Are Co-Working Spaces Communitarian and Open? Organizational Values from the Dynamic Perspective

This study investigates whether the values of collaboration, openness, and community, which are used to define co-working spaces (CWS), are supported by user and manager statements. It also categorizes different forms of these organizational values based on the dynamic perspective proposed by Bourne and Jenkins. Results revealed that the degrees to which the collaboration, openness, and community values are shared as an organizational value that defines CWS were high, moderate, and loose, respectively. It has been observed that each value is expressed in different organizational value types in the relevant CWS. For instance, collaboration is categorized as a value that is espoused and shared by the managers and users, as well as an attributed value that allows CWS to be defined within society. The community value, by contrast, is espoused by the top managers through written statements and formal documents (and sometimes through sanctions), but it is not shared by the users at the same level, and it is used at a very limited level to define the organization. Based on the dynamic perspective of the organizational values, it has been concluded that there is a high overlap in the collaboration value; moreover, there is a leadership gap in terms of community and openness values.