Interorganizational relationships of facility service providers : implications for integrated workplace services
Year: 2007
Type: dissertation
Abstract: Work and ways of working are undergoing constant changes. While the development of ICT and other supportive systems has helped modern workers to become mobile and enabled remote and distributed working, the development of worker performance has been lacking. The problem of improving worker performance is multifaceted and cross-disciplinary in nature. For example, in order to be productive, the modern worker must be motivated and competent to do the job, and to be supported by appropriate facilities and ICT tools. All the factors that together contribute to the performance of the knowledge workers can be fitted under the concept of workplace. Traditionally, the workplace has represented real estate and has consisted only of the buildings in which people work. In this study, however, workplace is seen as a bundle of services instead of being simply a fixed place. These services are aimed at supporting the workers and they are called workplace services.\n\nThe primary objective of this study is to create new understanding of the workplace concept and to provide guidelines for future workplace development. As an empirical contribution, this study explores and identifies issues that prevent the workplace services from being transformed towards integrated service packages. Additionally, due to the integral nature of the worker in the workplace services setting, this study brings light to issues concerning the workers' significance in the workplace service provision.\n\nThis study is a qualitative one, the empirical data of which consists of 27 semi-structured interviews. The interviews were performed with representatives of facility service providers. The goal of the interviews was to gain new understanding of the interorganizational relationships of service providers, and to better understand other actors within the workplace from the service provider point of view. The interviews also sought to understand the role of the worker within the workplace service setting from the service provider point of view.\n\nThe results of this study indicate that service provider relationships to all workplace actors need to be developed to a more collaborative direction. Increased collaboration helps all parties, instead of minimizing their own costs, to maximize the value created for the most important workplace actor, the worker. This study also finds that the client, as the employer of the workers and they paying customer for most workplace services, has an integral role in workplace development. In the future, better understanding of the needs of workers as well as assuming a worker-oriented approach to workplace development is necessary. In order to develop the workplace, collaborative efforts between all parties are needed. Due to the multifaceted nature of the workplace, collaboration across functional and organizational boundaries will also be necessary.
Source: Aaltodoc (Aalto University)
Author: Ilkka Miettinen
Language: English
Subfield: Architecture
Field: Engineering
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2186294337