11th international conference on intellectual capital, knowledge management & organisational learning – ICICKM 2014 6-7 November, Sydney Australia

1. MAIJU VUOLLE, MIIKKA PALVALIN & ANTTI LÖNNQVIST
METHODS FOR ANALYZING THE IMPACTS OF
WORKPLACE CHANGES ON KNOWLEDGE WORK
11th international conference on intellectual capital, knowledge management & organisational
learning – ICICKM 2014 6-7 November, Sydney Australia

2. AGENDA
• Introduction to ‘new ways of working’
• Research approach of the study
• Three measurement methods and examples of results
• Measurement prosess duringworkplace change
The aim of the paper is to present and empirically demonstrate the
application of three complementary ways to analyse the impacts of
new work environments and more flexible and mobile work practices.
Keywords: Knowledge work, performance, productivity, well-being,
work environment, work practices, measurement
NOVI RESEARCH CENTER 15.12.2014 2

3. REDESIGNING KNOWLEDGEWORK
PRACTICESAND ENVIRONMENT
From open-plan offices
to flexibe multi-use
offices, hubs, coffee
shops
From 9-to-5 to flexible
and mobile working
From e-mails to instant
messages, collaborative,
mobile and social tools
From command and
control to trust-based
managerial practices

4. RESEARCHAPPROACH
• Four case companies, facility management sector
• interested in improving their operations and for developing new
services for their customers, needed practical tools and methods for
identifying and measuring the impacts of new work environments and
work practices
Research approach Methods
Interview study Thematic interviews within two case companies (N=18) to
identify and categorize factors to be improved and measured
Constructive
research
Development and pilot tests of a SmartWoW tool within all
four case companies (N= 111)
Case study analysis Balanced multidimensional measurement in one case
company
NOVI RESEARCH CENTER 15.12.2014 4

5. I INTERVIEWFRAMEWORK
Knowledge work
performance
PERFORMANCE DRIVERS RESULTS AND OUTCOMES
CONTEXTUAL
PERSONAL WAYS
FACTORS
OF WORKING
Physical, virtual and
Proactive, flexible and
social-organizational
mobile working,
work environments
utilization of ICT,
prioritizating, planning,
concentrating, relaxing
WELL-BEING
Work engagement,
satisfaction, stress,
appreciation, work-life
fit, conflicts,
atmosphere
PRODUCTIVITY
Work efficiency and
effectiveness, results,
goals, skills, quality,
customer satisfaction,
team performance
(Palvalin et al., 2015)
NOVI RESEARCH CENTER 15.12.2014 5

6. II SMARTWOWTOOL
Organization 1
(N=28)
Organization 2
(N=26)
Organization 3
(N=35)
Negative
(%)
Positive
(%)
Negative
(%)
Positive
(%)
Negative
(%)
Positive
(%)
Performance drivers
Physical environment (5) 40 52 24 64 21 71
Virtual environment (6) 29 56 19 66 5 85
Social environment (9) 33 50 23 60 9 75
Work practices (10) 23 66 31 54 24 60
Work outcomes
Work well-being (8) 25 55 12 72 8 82
Productivity (7) 9 78 8 76 2 88
NOVI RESEARCH CENTER 15.12.2014 6

7. III MULTIDIMENSIONAL MEASUREMENT
Performance measures
2008
(the old office)
2009/2010
(new; right after the change)
2011
(new office; a year after)
RESOURCES
Space usage efficiency 26 sqm/person 13 sqm/person 10 sqm/person
COST SAVINGS
Occupancy costs 7 025 €/person 3 570 €/person 2 880 €/person
SUSTAINABILITY
Environmental impact 2650 kgCO2/person 1850 kgCO2/person 1470 kgCO2/person
EMPLOYEES
Personnel survey
- 58 % out of all responses
say the new facility is ‘better’
or ‘remarkably better’ than
the old office
88 % out of all responses
perceive their productivity
positively (SmartWoW, year
2013)
(see also Ruostela et al., 2014)
NOVI RESEARCH CENTER 15.12.2014 7

8. AN OVERVIEW OF WORKPLACE
CHANGE AND IMPACTS
CONTEXTUAL ANALYSIS
PERFORMANCE IMPACTS
Physical, virtual and
social work
environment
Ways of working
Change in work
environment and
work practices
Employees’ Well-being
and Productivity
Resources
Cost savings
Positive image
Sustainability
NOVI RESEARCH CENTER 15.12.2014 8

9. MEASUREMENT PROSESS DURING
WORKPLACE CHANGE
• METHODS:
1) Interview
framework and 2)
SmartWoW tool for
identifying
productivity potential
– i.e. factors to be
improved and
measured
• Ex-ante
measurement
Contextual
analysis
Change in work
environment and
ways of working
• Design and
implement
measures e.g.,
based on the
knowledge work
performance
framework and
set targets.
• METHODS:
3) Balanced
multidimensional
measurement,
including
SmartWoW
indicators
• Ex-post
measurement
Evaluate
performance
impacts
NOVI RESEARCH CENTER 15.12.2014 9

10. THANK YOU
Maiju Vuolle, D.Sc. Tech.
maiju.vuolle@tut.fi @MaijuVuolle
Novi research center @Noviresearch
PerformanceManagement Research Group www.tut.fi/pmteam
NOVI RESEARCH CENTER 15.12.2014 10

11. REFERENCES
• Vuolle, M., Palvalin, M., Lönnqvist, A. (2014) Methods for analyzingthe impacts of workplace
change on knowledgework, ICICKM, 6-7 November, Sydney, Australia.
• Palvalin, M., Vuolle, M., Lönnqvist, A., Jääskeläinen, A., Laihonen, H. (2015) SmartWoW–
Constructing a tool for knowledge work performance analysis, Accepted for publication in the
International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management.
• Ruostela, J., Lönnqvist, A., Palvalin, M., Vuolle, M., Patjas, M. & Raij, A-L. (2014) ‘New Ways of
Working’ as a tool for improving the performance of a knowledge-intensive company,
Knowledge Management Research & Practice, doi: 10.1057/kmrp.2013.57.
• Pictures from Dropbox HQ –Bruce Damonte http://www.boorbridges.com/project/dropbox-hq/
NOVI RESEARCH CENTER 15.12.2014 11