The Place to Be: Exploring the Role of the Micro-geography of Office Space Inside Organizations

Abstract

As office relocations, open-office layouts and free-seating arrangements are quickly becoming a common managerial practice aimed at improving the work-flow, collaboration and degree of innovation inside firms and organizations, the organizational theory literature has lagged behind in the understanding of the theoretical and practical implications of these practices. Such understanding hinges on a careful analysis of the micro-geography of office spaces, or of how physical distance and co-location among employees and colleagues impacts individual and organizational outcomes. The goal of this symposium is thus to stimulate this theoretical exploration, featuring four empirical papers that unravel how micro-geography and physical proximity affects important organizational outcomes inside organizations – such as learning and technology adoption, cultural fit, collaboration effectiveness and the structure of informal communication patterns. After the presentations, Prof. Olav Sorenson will provide a critical assessment of the presented work and lead a Q&A session and open group discussion on the future of this theoretical stream. Microgeography, technology adoption, and entrepreneurial learning Presenter: Christian Catalini; MIT Sloan School of Management Presenter: Alexander Oettl; Georgia Institute of Technology Presenter: Maria Roche; Georgia Institute of Technology Copresence and culture: How physical collocation shapes interpersonal cultural alignment Presenter: Lara Yang; - Presenter: Sameer B. Srivastava; U. of California, Berkeley Presenter: Amir Goldberg; Stanford U. Where you sit matters: Physical collocation and informal interactions in formal organizations Presenter: Ramon Lecuona; Duke U. Presenter: Jonathon N. Cummings; Duke U. Being there: Exploring the impact of physical and social space on collaboration effectiveness Presenter: Manuel Sosa; INSEAD Presenter: Massimo Maoret; IESE Business School