Characterizing the evolution of commercial organizational spaces

DOBSON, Stephen (2012). Characterizing the evolution of commercial organizational spaces. International Journal of Organizational Analysis, 20 (3), 309-322.

Full text not available from this repository.

Abstract

Purpose – The analogy of the city as an evolving system is an enduring one that is both universally acknowledged and greatly researched in equal measure. The purpose of this paper is to illustrate the potential for urban characterization studies, emerging from the fields of cultural heritage and landscape, to provide a rich source of data for exploring the characteristics of spatial adaptation and innovation over time.

Design/methodology/approach – An analysis of commercial organizational space in the city of Sheffield, UK is provided here as the subject of study which employs English Heritage’s Historic Landscape Characterization dataset to explore temporal characteristics of commercial space within a broader context of change, at the city-wide scale.

Findings – It is proposed here that to achieve culturally sustainable development against a context of urban “deterritorialization” and homogenization the very character and distinctiveness of innovation and change needs to be explicitly acknowledged. An evolutionary approach to organizational space is suggested here as a means to locate such adaptation and spatial change in “place”.

Originality/value – It is hoped that the approach presented may provide an important stage in thinking about the spatial relationships between business and society over time and particularly their interdependence within a city ecology. The scope is therefore to explore multi-level evolutionary characteristics of socio-cultural space, appreciating multi-scale temporal change through a broad lens of Darwinism.

Item Type:	Article
Research Institute, Centre or Group - Does NOT include content added after October 2018:	Sheffield Business School Research Institute > People, Work and Organisation
Identification Number:	https://doi.org/10.1108/19348831211243820
Page Range:	309-322
Depositing User:	Stephen Dobson
Date Deposited:	01 Oct 2012 08:50
Last Modified:	18 Mar 2021 10:31
URI:	https://shura.shu.ac.uk/id/eprint/6420

Actions (login required)

View Item

Downloads

Publication Metrics