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- Title
Physical Barriers, Task Characteristics, and Interaction Activity in Research and Development Firms.
- Authors
Hatch, Mary Jo
- Abstract
A field study was used to examine the common belief that barriers around offices are desirable because they reduce interaction, thus allowing more time for accomplishing tasks. If this were true, we would expect to find more interaction in offices with fewer barriers. The opposite was found in the field study conducted in two high-technology firms. Partition height, number of partitions, and the use of a door or a secretary were all positively associated with one or more forms of interaction activity. A desk positioned away from the office entrance was the only barrier found to be negatively associated with interaction. These relationships were independent of variables representing task characteristics, job type, work experience, demographic characteristics and sociability.
- Subjects
OFFICE design &; construction; RESEARCH institutes; EMPLOYEES; PARTITIONS (Building); TASKS; SOCIAL interaction; BUSINESS enterprises; FIELD research; SOCIABILITY; WORK structure; RESEARCH &; development; HIGH technology industries
- Publication
Administrative Science Quarterly, 1987, Vol 32, Issue 3, p387
- ISSN
0001-8392
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.2307/2392911