Organizational Spaces

Edited by Alfons van Marrewijk, Professor of Construction Cultures, Delft University of Technology, the Netherlands, Adjunct Professor of Project Management, BI Norwegian Business School, Oslo, Norway and Dvora Yanow, Guest Professor, Wageningen University, the Netherlands

‘Space and spatiality have been “present absentees” of organization studies for decades. Since the early days they figured prominently in studies of organizations yet important conceptualization of their nature and import has not been begun since recently. Improved understanding of contemporary management and organization cannot circumvent a more profound questioning of space and spatiality. An important stepping-stone in that work is to do away with the assumption of separation between a space “out there” and actors’ experience “in here”. The papers in this volume represent such a break by showing us how space may become not just embedded, but also embodied in a range of different settings. The volume thus contributes importantly towards a badly needed yet historically neglected area of organization and management.’

• Contents:Introduction: The Spatial Turn in Organizational StudiesAlfons van Marrewijk and Dvora YanowPART I: SEEING ORGANIZATIONAL SPACES1. ‘All Together, Altogether Better’: The Ideal of ‘Community’ in the Spatial Reorganization of the WorkplaceKaren Dale and Gibson Burrell2. Corridor Communication, Spatial Design and Patient Safety: Enacting and Managing ComplexitiesRick Iedema, Debbi Long and Katherine Carroll3. Bendable Bars in a Dutch Prison: A Creative Place in a Non-creative SpacePatrick Kenis, Peter M. Kruyen and Joan M.J. BaaijensPART II: LIVING ORGANIZATIONAL SPACES4. What do Buildings do? How Buildings-in-use Affect Organizations Marja Gastelaars5. The Beauty and the Beast: The Embodied Experience of Two Corporate BuildingsAlfons van Marrewijk6. Space as Context and Content: The Diwan as a Frame and a Structure for Decision-makingDavid WeirPART III: THINKING ORGANIZATIONAL SPACES7. Giving Voice to Space: Academic Practices and the Material WorldDvora Yanow8. Virtual Worlds for Organizational SpacesMark Mobach9. Firms in Film: Representations of Organizational Space, Gender and PowerAlexia Panayiotou and Krini KafirisAfterword: Organizational Spaces: From ‘Matters of Fact’ to ‘Matters of Concern’Kristian KreinerIndex