Managing Innovation, Design and Creativity

Chapter 27. Company culture and architecture

A major theme from my own work is that the daily environment provided by a firm is the single most important determinant of innovative thinking among its personnel. An effective intervention in that environment is far more productive than efforts to intervene in the individual manager's thinking.

—Gerald Zaltman (quoted in Grant, 2000)

The McAslan case study has illustrated through three different stories about what managers might seek to achieve through the built work environment – such as helping to support the establishment of new working practices (Yapi Bank), creating a platform for unifying disparate companies and cultures (Max Mara) and preserving and enforcing a specific company culture (Peter Jones). However, this does unfortunately not mean that all building projects are informed by ambitions that go beyond the purely functional. Many organisations seem to focus on the functionality, neglecting additional benefits that can be gained by considering how the building should feel and what it should communicate. This chapter will explore how the physical work environment can support company culture and help facilitate a culture of creativity and innovation. We will also take a brief look at how the office environment is changing. As there has been very little research undertaken into the effect of the physical work environment, this chapter relies to a large extent on anecdotal evidence.

PUTTING YOUR WORK ENVIRONMENT TO WORK

Why, in ...