title: Corporate sustainability: the environmental design and human resource management interface in healthcare settings.
abstract: Purpose of the Paper: The purpose of this study is to provide healthcare organizations with a new perspective for developing strategies to enrich their human resource capabilities and improve their performance outcomes. The focus of this study is on leveraging the synergy between organizational management strategies and environmental design interventions.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  This paper proposes a framework for linking the built environment with the human resource management system of healthcare organizations. The framework focuses on the impact of the built environment regarding job attitudes and behaviors of healthcare workers. Research from the disciplines of strategic human resource management, resource-based view of firms, evidence-based design, and green building are utilized to develop the framework.
  
  
  METHODS
  The positive influence of human resource practices on job attitudes and behaviors of employees is one mechanism to improve organizational performance outcomes. Organizational psychologists suggest that human resource practices are effective because they convey that the organization values employee contributions and cares about their well-being. Attention to employee socio-emotional needs can be reciprocated with higher levels of motivation and commitment toward the organization. In line with these findings, healthcare environmental studies imply that physical settings and features can have a positive influence on job attitudes and the behavior of caregivers by providing for their physical and socio-emotional needs.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Adding the physical environment as a complementary resource to the array of human resource practices creates synergy in improving caregivers' job attitudes and behaviors and enhances the human capital of healthcare firms.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  Staff, evidence-based design, interdisciplinary, modeling, perceived organizational supportPreferred Citation: Sadatsafavi, H., & Walewski, J. (2013). Corporate sustainability: The environmental design and human resource management interface in healthcare settings. Health Environments Research & Design Journal 6(2), pp 98-118.
authors.affiliation: Corresponding Author: Hessam Sadatsafavi, MA, PhD Candidate, Zachry Department of Civil Engineering, Texas A&M University, 3136 TAMU, CE/TTI Building, College Station, TX 77843-3136; hessam@neo.tamu.edu.
authors.forename: Hessam
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sadatsafavi
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Walewski
mesh_terms: D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D004777:Environment; D006282:Health Personnel; D006801:Humans; D007588:Job Satisfaction; D007857:Leadership