Space use among growth companies: linking the theories

Book chapter, 2004

How do growth companies handle their space needs in successive stages of their evolution? Most studies of workspace changes have dealt with existing large companies rather than with small and growing companies. As publications extolling the 'new economy' multiplied, few people seem to have noticed that the eager converts who espoused new office layouts for networking tended to be large, old and mature companies (see e.g. Rifkin, 2000). A dominant theme has been how these companies can transform their facilities so that changes in work practices brought about by networked personal computers, web tools and mobile telecommunications can be accommodated and exploited. It is rare that there is an analysis of how small and growing firms manage their needs for space; when O'Mara (1999) discusses incrementalism in this context, it is an exception.