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Conflict, resistance and the symbolic meaning of space : Activity Based Work and possibilities to express work-related identities in everyday working life

Rosengren, Calle LU orcid and Ottosson, Mikael LU (2019) In Management Revue 30(4). p.412-431
Abstract
The article focuses on a current trend in office design: Activity Based Work (ABW). This is an office solution that instead of providing employees with designated places, it provides them with a variety of spaces in the office that offer different functionalities. A case study is presented of the ongoing effort of a multinational technology company in the software industry to implement ABW at a local site in Sweden. Based on an analysis of the individual and focus group interviews of company employees, the article argues that the non-territorial foundation of ABW is seen as a threat to the work-related identity among certain groups within the company. The findings presented comprise specific insights into how the material aspects of... (More)
The article focuses on a current trend in office design: Activity Based Work (ABW). This is an office solution that instead of providing employees with designated places, it provides them with a variety of spaces in the office that offer different functionalities. A case study is presented of the ongoing effort of a multinational technology company in the software industry to implement ABW at a local site in Sweden. Based on an analysis of the individual and focus group interviews of company employees, the article argues that the non-territorial foundation of ABW is seen as a threat to the work-related identity among certain groups within the company. The findings presented comprise specific insights into how the material aspects of organizational life interact with social identity construction. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Activity Based Work, Identity threat, work-related identity, office design, everyday working life, Activity-Based Work, work-related identity, office design
in
Management Revue
volume
30
issue
4
pages
20 pages
publisher
Rainer Hampp Verlag
external identifiers
  • scopus:85083426932
ISSN
0935-9915
DOI
10.5771/0935-9915-2019-4-412
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
fcb69b1c-5808-4caf-bea8-3725434f47ff
date added to LUP
2019-03-05 09:49:25
date last changed
2022-04-25 21:47:40
@article{fcb69b1c-5808-4caf-bea8-3725434f47ff,
  abstract     = {{The article focuses on a current trend in office design: Activity Based Work (ABW). This is an office solution that instead of providing employees with designated places, it provides them with a variety of spaces in the office that offer different functionalities. A case study is presented of the ongoing effort of a multinational technology company in the software industry to implement ABW at a local site in Sweden. Based on an analysis of the individual and focus group interviews of company employees, the article argues that the non-territorial foundation of ABW is seen as a threat to the work-related identity among certain groups within the company. The findings presented comprise specific insights into how the material aspects of organizational life interact with social identity construction.}},
  author       = {{Rosengren, Calle and Ottosson, Mikael}},
  issn         = {{0935-9915}},
  keywords     = {{Activity Based Work; Identity threat; work-related identity; office design; everyday working life; Activity-Based Work; work-related identity; office design}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{4}},
  pages        = {{412--431}},
  publisher    = {{Rainer Hampp Verlag}},
  series       = {{Management Revue}},
  title        = {{Conflict, resistance and the symbolic meaning of space : Activity Based Work and possibilities to express work-related identities in everyday working life}},
  url          = {{https://lup.lub.lu.se/search/files/95215307/Conflict_Resistance_and_the_Symbolic_Meaning_of_Space.pdf}},
  doi          = {{10.5771/0935-9915-2019-4-412}},
  volume       = {{30}},
  year         = {{2019}},
}