Office Design and the Behavior of Senior Managers

In this study of office design it was predicted that the presence or absence of office co-workers would influence the behavior of senior managers, over and above the effects of their occupation of open or closed offices. This proposition was supported by a path analysis which was used to derive a descriptive model of the task performance and friendliness of a sample of senior managers. In particular, it was also found that the visibility and audibility of a manager's superior and the presence of other office occupants have both direct and indirect effects on managerial behavior.