Bumblebees, Fireflies & Ants at Coworking Spaces; Inter-organizational Collaboration Patterns within Coworking Spaces

Abstract: Coworking spaces, an example of the sharing economy concept, refers to shared workplaces that mostly freelancers, entrepreneurs and other actors of the knowledge industry utilize for the purpose of flexible sharing of space, ideas and knowledge. Previous research reveals that the proximity of occupants sitting together in a shared office space does not necessarily lead to inter-organizational collaboration. Knowledge sharing and inter-organizational collaboration tend to be perceived by occupants and managers of coworking spaces as incidental or a secondary aim. In the same view, coworking spaces tend to be perceived as service providers rather than a community where collaboration can be fostered. A potential solution, in this case is, the initial understanding and categorization of occupant types and their evident collaboration approaches which may result in the managers and policy makers of coworking spaces knowing what conditions to put in place in order to foster collaboration.The novelty of this research and contribution to theoretical knowledge lies in the development of insect metaphors to simplify the understanding of coworking space occupant types and their corresponding inter-organizational collaboration approaches as it affects their willingness or lack thereof to engage in collaboration.The research data was gathered through semi-structured interviews with a selection of occupants across three selective coworking spaces in Malmö. The findings of this research indicate that there are correlations between occupant types, their collaboration approach and their willingness to collaborate. Therefore, the effort to promote collaboration at coworking spaces needs to be a responsibility shared between the occupants and the community managers.