The Corporate Office as a WorkPlace: A Pandemic-Spanning Exploration of Organizational Place in Context

Abstract

Past studies of the impact of the physical work environment on workers have generated mixed results in the organizational space literature. We apply an alternative perspective on how the workspace influences grounded in theorizing on place rather than space. Focusing on the corporate office, we explore the notion that organizations are best positioned to influence employees when they transform their work spaces into work places. Through a qualitative case study, we first uncover a time-spanning placemaking strategy that designers (i.e., organizational leaders) and users (i.e., employees) execute together to infuse place into organizational space. We also uncover place meanings that emerge in the corporate office, and describe outcomes of placemaking. Next, focusing on the longitudinal nature of our exploration which spanned both sides of the COVID-19 pandemic (pre-pandemic; lockdown; hybrid work), we reveal how place evolves with changing work contexts. Thus, our theoretical contribution is twofold: exploring place (including placemaking, place meanings, and place effects) in an under-explored work environment—the corporate office, and showcasing place as a dynamic phenomenon that responds to contextual forces. Practically, our findings illustrate the role place plays in the modern, virtual and physical, workplace. Potential challenges are discussed.