The changing nature of workplace culture

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to determine how the unprecedented developments in information and communications technologies now permit a variety of forms of remote working and the subsequent shifting of spatial and temporal boundaries between home, office and city. It examines the changing context within which knowledge-based work is conducted with the specific objective of understanding how the blurring of the distinction between the domains of “work” and “leisure” is influencing the notion of workplace culture. It offers a framework that organizes the key issues in a legible form.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper draws on concepts, theories and ideas in workplace, information and communications technology and green building literature and restructures them to formulate an emerging set of key issues, trends and relationships.

Findings

The paper identifies possible implications for both the changing nature of the workplace in current green building practice and understanding the notion of workplace within different national cultural contexts. It outlines implications for employees, employers and facilities managers.

Research limitations/implications

The work represents an initial attempt to bridge across issues not immediately evident in several bodies of literature. While several other issues may also have bearing on the work, the findings with regards to the blurring of work and leisure have significant theoretical and practical implications.

Practical implications

As the “workplace” now embraces a wide range of possibilities that extend beyond the domain of the “office” to the home and to a host of “hot-spots” in public venues available within the city, the broader framing has significant consequence for comfort provisioning and other services in the office buildings and facilities management.

Originality/value

The paper’s originality derives from emphasizing the potential positive and negative consequences for employers, employees and facilities managers associated with the blurring of work and leisure.

Citation

J. Cole, R., Oliver, A. and Blaviesciunaite, A. (2014), "The changing nature of workplace culture", Facilities, Vol. 32 No. 13/14, pp. 786-800. https://doi.org/10.1108/F-02-2013-0018