Reference no: EM132320719
Assessment
Case study: Allwin Training & the Open-plan Office Dilemma
Author: Dr Christopher Theunissen
Jared and Kate, co-owners and the two most senior executives of Allwin Training had just sat down to a freshly brewed cup of coffee at their favourite small café located adjacent to their office building. This was a regular morning ritual that had been taking place on an almost daily basis for the past twenty years - ever since they had formed the company together.
As a training company, Allwin Training had grown from just the two founders to an organisation that had 36+ staff and was still growing. Although mainly involved with a variety of management training operations throughout New Zealand, it also has ambitions to deliver online training. This will be tailor-made for a variety of business organisations, both small and large.
Although the organisation had experienced a variety of ‘ups & downs’ since it was established, today was a time for celebration. Jared and Kate had just been informed by their bankers that a large loan had been approved to cover the costs of construction of a new office building on land that the company had purchased a few years previously.
Their discussions on the project had been many and varied, particularly around the design of the building and the brief they would be preparing for the appointed architects. In informal and preparatory discussions with design experts, they had been advised and had consequently decided to follow an ‘open-plan’ office approach for all office staff, themselves included, given the potential construction cost savings and optimal use of space that this approach promised.
A considerable amount of literature over the past decade had also led them to believe that this was the ‘way of the future’. However, both Jared and Kate had misgivings about the approach and were feeling uncomfortable with what they were being told as it did not appear to relate to their own experiences in the workplace.
It was as if a ‘little voice’ were telling them that, perhaps, despite the advice they were receiving, this was not the way to go. Rationally, however, they were concerned about the cost of the new project and were trying to convince themselves, and each other, that all would be fine and they should just ‘go with the flow’.
It was at that moment that Kate noticed a headline flash across the screen of her iPad … “A new study should be the final nail for open-plan offices”. Immediately she was engrossed in the article, ignoring Jared who had been in mid-sentence when her attention was diverted. Somewhat irritated, Jared frowned and sighed. Looking up, she apologised and proceeded to show him what it was that had attracted her attention.
Before long they had ordered a second cup of coffee and were discussing the implications of the article for their new project. “Perhaps the design and openplan focus is something we should reconsider?” questioned Kate, “but what about the cost factor?” Jared responded.
After some discussion they decided that the decision was too important to be taken hastily and that perhaps they should reconsider, particularly given the positive people-oriented culture of the organisation that they had spent the past two decades cultivating. After some deliberation they were of one mind in their decision: to commission a detailed research report on the optimal office space design for the new building before proceeding any further with the building project …
Assignment Task
Write a report outlining the pros and cons of open-plan office designs. Make a recommendation as to whether Allwin Training should use this format or not in their new office building. Justify your decision with reference to supporting evidence. If there is a compromise design recommended, provide a detailed outline what that might be.
When approaching this assignment, it is strongly recommended that you make use of the spider-diagram technique. This will allow you to structure your thoughts and reduce the task into smaller, more manageable, parts.