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INTRODUCTION
As knowledge work increases, employees are confirming their position as the most important
asset of organizations. In today’s competitive and rapidly changing markets, it is crucial for all
organizations to ensure that their employees are satisfied and productive.
Employee satisfaction and productivity has been found to be influenced by the work
environment (Leaman 1995; Batenburg & Van der Voordt 2008; Windlinger 2008). The physical
workplace should provide the employees a pleasant, comfortable and healthy work environment
that supports their activities. Not understanding employees’ expectations toward their workplace
might lead to incomplete workplace practice (Lee 2006). In order to achieve optimal support for
work performance, office design should be aligned with user needs and requirements
(Windlinger 2008). When aiming for user satisfaction, it is important to understand and meet not
only the users’ needs but also their wishes (Van der Voordt 2004).
One challenge is to understand the variety of users. User preferences have been found to be
affected by both demographic issues such as age and gender and by how the work is done (Rothe
et al. 2010b). As globalization increases, the workplaces today host employees of different age,
gender and ways of working but also with different cultures.
This study is a first exploration of differences and similarities between aspects that users from
different European countries find most important in their work environments. The paper focuses
on Finnish and Dutch office users.
This introduction is followed by an exploration of cultural differences. Then the research
methodology and the research settings in both countries are being explained. The findings are
first presented separately for both countries after which a comparison of the Finnish and Dutch
data is made. Finally, the findings are reflected upon in search for explanations and cultural
differences.
1 INTRODUCTION As knowledge work increases, employees are confirming their position as the most important asset of organizations. In today’s competitive and rapidly changing markets, it is crucial for all organizations to ensure that their employees are satisfied and productive. Employee satisfaction and productivity has been found to be influenced by the work environment (Leaman 1995; Batenburg & Van der Voordt 2008; Windlinger 2008). The physical workplace should provide the employees a pleasant, comfortable and healthy work environment that supports their activities. Not understanding employees’ expectations toward their workplace might lead to incomplete workplace practice (Lee 2006). In order to achieve optimal support for work performance, office design should be aligned with user needs and requirements (Windlinger 2008). When aiming for user satisfaction, it is important to understand and meet not only the users’ needs but also their wishes (Van der Voordt 2004). One challenge is to understand the variety of users. User preferences have been found to be affected by both demographic issues such as age and gender and by how the work is done (Rothe et al. 2010b). As globalization increases, the workplaces today host employees of different age, gender and ways of working but also with different cultures. This study is a first exploration of differences and similarities between aspects that users from different European countries find most important in their work environments. The paper focuses on Finnish and Dutch office users. This introduction is followed by an exploration of cultural differences. Then the research methodology and the research settings in both countries are being explained. The findings are first presented separately for both countries after which a comparison of the Finnish and Dutch data is made. Finally, the findings are reflected upon in search for explanations and cultural differences.
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