Changing Roles of Offices

Knowledge and information, which now play leading role in the world of business, traverse the globe in an instance and change in a protean fashion to adapt to new situations. People and organizations that create and operate these protean knowledge and information need physical spaces, offices to base their activities. What roles will the physical office play in supporting the business structure and style that are changing radically now?


 
ANDERSEN CONSULTING/ Amsterdam, HOLLAND
Dutch Ways
Anedersen Consulting, a leader in the consultancy industry with global operations, always leads the world in developing the most innovative facility strategy. Following the global guideline applicable to offices throughout the world. It has been pursuing office renovation programs to create offices which are more functional and adaptable to the needs of a new era. In actual officing, Anedersen Consulting allows each office to accommodate local needs. The proof is two offices in the Nethrlands. Both offices, one in Amsterdam and the in Zeist, though created for different purposes, offer comfortable working environments for Dutch workers.
 
ANDERSEN CONSULTING/ Amsterdam, HOLLAND
Going Further for Non-territorial
Design for Change
DEGW, an architectural design firm, leads the world in the field of office design. The offices of Scottish Enterprise and British Telecommunications featured in this issue were its products. Its head office in London has recently been renovated into a new office which adapts well to new workstyles. The renovation has also been part of a larger picture of DEGW's efforts to reform its organizational structure. The new office is a showcase of ideas essential for office innovation-from how to conduct preliminary research to POE surveys.
 
DEGW/ London, ENGLAND
Showcase of Ideas Essential for Office Innovation
Workstyle 2000
Corporations are trying to survive the age of mega -competition by reengineering. For successful reengineering, "how to optimize the use of every possible management resource" is of utmost importance. What constitutes the core of management resources is "people " and "facilities." British Telecommunications, the largest in the telecommunications industry in Great Britain, is no exception. It initiated a program called WORKSTYLE 2000 in order to restructure its own organization and thereby reassessed the value of its "people" and "facilities." After five years, BT has transformed itself into a slim and flexible organization through radical restructuring and consolidation of facilities hitherto dispersed in different locations in the center of London.
 
BT/ Stockley Park, ENGLAND
Open Office-reflection of Organizational Change

Workplace of The Future
Scottish Enterprise is an economic development agency created by the Government in order to energize business in Scotland. Its missions include proposing new workstyles and improving working environments. In 1997 SE initiated a two-year pilot project called WORKPLACE of the FUTURE. The objective of this experiment was to create a future-oriented workplace within the organization and test out various possibilities.
 
SCOTTISH ENTERPRISE/ Glasgow, SCOTLAND
Getting Rid of a Public Sector Building Image