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Open creative workspaces impacts for new product development team creativity and effectiveness

Hélène Sicotte (Department of Management and Technology, Université du Québec, Montreal, Quebec, Canada)
Andrée De Serres (Department of Strategy, Social and Environmental Responsibility, School of Business Sciences, Université du Québec à Montréal, Montréal, Quebec, Canada)
Hélène Delerue (Department of Management and Technology, School of Business Sciences, Université du Québec, Montreal, Quebec, Canada)
Virginie Ménard (Department of Management and Technology, School of Business Sciences, Université du Québec, Montreal, Quebec, Canada)

Journal of Corporate Real Estate

ISSN: 1463-001X

Article publication date: 5 April 2019

Issue publication date: 15 November 2019

1381

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to further explore the relationship between new product development project teams and their workspace regarding the impact of the physical (space variety, indoor environmental quality, large meeting room, workstation) and sociotechnical environments (project commitment, IT environment) on their creativity and effectiveness.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors gathered data on an enterprise’s ten multidisciplinary teams operating in diverse workspaces by four means: over 40 interviews and four months of observation, secondary data and a survey with 645 responses.

Findings

For teams co-located on site and abroad, employees express that proximity in open space is paramount even considering the augmented density. The relationship between team effectiveness and team creativity is strong and bidirectional (correlationβ = 0.40****), but the patterns of relationship between these two variables and certain dimensions of the physical and sociotechnical environment are different. There is a positive and direct impact on team effectiveness, but to a lesser degree on creativity which, in turn, positively influences team effectiveness. Moreover, creativity intervenes (mediator variable) between project commitment, satisfaction with large meeting rooms and the IT environment on their relationship with team effectiveness. When the authors added a direct link between the variables and team effectiveness, the model explains 47.1 per cent of the variance.

Research limitations/implications

The scope of the data is somewhat limited by the time that the company and its teams could allocate to this paper.

Practical implications

The arrangement of space reinforces employees’ sense of belonging to their team as measured by project commitment which along with satisfaction with the large meeting rooms and IT environment influence both team effectiveness and creativity. Managers could consider these three elements as levers for action. Space variety (or balanced layout) is also a way to support team creativity.

Originality/value

Even if open spaces are frequently used, the literature on creative spaces is dedicated mainly to an individual. This paper delivers some results and evidence on the concrete and simultaneous impacts of the workspaces on creativity and effectiveness of multidisciplinary new product development (NPD) team.

Keywords

Citation

Sicotte, H., De Serres, A., Delerue, H. and Ménard, V. (2019), "Open creative workspaces impacts for new product development team creativity and effectiveness", Journal of Corporate Real Estate, Vol. 21 No. 4, pp. 290-306. https://doi.org/10.1108/JCRE-10-2017-0039

Publisher

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Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2019, Emerald Publishing Limited

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