Impact of workspace environment on creativity and innovation: empirical evidence from a makerspace in China

Abstract

Among the various factors affecting creativity and innovation, workspace environment has not been fully considered by most organizations. The literature on innovation shows that few empirical studies have investigated the influence of workspace environment on creativity and innovation. Using Ucommune (i.e., one of the largest makerspaces and entrepreneurial ecosystems in China) as an example, this research explored to what extent workspace environments affect individual and team creativity and innovation in organizations. The main results include that physical and non‐physical environments contribute positively to employees’ individual and team behaviors. In addition, individual behavior can help improve employee creativity and enhance team behavior, but the direct impact of individual behavior on innovation is insignificant. Finally, team behavior can enhance organizational innovation. The findings thus provide empirical support for the increasing importance of the impact of workspace environments – especially their physical aspects – on creativity and innovation.

Emergence of communities through interdependent dynamics of physical, cognitive and virtual contexts: the case of collaborative spaces

“…This process also flows through the succession of different contexts of interaction. The combination of virtual and physical contexts can be Even if the influence of the physical space in innovation activities had been previously acknowledged (Boutellier et al, 2008;Huang et al, 2021), our results go deeper in the analysis of its contribution to develop strong ties among members. This research underlines the catalytic effect that the physical space has on non-spatially based interactions.…”

“…spaces as a complex set of contexts of interactions Extant literature portraits the physical context as a key driver for the development of communities (Merkel, 2017;Bouncken and Aslam, 2019). The literature on innovation highlights the impact on the physical setting in the information flow (Boutellier et al, 2008;Huang et al, 2021), and as an element nurturing socialization (Nicolopoulou et al, 2017;Rayna and Striukova, 2019) and informal interaction (Nijssen and van der Borgh, 2017). Nevertheless, the literature remains silent about the other (nonphysical) contexts of interaction for enhancing the development of the dynamics of exchanges.…”

A Systematic Review on FabLab Environments and Creativity: Implications for Design

“…This theme reflected how the introduction of technology (digital fabrication tools) in built environments such as FabLabs or makerspaces can have a positive impact on creativity. Both physical and non-physical workspace environments influence human behaviour and through this, creativity, and innovation performance [92]. The use of technology in makerspaces is essential to support design creativity (e.g., prototyping) [19].…”

The role of entrepreneurial ecosystems in technological and social challenges

“…Using one of the largest maker spaces and EE in China, the study from Hung et al (2023) explores what extent workspace environments affect individual and team creativity and innovation in organizations. The authors develop an environment–conduct–performance framework to discover how EE workspace environments influence individual creativity and organizational innovation.…”