An important challenge to organization theory is to search for constructs that explain how contexts for work emerge, evolve, persist and change. This book explores the concept of "space" as representing a wide variety of contexts. Organization as a process, as distinguished from organization as an entity, is seen as the construction of space, where space is the outcome of human action and interaction as well as providing a context for actions and interaction. The book shows how different forms of space lie at the base of a number of developments in organization theory. It then takes the step to show how contemporary developments in social science represented by works by writers such as Giddens, Luhmann, Latour and Bourdieu can be used to establish a dynamic understanding of organization as space. Insights from these discussions are used to establish a unique and coherent way of understanding complexities of modern organization.
“In this fascinating and well-written book, Hernes suggests using space to replace context as a concept for understanding the emergent, unbounded and recursive nature of social interaction that we call organization. Hernes shows us how understanding the physical, mental and social space in which organization takes place enables us to include in our theories of organization phenomena that have been difficult to comprehend with more static concepts. At one point Hernes states that "...spatialization may be essential for human existence, but it is also consequential in that once it has occurred, life will not be the same as it was before" (p 66). It is not an exaggeration to paraphrase that spatialization is essential for understanding organization and once it has occurred organization will not be the same as it was before.”
Martha S. Feldman, Johnson Chair for Civic Governance and Public Management, University of California, Irvine
Cited by (87)
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Nair, Sujith, Medhanie Gaim & Dimo Dimov
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Jang, Jin Won, Yong Gi Park, Seong Il Hur & Yong Joon Ahn
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Meyer, Heather A.
2021. Boundaries and the Exclusion of the ‘Local’. In The Global Imaginary of International School Communities, ► pp. 75 ff.
Meyer, Heather A.
2021. Moving Forward: Reconstructing the Global Imaginary. In The Global Imaginary of International School Communities, ► pp. 217 ff.
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2021. The design of learning spaces matters: perceived impact of the deskless school on learning and teaching . Learning Environments Research 24:3 ► pp. 339 ff.
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Rowe, Andrew
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2014. Bricks, Mortar, and Control: A Multicase Examination of the Public Library as Organization Space. In Advances in Library Administration and Organization [Advances in Library Administration and Organization, 32], ► pp. 1 ff.
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Henn, Rebecca L.
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Scotto, Caroline
2014. The Principles of Campus Conception: A Spatial and Organizational Genealogy. What Knowledge Can We Use from a Historical Study in Order to Analyse the Design Processes of a New Campus?. In Materiality and Time, ► pp. 204 ff.
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2013. ‘Space, the final frontier’? Social movements as organizing spaces for applying HRD. Human Resource Development International 16:3 ► pp. 298 ff.
Hagberg, Johan & Alexander Styhre
2013. The production of social space: shopping malls as relational and transductive spaces. Journal of Engineering, Design and Technology 11:3 ► pp. 354 ff.
Häkkinen, Lotta & Nina Kivinen
2013. Writing Spaces — Performativity in Media Work. In Materiality and Space, ► pp. 135 ff.
Kastberg, Gustaf
2013. Separation and reconnection episodic organizational arenas in the strategic process. Journal of Strategy and Management 6:3 ► pp. 212 ff.
Koskinen, Kaj U.
2013. Macro and Micro Processes. In Knowledge Production in Organizations, ► pp. 105 ff.
Koskinen, Kaj U.
2013. Business organizations' knowledge‐production processes: an autopoietic approach. International Journal of Organizational Analysis 21:2 ► pp. 137 ff.
Lindberg, Kajsa & Lars Walter
2013. Objects-in-Use and Organizing in Action Nets. Journal of Management Inquiry 22:2 ► pp. 212 ff.
Munro, Iain & Silvia Jordan
2013. ‘Living Space’ at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe: Spatial tactics and the politics of smooth space. Human Relations 66:11 ► pp. 1497 ff.
Beyes, Timon & Chris Steyaert
2012. Spacing organization: non-representational theory and performing organizational space. Organization 19:1 ► pp. 45 ff.
Jäppinen, Aini-Kristiina
2012. Transitions in Individual Vocational Education Pathways: Challenges and Collaborative Solutions. In Transitions and Transformations in Learning and Education, ► pp. 103 ff.
Mihaela Kelemen & Peltonen, Tuomo
2012. Exploring organizational architecture and space: a case for heterodox research. International Journal of Organizational Analysis 20:1 ► pp. 68 ff.
van Marrewijk, Alfons & Maaike Broos
2012. Retail stores as brands: performances, theatre and space. Consumption Markets & Culture 15:4 ► pp. 374 ff.
Beyes, Timon & Christoph Michels
2011. The production of educational space: Heterotopia and the business university. Management Learning 42:5 ► pp. 521 ff.
Heiskanen, Tuula & Hannu Heiskanen
2011. Spaces of innovation: experiences from two small high‐tech firms. Journal of Workplace Learning 23:2 ► pp. 97 ff.
Heather Höpfl & Peltonen, Tuomo
2011. Multiple architectures and the production of organizational space in a Finnish university. Journal of Organizational Change Management 24:6 ► pp. 806 ff.
Panayiotou, Alexia & Krini Kafiris
2011. Viewing the Language of Space: Organizational Spaces, Power, and Resistance in Popular Films. Journal of Management Inquiry 20:3 ► pp. 264 ff.
Garcia-Lorenzo, Lucia
2010. Framing uncertainty: narratives, change and digital technologies. Social Science Information 49:3 ► pp. 329 ff.
Gustavs, Julie & Stewart R. Clegg
2010. DNA and the politics of truth in socially organized life. European Journal of Cultural Studies 13:4 ► pp. 439 ff.
Küpers, Wendelin
2010. ‘Inter~Place’—Phenomenology of Embodied Space and Place as Basis for a Relational Understanding of Leader- and Followship in Organisations. Environment, Space, Place 2:1 ► pp. 81 ff.
Ainsworth, Susan, David Grant & Rick Iedema
2009. `Keeping things moving': space and the construction of middle management identity in a post-NPM organization. Discourse & Communication 3:1 ► pp. 5 ff.
Sliwa, Martyna
2009. “This is not the same city”: narratives of postsocialist spatial change. Journal of Organizational Change Management 22:6 ► pp. 650 ff.
Daskalaki, Maria, Alexandra Stara & Miguel Imas
2008. The ‘Parkour Organisation’: inhabitation of corporate spaces. Culture and Organization 14:1 ► pp. 49 ff.
Lekanne Deprez, Frank & René Tissen
2008. Towards a Spatial Theory of Organizations: Creating New Organizational Forms to Improve Business Performance. SSRN Electronic Journal
Lekanne Deprez, Frank & René Tissen
2011. Developing Spatial Organizations: A Design Based Research Approach (Part I). SSRN Electronic Journal
Zhongyuan Zhang, André Spicer & Philip Hancock
2008. Hyper-Organizational Space in the Work of J. G. Ballard. Organization 15:6 ► pp. 889 ff.
Boon, Bronwyn
2007. Working within the front-of-house/back-of-house boundary: Room attendants in the hotel guest room space. Journal of Management & Organization 13:2 ► pp. 160 ff.
Boon, Bronwyn
2007. Working within the front-of-house/back-of-house boundary: Room attendants in the hotel guest room space. Journal of Management & Organization 13:2 ► pp. 160 ff.
Heiskanen, Tuula
2007. Pursuing Theory and Practice When ‘Everything is Moving’. Journal of Adult and Continuing Education 13:2 ► pp. 175 ff.
Taylor, Scott & André Spicer
2007. Time for space: A narrative review of research on organizational spaces. International Journal of Management Reviews 9:4 ► pp. 325 ff.
LEARMONTH, MARK & NANCY HARDING
2006. EVIDENCE‐BASED MANAGEMENT: THE VERY IDEA. Public Administration 84:2 ► pp. 245 ff.
Nocker, Manuela
2006. The contested object: on projects as emergent space. In Making Projects Critical, ► pp. 132 ff.
Spicer, André
2006. Beyond the Convergence–Divergence Debate: The Role of Spatial Scales in Transforming Organizational Logic. Organization Studies 27:10 ► pp. 1467 ff.
Yanow, Dvora
2006. Talking about Practices: On Julian Orr’s Talking About Machines. Organization Studies 27:12 ► pp. 1743 ff.
Hernes, Tor & Tore Bakken
2003. Implications of Self-Reference: Niklas Luhmann’s Autopoiesis and Organization Theory. Organization Studies 24:9 ► pp. 1511 ff.
This list is based on CrossRef data as of 13 march 2026. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers.
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