Organizational Learning and Physical Space—How Office Configurations Inform Organizational Behaviors

Abstract

Although discussion and perspectives in organization studies, management, industrial sociology, and geography have expanded the overall understanding of the spatial context and location of learning organizations, little is known about the microsettings and architectural configuration of spaces that promote collective action. Exploring this aspect of the relation between space and organizations, the author examines knowledge-intensive work processes in a German research institution to identify how architectural space (a building’s spatial configuration) relates to collective action and organizational learning. Qualitative and quantitative methodologies, including a space syntax analysis of spatial configuration, are used to document spatial configuration, space usage, and patterns of interaction and knowledge-sharing in relation to other knowledge-intensive work environments. A narrative of life in the organization depicts physical space as a factor of organizational learning. The author considers the effects of spatiality and transpatiality on organizational behavior to challenge the common association between geodeterminism and the study of physical space.