2321: Workplace Reimagined: New Perspectives on Organizational Spaces (13795)

Tuesday, August 13, 2024

15:00 – 16:30 CT (GMT-5/UTC-5)

Location: Fairmont: Gold Room

Session Number: 2321
Symposium (panel)
Orientation: International,Theme,Research,Diversity
Shareable link: https://cdmcd.co/D86WRg

Session Chair(s)

LF

Linhao Fang

U. of Leeds, United Kingdom

Handouts Slides

Organizer(s)

AL

Ann Sophie Lauterbach

U. of Konstanz, Germany

Panelist(s)

LP

Linda L. Putnam

U. of California, Santa Barbara, United States
KS

Kathleen Ann Stephenson

Vrije U. Amsterdam, School of Business and Economics, Netherlands
MD

Matthew Christopher Davis

U. of Leeds, United Kingdom
AS

Anu Sivunen

U. of Jyväskylä, Finland
BC

Boukje Cnossen

Leuphana U. Lüneburg, Germany

Organizer(s)

ES

Elizabeth Sander

Bond Business School, Bond U., Australia, Australia

Organizational spaces have historically played a pivotal role in business and organization research, serving as a shared environment for the workforce and a unifying fabric for work. They bedrock and contextualise key concepts and mechanisms in the realm of work, including identity (Elsbach, 2003), leadership (Crevani, 2018), innovative practices (Furnari, 2014), social interactions (Fayard & Weeks, 2007) and work relationships (Khazanchi et al., 2018). However, the recent mass transition to work from home (WFH) during the COVID-19 pandemic has shaken this historical function of organizational spaces, urging their adaptation to accommodate new working arrangements (Waizenegger et al, 2020). While organizations see opportunities in this shift to reduce costs by downsizing their real estate, decentralization also brings concerns that include maintaining a cohesive company culture, ensuring effective communication and employee engagement, and addressing potential cybersecurity risks. The image of a traditional office also becomes increasingly blurry, raising the question of what it will look like in the future, and why would people want to go there? This symposium seeks to dissect and understand the emerging paradigms in future organizational spaces that continued to evolve post-pandemic. Themes to be explored in the symposium include but not limited to: Workplace adaptations and Activity-Based Workplaces; Accommodating hybrid working; Physical separation and sense of togetherness; Emerging workplace technologies; Interdisciplinary collaboration and new theoretical perspectives.