The space-organisation relationship [Elektronische Ressource] : on the shape of the relationship between spatial configuration and collective organisational behaviours / Kerstin Sailer

Kerstin Reinemann

Informations

• Publié par: technische_universitat_dresden
• Publié le: 01 janvier 2010
• Nombre de lectures: 43
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 100 Mo

Extrait

Kerstin Sailer
THE SPACE-ORGANISATION RELATIONSHIP
On the Shape of the Relationship between Spatial Configuration and
Collective Organisational Behaviours




















Dissertation zur Erlangung des Grades Dr. der Ingenieurwissenschaften
Vorgelegt an der Fakultät Architektur der TU Dresden
Von Dipl.-Ing. Kerstin Sailer, geb. 23. August 1976 in Füssen

Öffentliche Verteidigung: 04. Juni 2010
Gutachter: Prof. Dr. Gunter Henn, Lehrstuhl Industriebau, Fakultät Architektur, TU Dresden
Prof. Alan Penn, Bartlett Faculty of the Built Environment, University College London
Acknowledgements

I would like to thank Professor Gunter Henn for his advice and guidance throughout the course of this
dissertation. His enthusiasm for ideas and concepts and how they can be applied in architecture was a
constant source of inspiration. It was him who got me interested in the topic of collective behaviours in
workplace environments in the first place, and I am thankful for this wise suggestion, which proved to be a
fruitful, interesting and challenging area of research.
In my second year of research I visited UCL as an Affiliate Research Student with the generous help of the
German Academic Exchange Service DAAD, and encountered a whole new world of architectural research in
the Space Syntax research community. Many thanks are due to Professor Alan Penn for his guidance and
support. He was not only a great source of knowledge, but also encouraged me to go out into the field and
collect my own data as soon as possible. I have fond memories of hour-long discussions on research
methods and data, so it’s probably right to say that I owe him my enthusiasm and love for data.
Many people have contributed to this thesis in one way or another and I would like to thank them for their
support.
To all the staff of the organisations I have studied for sharing their experiences with me and thus allowing me
insights into their everyday working life. I am very thankful for their time and support.
To Andrew Budgen and Nathan Lonsdale, both directors at Spacelab architects, for giving me the opportunity
to work with them in applying my theoretical knowledge; for allowing me to use some of the data sets we
collected as part of our Knowledge Transfer Partnership; and for giving me time off to do my writing.
To my former and current colleagues at the Lehrstuhl Industriebau in Dresden, at the Bartlett School of
Graduate Studies at UCL and at Spacelab for their interest in my work, for many interesting discussions, and
for their general support.
To the many researchers, scholars and friends who engaged in discussions with me – on conferences,
workshops, or in private talks, among them Thomas Allen, Gerry George, David Seamon and Christine
Kohlert. To my fellow PhD students who finished before me or are about to finish and whose successes felt
very encouraging, among them Christine Knoop, Irene Lopez de Vallejo and Wafa Al-Ghatam. To Pe-Ru
Tsen for all those long hours of discussion and for being a wonderful companion along the way.
To Space Syntax Limited for sharing their survey software with me, and to Shinichi Iida, who rewrote parts of
his Segmen software for me. To Christian Sailer for the many small and not so small pieces of software that
helped me collect data, organise data and evaluate data. Many insights would not have been possible
without this and I am still awestruck when I experience the wonders of programming.
To Anna Dixson for reading the draft and correcting all my funny little ‘Germanisms’.
To my parents and parents-in-law for their patience and continued interest in my work.
And last but not least again to my husband Christian, without whom I may not have finished this; for believing
in me, even when at times I felt like giving up. I would like to take up the suggestion made by others before
me that there should be an honorary doctorate for spouses – Christian would be a wonderful recipient.


iii
Table of Contents
Acknowledgements ................................................................................................................ iii 
Table of Contents .................................................................................................................... v 
1.  Introduction – Space and Organisation ......................................................................... 1 
2.  Literature Review – Space as Intangible Asset of an Organisation ............................ 6 
2.1.  Organisation Theory – Key Themes and Strands ........................................................................... 7 
2.2.  Organisation and Space – The Forerunners ..................................................................................15 
2.3.  Organisation and Space – The Early Works (1960’s-1980’s) ........................................................16 
2.3.1.  Contributions Summarising the Discourse .............................................................................................. 16 
2.3.2.  Contributions Providing More Empirical Evidence .................................................................................. 29 
2.3.3.  The Other Side of the Coin: Neglecting the Role of Physical Space ....................................................... 31 
2.4.  Organisation and Space – The Lean Years (1980s-1990s) ...........................................................32 
2.4.1.  Continuous Neglect of Space as an Influence ........................................................................................ 32 
2.4.2.  Filling the Gaps in the Common Knowledge on Space and Organisations ............................................. 32 
2.4.3.  Space Syntax as a New Emerging Theory .............................................................................................. 34 
2.5.  Organisation and Space – Recent Rediscoveries (1995 onwards) ................................................36 
2.5.1.  Organisational Behaviour ........................................................................................................................ 36 
2.5.2.  Organisational Constitutions ................................................................................................................... 40 
2.6.  Organisation and Space – Conclusions on a Fragmentary Evidence Base ...................................49 
2.6.1.  Disciplinary Boundaries and Disciplinary Cultures .................................................................................. 50 
2.6.2.  Speculative Presumptions ....................................................................................................................... 51 
2.6.3.  Vague Operationalisation ........................................................................................................................ 52 
2.6.4.  Contradictory Evidence ........................................................................................................................... 52 
2.6.5.  Outdated Studies Lacking Further Articulation ........................................................................................ 54 
2.6.6.  Conclusions ............................................................................................................................................. 56 
3.  Methodology ................................................................................................................... 59 
3.1.  Research Design – Inductive and Deductive Approaches .............................................................59 
3.2.  Case Study Research ....................................................................................................................61 
3.3.  Qualitative Methods .......................................................................................................................63 
3.3.1.  Structured Short Interviews ..................................................................................................................... 63 
3.3.2.  Semi-Structured In-Depth Interviews ...................................................................................................... 64 
3.3.3.  Ethnographic Space Observations .......................................................................................................... 65 
3.3.4.  Analysis of Written Documents ............................................................................................................... 65 
3.4.  Quantitative Methods .....................................................................................................................66 
3.4.1.  Standardised Online Questionnaires ....................................................................................................... 66 
3.4.2.  Space Syntax Analysis ............................................................................................................................ 69 
3.4.3.  Structured Space Observations ........................................................