INFORMAL INTERACTIONS IN CO-WORKING SPACES AND THE EFFECTS ON ORGANIZATIONAL OUTCOMES: THE MEDIATING ROLE OF ORGANIZATIONAL IDENTITY

Abstract

This is an exploratory study on the influence of informal interactions in the co working space on organizational outcomes. The co-working space is a growing industry that challenges the traditional office. It offers young organizations a simple solution to pilot their business ideas and exposes them to similarly entrepreneurial-minded peers. This increased level of informal interaction with people outside of the core organization takes away social bonding opportunities with member within the same organization. Thus, organizational identity is implicated and affected. The literature informs us that organizational identity is crucial to the effectiveness of an organization, in financial and non-financial metrics, as well as its creativity. However, the research is sparse on the specific impact of increased informal interaction with people outside of the organization in a co-working space. This study finds that (1) an increase in the quality of informal interaction with co-working peers does not decrease, but rather improve, organizational identity. (2) Quality of informal interaction directly impacts organizational identification and this relationship partially mediates the link between quality of informal interaction and organizational effectiveness. (3) Organizational identity moderates the relationship between informal interaction and organizational creativity, that this relationship intensifies as organizational identity is stronger.