Open Plan Office: Impact on Modern Organizations Report

This report explores the open plan office concept, examining its impact on modern organizational structures. It begins with an introduction to open plan offices, where private offices are eliminated to foster innovation and creativity. The report includes case studies of Airbnb, DBS Bank, and Twitter, highlighting how these companies have implemented open office designs to encourage collaboration and teamwork. It also reviews relevant literature, including Maslow's hierarchy of needs and McGregor's Theory X and Y, to analyze the psychological and behavioral aspects of open plan offices. The report concludes by summarizing the advantages and disadvantages of the open plan office setting and its implications for leadership management and employee motivation. The report highlights the positive aspects such as fostering teamwork and creativity, while also addressing potential drawbacks like distractions and personality conflicts.

Running head: OPEN PLAN OFFICE
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Introduction:
The aim of this report is to discuss the changing nature of Organization in this
competitive business world. The open plan office space is a plan which eliminates private offices
and the meeting spaces in a company stock there can be one private conference room for
facilitating private meetings but everyday operations take place with everyone working in a same
room. This has become modern design for facilitating innovation as well as creativity. Many of
the co-working spaces emerged showing ability to work along with network at the same time.
Case study:
Airbnb has started to implement this open plan office concept in the organization. It
offers a platform to connect the users to open offices, desks and team rooms. This has given the
digital workers and freelancers to go work in a new approach for working. it can be e hard to get
the works done in the own room apartment but finding space in the library or coffee shop for
working helps in a relaxed environment (Coworkingresources.org, 2020).
In the case of DBS Bank, office cubicles are rapidly disappearing and the managers are
opting for Open Office concept. This is breaking down the social barriers in one hand and
encouraging more collaboration among the workers from different teams. In this Bank different
departments have sitting arrangements together that supports perfect blend of open and closed
space for accommodating every needs (Dbs.com.sg, 2020). For instance the departments like
marketing and sales work closely together therefore has an open workspace concept to encourage
the exchange of concepts and ideas. On the other hand the departments like business analytics,
programmers and engineers need quiet personal workspace for working out business solutions or
algorithms.

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In case of Twitter, open office environment supports creativity and teamwork. Here
leadership style has been developed to build teams where no individual is sitting on the high
position in the company but work hand in hand with others for the sake of maintaining creativity
and innovation (Twitter.com, 2020). The concept of Twitter is Innovative therefore the
organizational structure facilitates faster learning of the new employees. Building trust and
fostering new ideas are supported through open plan office procedure.
However among the disadvantages of open plan office concept all of these companies
have somehow faced chaotic feeling that happens win to many people set in one room. Secondly,
the loss of actual leadership leads people to confusion because many of the tasks need proper
guidance for achieving perfection. Finally the personality issues of the employees come into
front in this open plan office setting. Many of the employees cannot perform well in the large
groups but seek privacy while doing their works. This leads to poor quality and missing of
deadlines.
Literature review:
According to Maslow's need hierarchy theory, the psychological social and Esteem needs
guide the employees to achieve the goals. In the case of open plan offices the needs of different
employees are not accepted but they are pressurized to work in such a place where we cannot
concentrate easily. This may harm the needs of the introvert employees in achieving their targets.
According to the psychological needs of organizational behavior theory open-plan offices run the
risk of causing the introverts to have stress related illnesses (Hommelhoff, 2017). According to
this theory the safety needs of the employees is questioned because this can spread

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communicable diseases. In many of the cases the leaders tend to spy on the employees infringing
privacy.
According to behavioral theory of X and Y by McGregor, on the other hand supports this
type of Concept to be applied in most of the companies in this business context. According to
this theory the employees are motivated when they work together. The feel the Unity among
themselves to achieve the goals more easily. This is seen in the collaborative style of
performance where the employees do not think about their own achievements only but for the
achievement of the entire team. Theory X is a totalitarian management system where the warning
tend to derive dedication from the employees (Sorensen & Yaeger, 2017). Theory Y relates to
participative management style where the employers are fully involved with the employees in the
decision making process. Open office concept therefore follows theory Y for motivating
employees. However this type of concept may not be acceptable in the western working culture
because the people are more individualistic than collaborative.
Conclusion:
Therefore it can be concluded that open plan office setting has changed the concept of
working in a traditional office setting. It is a new approach for working by supporting team work,
positive working environment and creativity. Here the energy is good but concentration on the
specific tasks are not available. This leads to error because the employees get distracted easily.

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References:
Coworkingresources.org. (2020). Airbnb for Office Space: Here Are The Best Platforms.
Retrieved 8 January 2020, from https://www.coworkingresources.org/blog/airbnb-for-office-
space.
Dbs.com.sg. (2020). The Ups And Downs Of An Open Office Concept. Retrieved 8 January
2020, from https://www.dbs.com.sg/sme/businessclass/articles/finance-and-operations/ups-
downs-of-open-office`
Hommelhoff, S. (2017). Implicit managerial theories about followers and customers. Journal of
Service Theory and Practice, 27(1), 47-68.
Sorensen, P. F., & Yaeger, T. F. (2017). The Human Side of Douglas McGregor. The Palgrave
Handbook of Organizational Change Thinkers, 1-15.
Twitter.com. (2020). Search Twitter - #openoffice. Retrieved 8 January 2020, from
https://twitter.com/hashtag/openoffice?lang=en