Fawcett, W and Song, J Y (2009) Modelling the use of space and time in the knowledge economy. Building Research & Information, 37(3), pp. 312-324. ISSN 0961-3218
Abstract
Flexible working gives employees in knowledge-based organizations new opportunities for choosing the locations and times of work activities. This trend has been described many times, but the literature has little quantified data about the resulting activity patterns, or their impact on the scale of demand in buildings. A preliminary simulation model of individual employees' decision-making in office-based organizations was developed, generating quantified output data describing the times and places chosen for work activities. Decision-making was based on individual preferences between home and office locations over a 25-time period weekly cycle. Systematic models runs provided indications of possible trends. Survey data from real organizations that compared participants' actual and preferred activity patterns provided some empirical support for the model findings. The model requires further empirical validation, and offers scope for enhancement. Information provided by models of this type would be highly relevant for the briefing, design, and management of buildings for the knowledge economy.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | agent-based simulation; facilities management; flexible working; home working; knowledge economy; time use; utilization; work-life integration |
| Index terms: | survey, integration, decision-making, validation, modelling, preference, agent, facilities management, briefing |
| Subjects: | management, decision-making and reasoning, professional development, organizational analysis, decision analysis, data collection methods, practitioner, scope management, analytical methods |
| Topics: | Risk Management, Roles and Professions, Business Strategy, Research Practice, Project Management, Engineering Principles, Information Management, Organizational Design |
| Descriptive scope: | 3 PCE |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here