Most Fortune 500 companies still struggle with workplace planning and design issues. Millions of dollars are invested each year by companies with the expectation that new buildings and major renovations will help transform their culture, spark innovation, and herald new work patterns that strengthen performance while reducing costs. But, as Franklin Becker points out, popular trends do not always make good sense. Offices at Work addresses the fundamental design issues that organizational leaders confront such as:
Author Platform: Becker’s name is widely recognized nationally and internationally by anyone who has anything to do with the planning, design, and management of the office workplace. He speaks widely at conferences, has a number of Fortune 500 clients, frequently writes articles for industry publications such as Facilities Management Journal, and teaches classes on this subject.
Foreword by Tom Kelley: Kelley is a big fan of Becker's book, Workplace by Design, and called it "the best thing ever written about workspace."
Broad Marketing Appeal: This book can be marketed to audiences in business, HR, real estate, facilities management, and architecture.
Reviews
“…a useful reference source on a topic that is rearely explored in this level of detail...” (
Human Resources, Feb. 2005)
“Managers—even otherwise enlightened managers—are implicitly or explicitly asking the office space question in a certain kind of utilitarian way. They are essentially saying, “What is the quickest, cheapest way I can get all 4,000 of my people a desk, a chair, a wastebasket?”
With Offices at Work, Franklin Becker has a wake up call for businesses around the world. There are rewards to be gained from fine-tuning your office environment. Far from being a mere utility, space can be a strategic tool that influences the attitude and behavior and even the performance of your employees. Focusing attention on the “final frontier” of inner space will be time well spent.”
--From the Foreword by Tom Kelley
“Using an excellent balance of hard data, case studies, and real world anecdotes, Professor Becker takes the logistically challenging and culturally complex topic of workplace design and offers a well-written and accessible approach to creating competitive advantage. Covering topics ranging from different types of office layout to productivity, innovation, and change management, Professor Becker cites best (and worst) practices to provide new insights for experts as well as novices. This is a must read for anyone interested in workplace design, corporate culture, branding, change management, organizational dynamics, or corporate real estate.”
--Thomas Osmund, vice president, Goldman Sachs
