The May CoreNet program featured Arnold Levin, Director of Workplace Strategy at NBBJ speaking about his research on the decision making processes involved in adopting new workplace strategies. His research formed the basis of his pending PhD at the Harrow Business School at the University of Westminster, London, UK.

Traditional research of workplace strategies and their impact on organizations focus on the benefits of particular strategies and how they enable these organizations. Little has been researched on the decision making processes involved in adopting a workplace strategy, nor on the role of individual perceptions as pivotal influences on decision making.  Mr. Levin’s research focuses on three elements:

• the role of individual perception;
• power as a result of strategy decisions;
• Cost reduction as the primary driver of initiating strategy discussions within business organizations.

One might expect a new workplace strategy springs from an evidence-based research approach - examining how a strategy can impact the organization. All of the organizations participating in his research on this topic relied on one primary type of investigation – that of benchmarking other organizations – to form the basis of their workplace strategy.

The primary motivator of all strategy decisions was cost savings; reduction of the cost of the real estate portfolio. Beyond the bottom line, perceptions of value, impact and results played significant roles in decisions, yet there was little or no research to connect value and impact between the strategy under consideration and business performance.

As the C-suite and real estate executives realize the power of the workplace to influence employee behavior, more research in the areas where the physical environment can impact the organization will be the great untapped opportunity in Workplace Strategy.

Space Matters

Boeing’s commitment to continuous improvement in assembly processes means the workplace environment has to enable groups to reassemble as processes evolve. In April, the Washington State Chapter toured the Boeing Renton 737 assembly plant to get a first hand view of the workplace and overview of the lean manufacturing process that has enabled Boeing to reduce the 22-day assembly process to just 11 days. The sold-out program started out with a brief talk and video about the production plant followed by a walking tour and lunch. As part of the lean process, by eliminating parts storage from the plant to just-in-time delivery, space was freed-up to build workspace for the engineering staff within the plant thus bringing these employees physically adjacent to the actual manufacturing of the airplanes, vs. the offices they occupied roughly a half-mile away from the plant.  Proximity of engineers and mechanics within the factory was important but the visual accessibility to the plane became a key driver, in addition to lean, enabling the higher productivity rates.  The project, known as Move to the Lake was completed in 2005. Key partners in the project were: Boeing, NBBJ, Turner Construction, Steelcase, and Barclay Dean.