura
Term Paper
On
Letter of Transmittal
Date: 14 November, 2016.
The Lecturer,
Organizational Behaviour,
Madam,
With due respect, we, obedient students of your “Organizational Behavior” course, have
completed my term paper on the topic selected by us.
In our term paper, we have discussed elaborately about the definition of organizational behavior,
its types, range, definition of physical environment and its different factors. Besides, we have
also made an attempt to find linkage between different physical environmental factors and
organizational behavior and how these findings can be utilized for better understanding of
organizational behavior in the future.
This term paper has been prepared with great efforts and dedication, in compliance with course
requirement and your instructions. We hope that this task on our part will be appreciated.
Lastly, we will be grateful if you point out my mistakes and kindly suggest us as to how we can
overcome these faults in the upcoming projects.
Yours sincerely,
Tahseef Reza
(On behalf of the group)
3|Page
Executive Summary
Research has consistently demonstrated that characteristics of the office environment
can have a significant effect on behavior, perceptions, and productivity of workers. Dole
and Schroeder (2001), stated that in the workplace, it is often assumed that employees
who are more satisfied with the physical environment are more likely to produce better
work outcomes. User satisfaction is recognized as an important factor in the success of
an organization and is regarded as a key indicator of performance. This is based on the
rationale that higher levels of satisfaction improve morale and reduce voluntary
turnover. Other researchers found that employee‘s satisfaction with their work
environment is directly related to their job satisfaction and indirectly related to
organizational commitment and turnover intention. In general, studies of the ambient
features in office environments—including noise, lighting, temperature, existence of
windows and others; suggest that such elements of the physical environment influence
employees‘ attitudes, behavior, satisfaction and performance. In his 1995 paper,
Andrian Laeman stated that "people who are unhappy with temperature, water quality,
lighting and noise conditions in their offices are more likely to say that this affects their
concentration at work". Although some researchers have found significant effects of
physical environment features on job satisfaction, behavior, performance and indirectly
affect work concentration and productivity, other studies have failed to confirm a direct
relationship between these variables. Therefore, this term paper presents the literature
reviews on a study of the influence of physical office environments towards employees
behavior in an organization. Several factors of environments such as the effects of
workplace design, office layout, indoor temperature, lighting and air, colour, noise and
also interior plants towards employees‘ well-being and performance are discussed.
4|Page
Acknowledgement
I would like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude to our honorable faculty
Mrs. Sanjana Hossain for making ―Organizational Behavior‖ easy to understand. The
way she used to prepare and present lessons to us with practical examples was truly
unique and also effective at the same time. During the preparation of making this term
paper, Madam has extended her helping hand whenever I sought for any kind of help
regarding any lessons related to this course. Apart from that, I have extracted
information from the book ―Organizational Behavior‖-15th edition, written by Stephen.
P. Robbins, Timothy A. Judge and Neharika Vohra. Besides, I have used information
from different websites for adaptation in my own words. The links of those websites are
given at the end of the main body of term paper. Apart from that, I have also put
forward my insight by understanding interpretations from different interviews that are
displayed on internet. Furthermore, my elder brother and his friends majoring in
Management Studies have constantly helped me throughout this course so that I have a
command over the topics that has been taught to us.
5|Page
Abstract/Introduction
Organizational behavior is a major discussion area under Management Studies. It‘s
because managing employees in an organization is largely dependent on tracing the
behavioral pattern of different employees and how management can ensure a proper
physical environment in order to keep the enthusiasm of the employees in the work
place. Only then, employees‘ behavior would be aligned to the expectations of an
organization. Office employees spend a lot of their time inside a building, where the
physical environments influence their well-being and directly influence their work
performance and productivity, which are major determinants of organizational
behavior. In the workplace, it is often assumed that employees who are more satisfied
with the physical environment are more likely to produce better work outcomes.
Temperature, air quality, lighting and noise conditions in the office affect the work
concentration and productivity. Numerous studies have consistently demonstrated that
characteristics of the physical office environment can have a significant effect on
behavior, perceptions and productivity of employees. Most of the previous researchers
in their studies are more focused on a single factor that could give an effect on
employee‗s performance at work. However, no study was done to examine the
relationships between the whole factors of physical office environment and employees
‗performance. Therefore this term paper of mine presents a literature review of several
environmental factors which directly or indirectly affect employees work performance.
Several factors of environments such as the effects of workplace design, indoor
temperature, colour, noise and also interior plants towards employees‘ well-being and
performance have been discussed.
6|Page
3.1 Isolation
People have affiliation needs. He wants an environment where he can interact with
people surrounding him to get rid of boredom, loneliness and thereby sustaining
energetic vibe. Employees who continually work behind closed doors may develop a
feeling of isolation. This can happen in office environments where confidentiality and
privacy are vital to conducting business, such as banking, counseling or health-care
records. While workers may have more focus in this type of setting, limited interaction
also can affect the emotions and mood of the people who work there. Such isolated
environment often acts a barrier to achieve desired organizational behavior.
3.3 Colour
Colour is a visual phenomenon triggered by the response to the stimulation
of light. It pervades every aspect of our lives, embellishes the ordinary and gives beauty
and drama to everyday objects .Colours in the office workplaces are very
important to ensure efficiency in the working environment. Each colour has
different effects on the human body. Everyone experiences colour in their own personal
way. Peoples are reactions to different colour schemes depend on their
culture, education, genetics and socio-economic level. As a result, behavior and
productivity in the workplace are heavily influenced by space, structure, colour, lighting
and activity. Garris and Monroe (2005) state that colour influences not only mood but
also wellness and productivity. As mentioned by Syahrul Nizam & Emma Marinie
(2010), colours also affect psychological aspects of the building‗s occupants. Some
colours provide calmness, some provide comfort, some are stimulating and
many others have an impact in different ways. This means that colour will affect
the mood of the occupant of the space. So, appropriate colour should be chosen to
ensure the mood of the employees is good in order to encourage productivity.
Productivity is rarely correlated with colour. However, the colour scheme does play an
important role in the working environment. According to Farshchi and Fisher (1997),
the character of space affects human emotions and behaviour. In space configuration or
arrangement, colour also plays an important role in influencing either large or small
areas. For instance, a long, narrow room can be made to seem more normal if the end
walls are painted in warm, deep and intense colours, while the side walls are painted in
lighter, less saturated colours. A low ceiling will seem less oppressive if its colour is light
while a high ceiling can be made to seem lower by a dark blue, grey or black.
Comparison of the same size of two room‗s results that room with the darker colour
scheme will appear to be smaller than the other room with a lighter colour scheme.
Jobs that require great concentration require a neutral colour scheme, jobs like those of
accountants and attorneys require a stronger a colour scheme, while journalists would
perform best in exciting and energetic colours with great contrast value. Meanwhile,
O‗Brien (2007), suggest that a blue office is ideal for someone who must focus
and concentrate on numbers, green is a great choice for a management
11 | P a g e
office as it has a balancing effect, and yellow is suitable for sales offices.
Therefore, the colour scheme chosen for a workplace or an office must be made with
proper consideration to produce better quality of work. If unsuitable colours were
chosen, employees might be subject to negative psychological impacts such as stress,
depression, dullness or boredom. As a conclusion, it is clear that colour assists in
creating attention. This is crucial for workers especially in work performance. Without
concentration and attention, the work done will be low in quality and productivity.
Therefore, consideration of colour to improve productivity should be made with proper
guidance.
3.4 Distractions
Organizations must ensure minimal space for every employee where he can live his own
world without any interference. Such privacy boost up focus and attention among the
employees leading in productivity. On the contrary, asking employees to work in an ―on
display‖ environment can lead to a lack of privacy. For example, business offices that are
open to a retail environment or feature glass partitions can give the people who use
them the feeling of being in a fish bowl. Employees may find it hard to focus and tune
out visual and audio distractions. Likewise, work stations that have walk-through traffic
can also pose problems, as staffers must deal with continual interruptions.
3.5 Noise
Sound or noise problem in an office is something that could not be avoided. Studies
have shown that when sound is turned off, errors in work are reduced and
productivity increases. Sundstrom, Town, Rice, Osborn, and Brill (1994) identified
noise as an ambient stressor relating to job satisfaction in the work environment.
According to Loewen and Suedfeld in their 1992 paper, mentioned that noise not only
containing speech, but sound produced by phone, copier, and keyboard. The disruption
in performance cannot be attributed to the presence of speech alone . Smith (1989)
reviewed the effects of noise on performance. Despite an extensive review, Smith
concluded that noise effects are still unclear, and that beyond intensity issues,
researchers need to analyze the questions of what type of noise at what intensity affects
12 | P a g e
which type of task performance. Other studies have found that open office noise can
be stressful and demotivating. As jobs become more technologically complex, the
frequency of stress-related disorders in work environments increases. Office workers, in
particular, consistently report ‗‗the ability to concentrate without noise and other
distractions‖ to be one of the most important aspects of the work environment.
According to Denyer J.C (1969) there are several steps that can be implemented by
management to reduce noise levels in an office such as:
Install a sound absorbent material on the ceiling, walls and floors of the office.
Sound absorbent screens' can also be installed for office space that uses
landscape concept. In addition, the use of thick curtains on the windows can also
reduce unwanted noise.
Install 'felt pads' on typewriters and other machines that produce sound to
reduce noise.
Changing the ringing phone to the 'buzzers' system, 'light indicators' or 'bleeps'
to reduce noise.
Noise impacts can be reduced by installing a floor covering such as carpet and so
on.
The facility manager or management must ensure that employees who interact
with a tone so as not to disturb the focus of the work of others. Although this is
somewhat trivial, but it is practical to reduce noise in the office.
13 | P a g e
Conclusion
The Influence of different physical variables on organizational behavior has been
phenomenon over the years since the industrial revolution. While one might think an
office is just an office, a workspace has its own personality, just like a home. An open
and inviting environment that is well-designed can positively influence the way one feels
and behave in the workplace, while a cold, sterile, closed environment can bring
him/her down on a regular basis. Likewise, the way an office is designed can improve or
impede communication among him and his counterparts, and that has a direct impact
on productivity.
References
1. Source: Boundless. ―What is Organizational Behavior?‖ Boundless Management.
Boundless, 31 May. 2016. Retrieved
from https://www.boundless.com/management/textbooks/boundless-
management-textbook/organizational-theory-3/why-study-organizational-
theory-28/what-is-organizational-behavior-162-3925/
2. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1877705811029730
3. http://woman.thenest.com/physical-environment-workplace-affects-work-14967.html