Open-plan attributes and effective facilities management

Presented is a path analysis of causal connections between several open-plan attributes and discrete effective facilities space management aspects of commercial offices in Sydney. The aim is to use quantitative estimates to demonstrate in structural equations the effect coefficients of the complex connections between selected open-plan and effective facilities space management variables. Over one hundred open-plan offices in the Sydney CBD were examined. Some open-plan attributes were found to have direct impacts on several effective facilities space management variables, while others exhibited indirect effects through management control aspects. In most cases, management control reduced the effect coefficients. This paper concludes that, with dedicated management control, the impact of openplan on facilities space management may be less extensive. The implication of this result is for re-engineering of work environments to consider aspects of management that invariably moderates and/or intervenes in the relationship of space, people and work process.