Established models of doctoral education in Australia are generally based on an apprenticeship model, where doctoral students learn from their advisors. However, these are slowly being reconsidered in light of low completion rates. This study investigated doctoral students' perceptions of their candidature by way of focus group interviews. The…

When planning an office renovation, a manager should design an office layout that is efficient and should consider the psychological aspects of office design, including sound level, color harmony, and lighting. The manager must also have a good understanding of all phases of the project plan and the timing involved. There are basically five phases…

Both the social and physical aspects of the environment have been examined as causes of work behaviors and attitudes, but recent studies concerning the effect of open plan offices have shown inconsistent results. To assess the relative contributions of organizational level and the social and physical work environment in explaining employee…

A study tested the hypothesis that higher organizational status translates into larger and better office space. One full professor, one associate professor, and one assistant professor for each of 30 departments in a large, mid-Atlantic land grant university were interviewed by organizational communication students. The results did not support the…

Faculty in a medium-sized (20 to 30 member) college department were rated as teachers by their students, departmental colleagues, and departmental chairperson. Departmental faculty were also rated as researchers by their departmental colleagues. Several ratings and ranking techniques were employed over a three-year period. Colleague ratings of…

In addition to serving as executive enclosures, offices illustrate organizational goals and reflect the communication climate of the organization. Traditional office designs accentuate personal territory, in which communication is largely controlled by the occupant of the office, and space often becomes a symbol of status. One of the first major…

A study sought to determine how features of the office of the future are related to career paths of office workers. Personal interviews were used to obtain data from 178 administrative, supervisory, and clerical persons employed by sixteen insurance companies located in the Columbus, Ohio, metropolitan area. Employees responded to questions…

This document contains three papers from a symposium on workplace issues that was conducted as part of a conference on human resource development (HRD). "Maximizing Opportunities for the Aging Workforce through Workplace Design" (Virginia W. Kupritz), reports on the second phase of study of the office design features needed to provide…