WORK ENVIRONMENT CHOICE AMONG KNOWLEDGE WORKERS: A MIXED METHODS INVESTIGATION

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Spivack, A. (2012). WORK ENVIRONMENT CHOICE AMONG KNOWLEDGE WORKERS: A MIXED METHODS INVESTIGATION. Unc Charlotte Electronic Theses And Dissertations.
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Abstract

As a result of technological advances, workers have become increasingly mobile; people can perform work in a whole host of new locations. Teleworking arrangements challenge traditional managerial practices, however, and call attention to the tensions between attempting to control or surveil workers to extract maximum effort while also granting workers spatial autonomy. Through a synthesis of labor process and selfdetermination theories, work environment choice is examined. Specifically, this dissertation 1) integrates these two theories to build propositions regarding the relationships between location autonomy, motivation, productivity, creativity, and well-being, 2) builds a model of influential factors impacting work environment choice among knowledge workers, and 3) tests the impact of perceived location autonomy and intrinsic motivation on worker productivity and well-being. Current studies of work environment-task fit assume that individuals are assigned to a space where they complete their work tasks. In contrast, this study, via a mixed methods approach using data from mobile kn owledge workers in a university setting (i.e. undergraduate students, graduate students, and faculty), adds to the literature by examining situations in which workers can choose their work environments. Through this examination I identify how perceptions of location autonomy and intrinsic motivation affect the work environment choice process and the outcomes of worker productivity and well-being.

Details
Author

Spivack, April

Title

WORK ENVIRONMENT CHOICE AMONG KNOWLEDGE WORKERS: A MIXED METHODS INVESTIGATION

Physical Description

1 online resource (136 pages) : PDF

Date

2012

Degree Granting Institution

University of North Carolina at Charlotte

Abstract

As a result of technological advances, workers have become increasingly mobile; people can perform work in a whole host of new locations. Teleworking arrangements challenge traditional managerial practices, however, and call attention to the tensions between attempting to control or surveil workers to extract maximum effort while also granting workers spatial autonomy. Through a synthesis of labor process and selfdetermination theories, work environment choice is examined. Specifically, this dissertation 1) integrates these two theories to build propositions regarding the relationships between location autonomy, motivation, productivity, creativity, and well-being, 2) builds a model of influential factors impacting work environment choice among knowledge workers, and 3) tests the impact of perceived location autonomy and intrinsic motivation on worker productivity and well-being. Current studies of work environment-task fit assume that individuals are assigned to a space where they complete their work tasks. In contrast, this study, via a mixed methods approach using data from mobile kn owledge workers in a university setting (i.e. undergraduate students, graduate students, and faculty), adds to the literature by examining situations in which workers can choose their work environments. Through this examination I identify how perceptions of location autonomy and intrinsic motivation affect the work environment choice process and the outcomes of worker productivity and well-being.

Genre

doctoral dissertations

Subjects--Topics

Organizational behavior
Sociology
Psychology

Degree

Ph.D.

Keywords

Knowledge Work
Labor Process Theory
Location Autonomy
Self Determination Theory
Telecommuting
Work Environment Choice

Subject Area

Organizational Science

Advisor(s)

Rubin, Beth

Committee Members

Scott, Clifton
Shanock, Linda
Long, Shawn

Degree Note

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of North Carolina at Charlotte, 2012.

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Rights Holder Information

Copyright is held by the author unless otherwise indicated.

Identifier

Spivack_uncc_0694D_10298

Permalink

http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.13093/etd:812