**3. Methodology**

This research uses a case study research design for examining the identified problem. As suggested by Seawright and Gerring [48], case selection incorporates not only practical considerations such as time and access to information but also provides an opportunity to pursue action leading to the reach research objectives. The following protocol was followed to identify the most appropriate case. First, a list of the world's leading companies was identified regarding their role in policymaking for governmen<sup>t</sup> and civil society. As such, a shortlist of relevant institutes was taken from 2018 Global Go To Think Tank Index Report [49], a ranking that identifies leading policy institutes for governments and civil societies around the world. The top 10 institutes are presented in Table 3.


**Table 3.** Top think tanks worldwide.

Second, the entities were selected in a score from 1 to 10 according to two criteria: (i) performance in varied areas of activity; (ii) occurrence of relevant changes in the physical environment; and (iii) availability and willingness to facilitate access to relevant information. Based on these criteria, the top candidate was Fundação Get úlio Vargas (FGV). The selected case study is considered as adequate to extend the relevant research in this field by exploring the relationships between physical environmental factors and NWW and employee engagement, as well as the relationship between NWW and employee engagement.

FGV was created on December 20, 1944, in Rio de Janeiro as a nonprofit entity to provide services to society. The initial purpose was to qualify professionals for public and private administration. The institution has a strong tradition in cutting-edge higher education and has helped to educate key decision makers over the years in Brazil and around the world [50]. This organization was chosen to carry out this study because it is an international reference and pioneer in the adoption of new managemen<sup>t</sup> and work practices, revealing to be an ideal field of investigation for the subject of this study.

FGV is a Brazilian center of excellence for quality education, research, and projects. For almost 70 years, the institution is one of the leaders of the country's social and intellectual development. In numbers of 2019, FGV encompassed over 90 centers for studies and research.

According to a recent report of the University of Pennsylvania, FGV was ranked in the 5th position of the Global Top Think Tanks Index—the 1st in Latin America and the Caribbean [49]. As can be perceived by the diversity of knowledge branches, in FGV's units and sta ff, there is an intense interaction between scholars and practitioners. In Brazil, FGV is one of the first institutions to promote the integration of these two "separate" worlds. The collaboration between practice and scholars stimulates the use of the most recent knowledge in several areas.

For example, following recent academic studies, in the last five years, FGV's higher managemen<sup>t</sup> has been working to improve all the units' physical installations. In parallel, FGV was one of the pioneers in Brazil to stimulate among its workers, the implementation of the termed New Ways of Working (NWW). In the year of 2019, two of the leading FGV units (in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo) initiated the physical reformulations to improve the following aspects: (i) air quality, (ii) temperature, (iii) ergonomics, (iv) ambient illumination and (v) noise levels. According to Yin [51], a researcher may conduct a single case when there is a rare or unique circumstance to be observed. We collected the data in these two FGV units during the period in which these improvements were being carried out. Therefore, we could assess how the two groups (NMod—the group in which the facilities have not been modified; Mod—the group in which the facilities were modified) perceived the relationship of the new ways of working facets and the physical environment.

The research was carried out in a cross-sectional analysis, having as its unit of analysis the employees of Fundação Get úlio Vargas (FGV). Data from 125 respondents were collected between June and August 2019 through a link sent to employees. This period was considered to be the time when fewer workers are on vacation, to maximize the quantity and representativeness of the sample. The questionnaire was made available on the Qualtrics platform [52]. The research sample was defined by convenience and is therefore not probabilistic. It is justified by the fact that the focus of the research is limited to the employees of FGV. The inclusion criteria were to be an employee of FGV and to have work contracts with the institution. The exclusion criterion was not having a work contract; as such, all service providers were excluded from the survey.

The quantitative research began with the development of the data collection instrument. For this, a search in the indexers was performed: Web of Science, Google Scholar, Scopus, and Scielo. The following English terms were used to search the titles of scientific articles and books: "*New Ways of Working*" and "*Performance*". The same terms were also searched for in their Portuguese translation.

The survey questionnaire was constructed to include the following variables presented in the work of Gerards et al. [3]: "New Ways of Working" and "Employee Engagement". The third variable, "Physical Environment Factors" was drawn from the literature referenced in this research.

The air quality and temperature factors were measured together, because of its nature and similarity [9,35]. The items comprising the first two constructs instrument (New Ways of Working and Employee Engagement) were translated from the questionnaire by Gerards et al. [3] to Portuguese and adapted according to the socio-cultural characteristics of the respondents. As a way to investigate the relations proposed in the objective, the facets of the new ways of working were homogeneously analyzed. Similarly, the factors of the physical environment were also gathered in one construct.

The first section of the questionnaire aimed to identify the socio-demographic characteristics of respondents: (i) age, (ii) profession, (iii) gender, (iv) educational level, (v) organizational role, and (vi) working time in the organization. Additionally, two closed questions were presented to ascertain whether the employee was aware that the organization's facilities were recently modified or upgraded and whether they worked in the organization before this change. The statements of the questionnaire were presented on a scale like Likert of seven points. To increase the face validity of the instrument, the questionnaire was submitted to the analysis of two masters and a doctoral student from the area of the administration who made suggestions for changes. The research proposed in this research was based on primary sources.

After data tabulation, incomplete responses were discarded. The second step was to verify the responses characterized as *outliers*. For this, the following criterion was adopted: the frequency of responses of each individual for the seven points of the scale was measured. If the answers had a concentration percentage higher than 60% in only one point of the scale, the questionnaire was discarded from the analysis.
