Date of Conferral

2016

Degree

Ph.D.

School

Psychology

Advisor

John K. Schmidt

Abstract

Organizations strategically design the physical work environment to enhance employees' creativity. Understanding the impact of workspace layout on individual perceptions of creativity across generational cohorts can be vital to sustaining organizational competitiveness. Researchers have theorized that workspace layout affects employees' perceptions of creativity; however, few studies have looked at the effect of generational cohort on this relationship. A quantitative study was conducted to examine the effect of workspace layout on individual perceptions of creativity across generational cohorts. A sample of 162 participants completed an online demographics questionnaire as well as aKEYS, a modified version of the KEYS to Creativity and Innovation instrument. An ANOVA was used to determine whether generational cohort and workspace layouts affected the participants' individual perceptions of creativity. Results did not support the theory that workspace layout and generational cohort affected individual perceptions of creativity. However, these nonsignificant results can be used strategically by organizations to design physical workspaces that foster individual perceptions of creativity in order to attract and retain a diverse workforce by accommodating employees equally rather than on generational cohort membership. Social change implications are that the results can provide organizations with an understanding of ways in which they can effectively treat and meet the needs of the workforce as a whole, rather than develop strategies based on generational cohort membership.

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