The design of buildings and organisational culture: The Scottish Parliament

By Sabina Siebert and Kevin Orr

The 20th anniversary of the Scottish Parliament offered an excellent opportunity to take stock of the work of Parliament and its wider impact, but also to consider Parliament as an organisation and workplace. As business and management academics, we were interested in how the Parliament building shapes the workings of the institution. We posed a question how do parliamentary spaces affect the practices, modes of working, and people’s interactions?

The findings from our research are detailed in the full report, but in this blog we share two themes that emerged from our study: how the design of the buildings contributes to organisational culture and how it reflects the principles of transparency and openness.

Organisational culture

We were struck by the development of a largely egalitarian culture in the Parliament. This is both symbolised in the ways in which the common spaces are shared in non-hierarchical ways by staff and Members. There is only one area (the small café bar) which is restricted during certain times for Members-only use. The main restaurants are open to all and there is no fast track of preferential treatment given to Members. People in the Parliament enjoy the freedom to approach others, regardless of their position or their rank. These practices are in contrast to the delineation of spaces and more pronounced sense of hierarchy in Westminster.

We also noted the absence of a drinking culture in the building. Though it is available to purchase in the restaurants and the small bar, in practice it was rare to see any alcohol being consumed on the premises, with the exception of evening events when it was part of the hospitality for guests. Our earlier research into spaces in the Houses of Parliament in London highlighted some concerns about patterns of alcohol consumption on the Westminster estate, with a link being drawn between alcohol and misbehaviour on site. As management academics, we suggest that the absence of drinking in the Scottish Parliament has had positive impacts on organisational culture, appropriate to modern workplaces.

Transparency and openness

Throughout our research we were told that the building and the institution of Parliament were designed with a principle of transparency in mind as one of our interviewees said: “That design that the media tower is right next door to the chamber (…) and the design makes clear that the media has an important place”.

The issue of transparency recurred in the study not only in relation to press scrutiny. The design of the building includes numerous glass walls, glazed doors and open spaces. There is a suggestion that open and transparent spaces might reduce the incidence of bullying and harassment, though some of our interviewees noted that a vast majority of contemporary organizational misbehaviour such as bullying and harassment takes place in the online space (email or text communication). Politically, openness sends a powerful message of rejection of secrecy, which is cherished by the stakeholders in Parliament.

However, the reality of organisational life at times requires a quiet space for “difficult conversations”, not only in the sphere of politics but also everyday HR contexts (such as job interviews, or disciplinary meetings) or to offer pastoral support. Provision of more closed rooms would not go against the ethos of transparency and openness that many stakeholders in Parliament embrace and are proud of.

Our study gave us intimate access to an iconic building of great national significance. As managers take stock of the new modes and sites of working which have developed during the pandemic, thinking about their buildings and physical spaces will be on the agenda more widely. Assessing how buildings constrain or enable the mission and values of the organisation should be an important consideration.

Professor Sabina Siebert is a Professor of Management in the Adam Smith Business School at the University of Glasgow, and Professor Kevin Orr is from the School of Management at the University of Sr Andrews, and is also a Senior Fellow, University of California, Berkeley, Institute of European Studies, and an Academic Fellow of the Scottish Parliament.