3. Case study Topic 2a Multibuild PDF

Preview

Summary

3. Case study Topic 2a Multibuild - Case study...

Description

Case study

TOPIC 2a: ASSIGNMENT GUIDANCE

Redesigning the office at Multibuild: Evidence or intuition? In this tutorial you will practice applying key insights from a scholarly management article on “Student Understandings of Evidence-Based Management” to understand a management issue presented in a case study (i.e. Rachael’s decision to adopt an evidence-based approach to an office redesign project). This is similar to the task you need to complete Section 4 of your assignment, which involves applying key insights from three scholarly management articles to understand responses to a management issue (i.e. a planning/controlling issue related to the Australian Bushfires). In this tutorial you will focus on the findings section of the scholarly management article as this provides the key insight most relevant to understanding the case study. This tutorial will also help you to understand and develop your own stance about the difficulties that managers face doing evidence-based management (i.e. using scholarly management research to make decisions in real organisations). This will help you to think about Section 5 of your assignment, where you will need to make recommendations to ensure that management evidence published in scholarly management journals informs better practice in real organisations. Prior to attending your tutorial, read the findings section of the scholarly management article on “Student Understandings of Evidence-Based Management”. You will also need to read the case study printed on the following pages. In your tutorial, your group will be asked to discuss the statements listed below and to select the statement you agree with most strongly. You must be able to justify your selected statement by drawing on evidence from the findings section of the scholarly article on “Student Understandings of Evidence-Based Management” and applying it to the case study. Your group can choose one statement only. You must be able to defend your choice to other groups. A. Rachael should not use Evidence-Based Management to plan the Multibuild office redesign because it is an unrealistic way of doing management. B. Rachael should not use Evidence-Based Management to plan the Multibuild office redesign because it is not applicable in this situation. C. Rachael should use Evidence-Based Management to plan the Multibuild office redesign because it is a generally useful way of doing management. D. Rachael should use Evidence-Based Management to plan the Multibuild office redesign because it is an ideal way of being a manager.

1

Case study

Redesigning the office at Multibuild: Evidence or intuition? Background Multibuild is a fast-growing commercial building and design company. They plan to hire 20 new staff members over the next twelve months and need to redesign their office space to accommodate the fast-expanding team. Most of the current employees are sharing small offices with two to three others, while managers have their own offices. Jim, the operations manager at Multibuild, has been in the role for the past fifteen years. He has oversight of budget, supply chain, staffing and facilities. Jim has written for numerous trade publications and uses his strong intuition in the decision-making process. He is an experienced manager and his colleagues often seek out his advice. Jim started his career as an apprentice and has no tertiary qualifications. He recently hired Rachael as a facilities manager to plan the office redesign. Rachael has seven years of industry experience as a facilities manager including implementing large scale transformation projects. She has won awards for managing office redesign projects from industry and academic partners. Rachael is committed to taking an evidence-based approach to office redesign. She stays up-to-date with academic research about facilities management and has welldeveloped research skills to critically appraise different sources of information including academic research, organisational data and input from employees. Employees at Multibuild are experiencing a lot of uncertainty as the company rapidly expands. When Jim hinted at the possibility of adopting an open-plan office to accommodate the growing workforce, employees instantly expressed concern about losing their office spaces. Rachael and Jim meet to discuss the office redesign In her first meeting with Jim, Rachael raises the prospect of conducting a review of the academic literature before starting work on the new office layout. “I just went to a conference on Building Better Workplaces and watched few presentations about open-plan. It seems like there is academic consensus that they can harm employee productivity. But there is some interesting new research pointing to the conditions where they can work. It would be good to get a better idea of the academic evidence before we make any decisions”. Rachael can immediately see that Jim is cynical about this approach. He furrows his brow, “Hmm. That seems like it would take a lot of time. I know our employees aren’t keen on open-plan but it’s the only way to make room for the new hires. The last time we redesigned the office it was controversial, but in the end our internal surveys suggested that most were happy. Almost everyone works in openplan offices these days so I’m sure our people will get used to it”. “An evidence-based approach might take a bit of time at the start” Rachael responds, “but I think it’s worth it. We can look at what the academic research says about open-plan offices and use that to convince employees that our decisions are based on scientific evidence. The redesign is a big investment. Don’t you think it’s worth taking the time to get it right?” Jim looks unsure. It is clear that he is uncomfortable with the evidence-based approach that Rachael is suggesting. “Look” he says cautiously. “I know Multibuild. I know our people. My gut-feeling on these issues is rarely wrong. I’m not sure that academic researchers have much of an idea about how management works in the real world. And what if you can’t find any research that is relevant to the situation at Multibuild? Wouldn’t we be better off spending that time getting feedback from our employees?”

2

Case study

This reaction surprises Rachael. The approach she is suggesting is just the way things were done at her previous company. She pauses. “Employee input is part of the process. But we need to start with the academic evidence. How would you feel about a doctor using their intuition to make recommendations about your medical treatment? Don’t you expect them to use the best available scientific evidence?” Rachael studies Jim’s face carefully. “It’s the same for managers. If there is scientific evidence that can help us design the best possible office space for our employees, we should be using it!” “You certainly are passionate about this Rachael.” Jim let out a wry laugh. “But I’m not sure that management is really the same as medicine.” Jim sighs. “Honestly, I’m more worried about health and safety requirements and meeting the new sustainable building code”. Jim leaned back in his chair. “I think our main stumbling blocks will be employee concerns, the tight timeline and the budget. If you can convince our colleagues and make the timelines and budget work, I’ll think about it”. Rachael chats with Multibuild employees After her meeting with Jim, Rachael makes a coffee in the cramped office tea-room. A group of employees approache to express their concerns about open-plan offices. Elton from the HR Department looks worried. “The latest copy of the Human Resources Professional magazine had a piece about all the employees who left Facebook since they moved to open-plan offices. What if the same thing happens here?” Sally, one of the designers pulls up a news article on her phone. The headline reads, “Open-plan offices are a TRUE nightmare for employees!". Sally waves her phone in the air and exclaims. “This article mentions that open-plan offices reduce productivity, lower collaboration and lead to more sick days. My sister-in-law’s company just moved to open-plan and she hates it”. Another designer, Sanjeev pipes up, “You can find anything you want on google, good or bad about open-plan offices. I’ve worked in open-plan before and it’s not that bad”. Rachael clears her throat. “It sounds like everyone has an opinion on open-plan. I think conducting a review of the academic research could provide some guidance about what is best for Multibuild. The only problem is that Jim wants me to start working on the new office layout as soon as possible”. Elton wrinkles his nose. “Well good luck convincing Jim. That’s not the way we usually do things around here!” “It sounds like you have a tough job ahead of you!” said Sanjeev, leaving the tea-room while nursing a cup of tea. “Jim hired you to bring a new perspective, so I hope you get the go ahead to consider the research”. It is clear to Rachael that she needs to overcome some barriers to take an evidence-based approach to plan the new office layout. She strongly believes that it will lead to a better outcome but is unsure if there is time to do it properly. And will she be able to convince Jim that it is the right approach? Rachael sits down in her office with her coffee and collects her thoughts. Decision Should Rachael persist with taking an evidence-based management approach to redesign the Multibuild office space? Case study written by Grace Williams, Gemma Irving and Janine Narbutas with inspiration from Criado-Perez, C., Pollard, B., Oldfield, P., Collins, C. Jackson, C and Sanders, K. (2018) Building better decisions: Why good

3

Case study evidence is used (and ignored) in the built environment sector. Cooperative Research Centre for Low Carbon Living.

4...