Home, university, and other spaces : Where finnish and italian academics did research prior to and during the covid-19 pandemic

Peer reviewe

From Walls to Experiences - Workplace transformation from physical office space to 'Workplace-as-a-Service' model

Organisational changes, technological development, and new ways of working are transforming the workplace. Increased mobility of employees and the possibility to work from anywhere and anytime challenge the concept of organisation's office as an only place to work. In a knowledge-based service-driven economy, individuals are exposed to the possibility of choices and are driven by good user experiences. In a world where everything becomes 'as-a-Service', 'Workplace-as-a-Service' model seems to attract more interest from employees, employers, and service providers.  This dissertation contributes to workplace management research by introducing a new approach that positions workplace as a service rather than physical office space for knowledge work. The two research questions directing this dissertation are: Why is the workplace becoming 'as-a-Service'? and How is the workplace becoming 'as-a-Service'?  This research employs qualitative research design. The empirical data are collected through interviews, site observations, and available documents. Data analysis methods include thematic and pattern analysis supplemented by narrative literature reviews.  The results of this dissertation show that workplace is transforming due to the need to support employees and their needs in corporate organisations and new services that are offered at the workplace are developing in a direction supporting employees and their work outside corporate offices. Further, conducted business model analysis demonstrates that workplace can be offered as an overall experience by following servitization principles and increasing service offering to meet the needs of employees. 'Workplace-as-a-Service' model refers to an employee-centric bottom-up approach to workplace, offering flexibility and a network of spaces and services.   The main contribution of this dissertation is two-fold. First, servitization theory is introduced to extend the current workplace management theories. It is one of the first attempts to conceptualize workplace transformation from service-oriented perspective. Second, for practitioners, this dissertation provides an ontology business models that guides organisations transforming workplace from physical space to 'as-a-Service' model.  Future research on 'Workplace-as-a-Service' concept and deeper insights from servitization approach in workplace management would be beneficial for the ideas presented in this dissertation

Gathering theories to explain employee-workplace alignment from an interdisciplinary viewpoint

Peer reviewe

Towards an interdisciplinary employee-workplace alignment theory

Many theories from different research disciplines apply to workplace design and management. This chapter describes a first attempt to integrate 21 of those theories into an overall employee-workplace alignment (EWA) framework, as a starting point towards developing a grand EWA theory. Through concept mapping, the tacit knowledge underlying each theory was made explicit in three to five statements that were sorted by 22 experts. By performing multidimensional scaling and cluster analysis, the statements were grouped into eight concepts that reflect the essence of the 21 theories within three regions of meaning: ‘Need-Supply Alignment’, ‘Cognition and Behaviour’, and ‘Organisational Context’. The framework created from the eight concepts connects the different theories in many ways. A further discussion of the three regions and underlying concepts of the framework, in relation to existing workplace research and theory, identifies many research gaps that need attention before the EWA theory can be fully developed. The chapter ends with implications for practice and some closing words for the entire book.</p

Flexible space network - creating a model for sharing underutilized spaces in the city - Project report

Even though cities across the world are growing, at the same time, many of them suffer from empty or half-empty buildings spread across. Changes in economy, household sizes, and types of businesses lead to empty spaces, which can not only affect negatively building owners but also decrease the attractiveness of neighbourhoods and cause other unwanted effects. This is especially important from the perspective of city governance.  One way to tackle the problem of empty or under-used spaces around the city is using sharing economy principles and business models. By changing the spaces to serve the needs of people better and opening up for more different use, buildings and spaces can be used more efficiently and neighbourhoods can be regenerated.  This research was done in collaboration with Forum Virium Helsinki, Aalto University, Granlund Oy, and the City of Helsinki. The goal of the project was to increase the understanding of ways to share the spaces and create a network of spaces in the city to serve the needs of people better. The objectives included development of operating model for self-use premises, understanding the business logic of sharing spaces, and exploring the possibilities of new tools (such as smart locks and access control) and data for improved utilization of spaces and user experience.  This report summarizes the research part of the project. First, it discusses the development of spaces and the need for increased experience in buildings. The research builds on the idea of sharing economy and introduces platform approach to business. Report presents the case study of Urban Lab in Kalasatama area, Helsinki, and introduces the flexible space ecosystem model as a result which is followed by a discussion on the role of the City of Helsinki in this model

Service management – focus on customer experience

The service management concept, developed by two concurrent schools (Nordic and American), emphasizes customer-focused management practices and relates to the fields of marketing, operations, organizational behaviour and human resource management. This chapter describes four main concepts forming the service management approach: collaboration both internally and externally, creating value to the customer, focus on quality and development of personnel. Research shows the correlation between service quality, value and customer satisfaction and quality between internal process and external service dependency. Moreover, it opens the discussion on how customer and employee behaviour affects overall organisational performance. This chapter provide examples of how workplace management research has applied service management concepts and argue that customer experience of joint service deliveries (in physical, digital and social environment) is the customer experience of the total workplace. The chapter also acknowledge the limitations of the service management concept, especially the lack of studies in human-machine encounters due to the fact of increasing technology’s role in workplace and services in general