From walls to experience - servitization of workplaces

New ways of working challenge workplace management: increasing mobility and crossing of organizational boundaries require re-evaluation of both workplace design and service delivery. However, the processes and structures of workplace management are still traditional and managers, together with outsourced service providers, often fail to serve the needs of mobile employees.
The abovementioned changes stimulate many discussions. Corporate real estate professionals, strategic management, ICT and HRM specialists within companies and architecture (spatial) planners have been analysing the development of workplaces. However, the literature on a business perspective of workplaces seems to be scarce. When we talk about mobile workers and the possibility to choose the place to work, we need to discuss about workplace outside single organisation boundaries and look at it as a service offer to knowledge workers. Here, we explore how workplace is commercialized through servitization and how it affects business models of organisations. To answer this, we identify the elements that are added to the value offerings in office space business market.
This study follows multiple case study methodology. The data includes observations of various workplace settings, interviews with mobile workers and service providers. We take business model design approach in order to study business offerings.
The results of this study indicate that the physical space is no longer the central offering in the workplace business; instead, it becomes only a component in it. Other elements such as services and experience are becoming more significant. Academically, the research contributes to the workplace management studies by providing business perspective to a topic previously approach with a more technical and psychological point of view. This study can also support service providers in their quest to make their service provision more flexible.