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1 – 10 of 486Daniel Magnusson, Hendry Raharjo and Petra Bosch-Sijtsema
Sustainability is regarded as a core value that the coworking movement aspires to. However, most sustainability efforts focus on the providers’ perspective while neglecting the…
Abstract
Purpose
Sustainability is regarded as a core value that the coworking movement aspires to. However, most sustainability efforts focus on the providers’ perspective while neglecting the coworking members’ role. Therefore, this paper aims to explore sustainable coworking from the members perspective by focusing on sustainable behaviors.
Design/methodology/approach
This study uses a flexible pattern matching approach. Theoretical patterns are identified using literature on coworking space and sustainable behavior while matching them with the empirical data. Data were collected from three different coworking spaces in Sweden through interviews and observations.
Findings
Based on the theoretical patterns, three constructs for sustainable coworking were identified, namely, productive behavior, prosocial behavior and responsible space sharing behavior. Through the empirical data, the constructs were further concretized to understand their different aspects. The findings uncovered a new layer of complexity where members can show the same behavior and be perceived differently.
Originality/value
This study offers a more holistic understanding of sustainable coworking by highlighting the members’ role and identifying different member perceptions on sustainable coworking behaviors.
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Prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, the German coworking industry has grown rapidly as one of the fastest-growing coworking markets globally. The pandemic, however, has brought the…
Abstract
Purpose
Prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, the German coworking industry has grown rapidly as one of the fastest-growing coworking markets globally. The pandemic, however, has brought the industry to an abrupt halt. The purpose of this paper is, therefore, to explore the impact the pandemic has had so far on German coworking spaces.
Design/methodology/approach
Using an online questionnaire, quantitative data from 38 coworking space owners, operators and employees of a total of 77 spaces in Germany has been collected regarding their situation before, during and after the peak of the first wave of the pandemic from Spring until Summer 2020. The data has been analyzed using descriptive statistics.
Findings
The reported income losses significantly outweigh a decrease in costs of the spaces. Nevertheless, the member base seems rather unaffected, and coworking spaces are exploring adaptations to their businesses with a strong shift to the digital environment. Fear of re-imposed governmental restrictions is evident, as well as justified with a looming second infection wave.
Research limitations/implications
Due to the sample size, the data may lack generalizability. Therefore, recommendations for future research are provided.
Originality/value
Data on the impact of the pandemic on coworking spaces is scarce. This paper provides a first necessary overview for the industry as well as the academic field to allow for action to be taken.
Timothy Oluwafemi Ayodele, Kahilu Kajimo-Shakantu, Job Taiwo Gbadegesin, Theophilus Olugbenga Babatunde and Cyril Ayodele Ajayi
Coworking space had been a trajectory in the commercial space operation and management globally. Commercial coworking/tenancy space is confronted with an unexpected shift. This…
Abstract
Purpose
Coworking space had been a trajectory in the commercial space operation and management globally. Commercial coworking/tenancy space is confronted with an unexpected shift. This paper aims to examine the peculiarity and investment characteristics of flexible office space and the post-COVID implications on coworking office space practice and investment. This is with a view toward providing investors with an understanding of the dynamics underpinning flexible office space investment in the Nigerian emerging property market.
Design/methodology/approach
This study adopted a qualitative research approach. Open-ended interview questions were used to solicit information from nine coworking space operators in the urban property market of Ibadan, Nigeria. The structured interview data were analyzed using Atlas.ti – a computer-aided qualitative data analysis software.
Findings
The findings show that the factors influencing demand for flexible office space in the study area include flexibility, affordability, cost-effectiveness, entrepreneurship motivations and opportunity for risk sharing. The results also revealed that coworkers are predominantly mobile individuals who require a workstation away from their homes or a traditional office setup. Management challenges include deficient infrastructure, low level of awareness, stealing and high cost of operations. The impact of COVID-19 includes a drop in patronage, rent refunds, changes in working pattern and job loss, restriction to online and remote operation, the extra cost of putting prevention measures in place, changes in tenancy contract and drops in return on investment.
Practical implications
This study has implications for investors in commercial space occupation and leases in comparable developing economies.
Originality/value
The novelty of this paper lies in its relevance with the emergent behavioral changes, orchestrated from the novel COVID-19, which compels reevaluation of workplace practices and investment for economic improvement, especially as it relates to commercial real estate investment.
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Marko Orel and Will Martin Bennis
During the past decade, the coworking concept has expanded and evolved along with the industry associated with it, so that references to coworking often refer to notions quite…
Abstract
Purpose
During the past decade, the coworking concept has expanded and evolved along with the industry associated with it, so that references to coworking often refer to notions quite distinct from the original conception. The purpose of this paper is to establish a classification of contemporary coworking environments and clarify the scholarly, as well as the industry usage of a coworking model.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper reviews popular and scientific literature and the authors’ field experience in the industry to derive three defining features of coworking and distinct categories that help clarify the concept and can be used to identify and evaluate coworking spaces.
Findings
The main finding behind the following paper is the taxonomy of contemporary coworking spaces that takes into account the broad spectrum of shared workspaces that commonly receive the coworking label, specifies the features required to warrant that label and provides a framework for understanding the defining factors of a coworking model. The taxonomy showcases four unalike types of coworking spaces and the three types of non-coworking shared offices that are repeatedly and somewhat mistakenly labeled as coworking environments.
Originality/value
Understanding the core differentiation between unalike models would enable scholars to guide and structure the study to evolve in coworking research. The taxonomy can be seen as a base for further research in the field of coworking that helps ensure scholars are sufficiently specific and distinctive in the shared subject of their research, suggests a roadmap for future coworking research and provides a tool to evaluate real-world examples of work environments concerning the degree they fit the coworking concept.
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Eunhwa Yang, Catherine Bisson and Bonnie Eaton Sanborn
This paper aims to review the concept and characteristics of coworking space, especially physical and operational characteristics and its objectives. The authors propose three…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to review the concept and characteristics of coworking space, especially physical and operational characteristics and its objectives. The authors propose three models of coworking spaces, such as revenue, synergistic and customer contact, which organizations can use as a part of their corporate real estate strategies to build workplace flexibility and resiliency. This paper also addresses research gaps and a research agenda for future research.
Methodology
This paper is a literature review of academic research focusing on coworking spaces. Because of the relatively limited existing academic literature on the topic, industry sources and white papers are also reviewed.
Findings
The authors categorized common threads of the existing literature on coworking spaces to emergence and growth trends, the types of users, the type of work to be completed in these spaces, characteristics of coworking spaces and the desired outcomes of coworking space models. Coworking spaces are expected to grow worldwide because of the increase in knowledge-based economy, the “digital nomad” lifestyle and mobile technologies, however, there is limited research on the relationship between spatial and operational characteristics of coworking spaces and users’ collaboration, social well-being and creativity. No research identified fully articulated the nuanced differences between the types of coworking spaces now found in the real estate ecosystem.
Research limitations
There is limited academic, empirical research focusing on coworking spaces. Thus, the search for literature itself is limited to a small number of papers. Although the authors extended the search to non-academic sources, the conclusion of this study is tentative because of the prematurity of the topic.
Originality/value
This paper urges the identification of research questions, considering the fast growth of coworking spaces and suggests future research directions based on newly proposed models. Industry practitioners, including building owners, managers, coworking space providers and corporate real estate practitioners, can consider using variations of coworking space concepts and characteristics, as they understand the importance of social needs and connectivity among users. By addressing the history of the coworking space as a concept and business model, and updating the types of models to include new coworking spaces, the authors provide further options to industry practitioners as to how to integrate coworking into their real estate.
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Silvia Ivaldi, Laura Galuppo, Eduardo Calvanese and Giuseppe Scaratti
The paper aims to analyse a specific configuration of coworking space that emphasises the production of social value in the territory (resilient/welfare-oriented coworking). This…
Abstract
Purpose
The paper aims to analyse a specific configuration of coworking space that emphasises the production of social value in the territory (resilient/welfare-oriented coworking). This kind of space represents the current evolution of coworking that recovers the original meaning of coworking space to promote social changes, questions the role of the physical space and brings to the fore its connections between the internal (space) and the external (territory).
Design/methodology/approach
The paper presents an action research on a rising network of coworking spaces. The action research was based on qualitative interviews of the founders and main stakeholders of the network and monthly meetings discussions with the steering committee of the coworking spaces.
Findings
The paper provides some key elements that highlight different meanings related to the value produced by the coworking spaces and related interpretations of the material and immaterial characteristics of the spaces. The results also highlight different managerial challenges connected with these interpretations.
Originality/value
The main results of the study shed light on the fact that it is not enough to focus on material aspects of the coworking space, such as the design and the dispositions of furniture and the curatorship of the relationships among coworkers, if the desired outcome is a reinterpretation of work against the consolidated individualistic paradigm. Rather, the boundary work is the condition that permits to sustain and maintain the evolutionary trajectory of coworking in the most innovative direction. Inside a network of different stakeholders, aimed at integrating individual and collective needs, the constant crossing of boundaries between people, relationships and contexts is the process that permits to generate new meanings and possibilities of action (affordance), holding a transformative potential.
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Aurelie Leclercq-Vandelannoitte and Henri Isaac
Recent years have witnessed the birth and rapid development of “coworking” spaces that are likely to affect classic models of work and organizations. This paper aims to identify…
Abstract
Purpose
Recent years have witnessed the birth and rapid development of “coworking” spaces that are likely to affect classic models of work and organizations. This paper aims to identify the crucial issues raised by this phenomenon, for both practitioners and researchers, in both management and organization theory.
Design/methodology/approach
To describe this growing phenomenon, the current paper presents an in-depth analysis of existing literature and identifies the social, organizational and managerial issues raised by the development of coworking.
Findings
A review of how organizational research has analyzed the rapid development of coworking spaces thus far reveals a conceptual framework for grasping the origins, nature and implications of this phenomenon. Such an assessment in turn sheds light on the issues and potential questions raised by the growth of this new type of organization.
Practical implications
Managers and practitioners can gain a better grasp of the phenomenon and the potential evolution of workplaces and organizations, as well as a better understanding of the extent to which developing coworking spaces might invoke evolution in organizations and management practices.
Originality/value
The rise of coworking spaces is unprecedented in its speed and scale. Yet, academic research has largely ignored this phenomenon, and practitioner studies have privileged a descriptive approach. This paper thus covers a topic that has attracted scant attention in prior academic research, despite its vast and growing importance.
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Muhammad Mahmood Aslam, Ricarda Bouncken and Lars Görmar
Coworking-spaces are considered as a new formula to facilitate autonomy, creativity, self-efficacy, work satisfaction and innovation, yet they also might overburden their users…
Abstract
Purpose
Coworking-spaces are considered as a new formula to facilitate autonomy, creativity, self-efficacy, work satisfaction and innovation, yet they also might overburden their users who in that course intend to limit social interaction and collaboration in the workspace. Thus, the question is how coworking-spaces shape entrepreneurial ventures.
Design/methodology/approach
This study used an inductive research methodology based on data from three different data sources, including observations, archives and interviews from managers and entrepreneurs.
Findings
The findings suggest that the materiality in the form of spatial architectures (working, socialization and support structures) shared facilities and infrastructures (utilities, luxuries and specialties), and integrated digital technologies (applications and platforms) influence the flow of communication, internal and external linkages, as well as functional uniformity and distinctiveness. However, there exists an inherent dualism in sociomaterial assemblage in coworking-spaces, which can lead to instrumental and detrimental outcomes for entrepreneurs.
Originality/value
This study explains the role of sociomaterial assemblage on the working of entrepreneurs in shared workspaces.
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