Matching Items (2)
Filtering by
- Creators: Cooke, Nancy
Description
Workplace productivity is a result of many factors, and among them is the setup of the office and its resultant noise level. The conversations and interruptions that come along with converting an office to an open plan can foster innovation and creativity, or they can be distracting and harm the performance of employees. Through simulation, the impact of different types of office noise was studied along with other changing conditions such as number of people in the office. When productivity per person, defined in terms of mood and focus, was measured, it was found that the effect of noise was positive in some scenarios and negative in others. In simulations where employees were performing very similar tasks, noise (and its correlates, such as number of employees), was beneficial. On the other hand, when employees were engaged in a variety of different types of tasks, noise had a negative overall effect. This indicates that workplaces that group their employees by common job functions may be more productive than workplaces where the problems and products that employees are working on are varied throughout the workspace.
ContributorsHall, Mikaela Starrantino (Author) / Pavlic, Theodore P. (Thesis director) / Cooke, Nancy (Committee member) / Industrial, Systems (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2017-05
Description
In today's fast-paced work environment, stress is found in nearly every individual. Rising stress levels are leading to a myriad of physical and mental health problems and decreased productivity in the workplace. The aim of this study is to reveal which management techniques result in the most productive, most happy, and least stressed employees. The study focuses on service industry companies located in Arizona, USA. Most of these companies are from Phoenix, although two are headquartered in Mesa, Arizona. Given the relatively small sizes of each group, every single employee was asked to partake in the study. No employees declined to contribute. From the evidence gathered, it was apparent that stress factors, such as poor working environment, lack of communication, and a lack of employee empowerment can all lead to stress and have a negative effect on productivity. Of these three stress factors, the results indicated that a poor work environment had the greatest effect on employee stress.
ContributorsButler, Brian Keith (Author) / Valderrama, Jamie (Thesis director) / Hiemstra, Andrew (Committee member) / Department of Finance (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-12