abstract: Employee wellbeing is a top concern for many organizations as its been linked to job performance and organizational commitment (Colquit, LePine, & Wesson, 2019). Research suggests that overall wellbeing is important to employees as well. Organizations are significantly investing into upgrading workplace environments, and there is a need for a clear understanding of how those improvements truly impact employee wellbeing. Current workplace research reveals that the open-office floorplan accounts for more than 70% of office layouts in the United States and is most commonly used for the benefits of collaboration and efficiency (Gallup, 2017). However, the open office layout ranks poorly in current employee wellbeing studies with a number of office environment stressors such as noise, distractions, and privacy concerns noted to impact employee wellbeing (C. Bodin-Danielsson, 2016; Haynes, Suckley, & Nunnington, 2017). The knowledge work performed in office environments require high amounts of cognitive tasks and when combined with filtering distractions in the workplace it can increase strains caused by common office stressors, thereby impacting employee wellbeing (Bridger & Brasher, 2011). This study will examine common stressors from the open office environment and compare employee’s perceptions of their work environment before and after renovations, as well as observations and behavioral mapping that record how the built environment influences the behaviors of the occupants. This research seeks to understand how wellbeing in the open office is affected by its different physical environmental settings, and how this environment influences employee’s behaviors. The end research goal is to see if there is a significant correlation of physical work environment and workplace behaviors that are common in the open office to help understand how the designed interior workplace impacts the wellbeing of its users. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Design 2020

The goal of this study was to extend the concept of safety climate into the aggression research domain. In order to address this goal I developed and validated the perceived workplace civility climate scale (PWCC), which assesses the extent to which employees perceive the importance an organization places upon managing and preventing acts of incivility and verbally aggressive actions in the workplace. The factor analytic results produced three factors: (1) Intolerance, (2) Response, and (3) Policies and Procedures. All dimensions demonstrated adequate reliability and correlated significantly to hypothesized stressors and strains. Lastly, correlation results (i.e., convergence) between self- and peer reports provided support that PWCC is a form of climate within organizations. Regression analyses indicated that the PWCC dimensions of intolerance and response are important predictors of individual and organizational strains.

La motivation et l’implication organisationnelle occupent une place essentielle dans les stratégies et politiques de gestions des ressources humaines de toute entreprise. Elles font partie des moyens par lesquels on cherche à maximiser l’apport des membres de l’organisation et par là la réussite de cette dernière. La présente étude interculturelle, qui porte sur une entreprise minière au Niger, s’interroge sur les effets de la culture individualiste/collectiviste sur la motivation des travailleurs mais aussi sur les conséquences des comportements antisociaux au travail (CAAT). Sur la base des résultats d’études antérieures mais aussi de façon exploratoire nous avons postulé une culture collectiviste au Niger, l’expression et la valorisation de la motivation extrinsèque et enfin une baisse de la motivation, une amotivation et une baisse de l’implication dans le travail conséquemment aux CAAT. La méthodologie mise en œuvre, qui comporte des observations et entretiens, puis l’administration d’un questionnaire auprès d’une population de 350 personnes tout venant mais aussi cadres et non cadres d’une société minière, nous permet d’observer des résultats concordants et discordants avec les théories abordées. Cette population se montre collectiviste, alors que contrairement à la littérature, elle est plus motivée intrinsèquement et ne valorise pas socialement la motivation extrinsèque. En ce qui concerne les CAAT, les effets partiels - de la dégradation et/ou appropriation des biens appartenant à l’organisation, du non respect des règlements et procédures de l’organisation, des agressions physique envers une personne, des agressions psychologiques au sein de l’organisation et des contraintes imposées par l’organisation aux travailleurs- mis en évidence permettent de parler d'une démotivation mais aussi une baisse de l’implication dans le travail qui prendrait des chemins différents en fonction du contexte culturel et le statut des travailleurs. / Motivation and work commitment play a major role in human resources strategy and policy in any workplace. They help in maximising individuals’ contributions to an organisation and so improve its success. The following inter-cultural study, carried out on a mining firm in Niger, asks examines the effects of an individualist or collectivist culture on worker motivation and on the consequences of anti-social behaviour within the workplace (CAAT). Based on pre-existing and exploratory research, the following hypothesises were made. There is in Niger a collectivist culture, with the favouring of extrinsic motivation, falling motivation, leading to a de-motivation and a reduction in work commitment provoked by CAAT. The methodology used observations and interviews followed by the completion of a questionnaire by a diverse sample of 350 people including executives and non-executives of a mining company, produced results that were both in agreement and disagreement with the theoretical hypotheses. The population is shown to be collectivist, but contrary to the literature is more intrinsically motivated and does not favour socially extrinsic motivation. The various effects of CAAT- degradation and/or theft of the organisation’s property, non-respect of rules and procedures, physical and psychological aggression towards individuals within the workplace constrains imposed by the organisation on workers- are signs of a de-motivation but also a reduction of work commitment that takes different forms depending on the cultural context and status of employees.

Vi è un ampio e diffuso consenso che suggerisce che il tirocinio (internship), come forma di apprendimento esperienziale, può essere uno strumento efficace per lo sviluppo delle competenze tecniche e trasferibili degli studenti e quindi come strumento di rafforzamento dell'occupabilità (employabiltiy) dei laureati. Numerosi studi hanno anche scoperto che le esperienze internazionali possono sviluppare le competenze più apprezzate dai datori di lavoro. Questa ricerca affronta una lacuna all'intersezione di questi due campi di studio. La maggior parte degli studi analizza le esperienze internazionali con un focus distintivo sull'aspetto internazionale e non sui diversi tipi di esperienze, ad es. studiare all’estero rispetto a fare un tirocinio (internship) all’estero. La domanda a cui questo studio si propone di rispondere è se il tirocinio (internship) e il contesto internazionale abbinati estendono l'esperienza di apprendimento oltre a quella sviluppata attraverso un tirocinio domestico da solo. Quando la progettazione di questo studio è stata inizialmente pianificata, è stato fatto un grande sforzo per identificare uno strumento per misurare l'occupabilità (employability) nel modo più obiettivo possibile. Le misurazioni basate sull’utilizzo di giochi digitali (digital game-based assessments) sono state identificate come lo strumento più appropriato per farlo in modo obiettivo. In questo studio i comportamenti che definiscono l’occupabilita’ (employability) degli studenti risultato in oltre 30 indicatori quantitativi. Questi indicatori convergono con le competenze trasferibili che sono state identificate come quelle richieste dal mercato del lavoro e ampiamente analizzate nella letteratura sull'occupabilità (employability). I dati per questo studio sono stati raccolti nel triennio 2017-19 e sono stati coinvolti un totale di 1315 studenti italiani. L'analisi fattoriale esplorativa ha esaminato la struttura alla base degli indicatori di occupabilità (employability) generati dalle valutazioni basate sul gioco digitale (digital game-based assessments). I risultati rivelano diversi temi significativi che contribuiscono ulteriormente alla conoscenza e comprensione di ciò che influenza l'occupabilità (employability) dei laureati. Il primo risultato che emerge dalle analisi di questo studio risponde alla domanda di ricerca. Quando un tirocinio (internship) si svolge all’estero, c'è un apprendimento esperienziale aggiuntivo dato dal contesto internazionale, che contribuisce ulteriormente all'apprendimento esperienziale e trasformativo già sviluppato attraverso un tirocinio (internship) domestico. Inoltre, risulta anche che questo elemento aggiuntivo sia associato a comportamenti di occupabilità (employability) legati a fattori cognitivi e non sociali. Ciò contrasta con gli studi precedenti sull'impatto delle esperienze internazionali, che generalmente associano questo tipo di esperienze allo sviluppo di competenze di tipo sociale e interpersonale. Questo studio rileva infine che quando sembra esserci una superiorità degli studenti maschi nei comportamenti di occupabilità (employability) legati dalle capacità cognitive, questa superiorità scompare quando associata a stage internazionali. / There is a large and widespread consensus suggesting that internships, as one form of experiential learning, can be an effective instrument for the development of students’ technical and transferable skills and therefore as enhancing graduate employability. Separately, studies have found that international experiences can develop the skills most valued by employers. This research addresses a gap at the intersection of these two fields of study. Most studies analyze international experiences with a distinctive focus on the international and not on the different types of experiences, e.g. study abroad versus internships. The question this study aims to answer is whether an internship and an international context combine to extend the learning experience beyond that developed through a domestic internship alone. When the design of this study was initially planned, much effort was put into identifying a tool to measure employability in the most objective way possible. Digital game-based assessments were identified as the most appropriate tool to do this objectively. Insights into behaviors in this study result in over 30 quantitative descriptors of employability, which converge with the lists of transferable skills that have been identified as those demanded by the labor market and extensively analyzed in the employability literature. The data for this study was collected over three years 2017-19, and a total of 1315 Italian students were involved. Exploratory factor analysis examined the structure underlying the employability descriptors generated by the digital game-based assessments. The findings reveal several significant themes that further contribute to our current knowledge and understanding of what influences graduates’ employability. The first finding answers the research question. When an internship takes place in a country different from that of the student’s home, there is additional experiential learning from the international context, which contributes further to the experiential and transformative learning already developed through the internship. It also appears that this additional element is associated with employability behaviors predicted by Cognitive and not Social factors. This contrasts with earlier studies on the impact of international experiences, which generally find that social and interpersonal skills are developed. This study also finds that when there appears to be a gender bias toward male students in employability behaviors predicted by cognitive abilities, this bias disappears when associated with international internships.