News | Research Groupe on Collaborative Spaces

The collaborative economy and Robin Hood: Political experimentations without political visions?

The collaborative economy is at the heart of contemporary capitalism. It relies massively on digital infrastructures and their necessary standards.

For some managers, it is the ideal setting for the experimentation of disruptive business models and global strategies. It enables rapid breakthrough for some young startups which become standards themselves in amazing time spans.

Beyond the sphere of management, global digital infrastructures enable disruptive political innovations for communities and social movements. The how and the why of these new kinds of social and political breakthroughs is the subject of numerous studies, e.g. in the field of management and organization studies, sociology, media studies or economics. More than ever, activism has become a connected exercise.

But beyond such emergent attempts, it seems that some major political ideas are tested at a global scale. Friedrich Hayek’s invitation to introduce multiple and competing currencies in the same national context have started. Numerous virtual … Read more

Les transformations du travail : vers un capitalisme d’assembleurs ?

Pour beaucoup, une transformation profonde du travail serait en cours, et avec elle, une transformation fondamentale du management et de la société. Cela fait-il partie d’un débat public, voire politique ? Pas vraiment. Mais là n’est pas le sujet de la courte réflexion que j’aimerais restituer ici.

Avec le développement massif (et politiquement arrangeant) de l’entrepreneuriat, l’explosion du travail indépendant et du télétravail, la massification de l’externalisation (en particulier dans le domaine des données et de leur traitement), le capitalisme connaît une forme de liquéfaction. Si notre monde a été largement couvert d’organisations, si d’autres l’ont souhaité totalement régulé par un marché, ce sont aujourd’hui les assembleurs qui semblent dominer les transformations en cours.

Les vastes cathédrales (type grands groupes multinationaux) existent toujours. Elles se font et se feront sans doute plus rares. Certaines sont largement patinées par le temps, et ont, quoi qu’elles fassent, un air suranné. D’autres appellent … Read more

Program – RGCS events

Program of RGCS events in 2016

Paris chapter

13 January (2 PM, espace one at Dauphine): comparison of local public policies about third places (with the City of Paris and the Conseil Régional Ile de France – La Fonderie)

25 January: RGCS seminar at Player (5 PM) about innovation and entrepreneurship

15th March (2 PM, espace one): study about Fab labs (presentation of a study about 80 European Fab labs, with Raphael Suire, Professor of economics at Université de Rennes)

21st March: RGCS seminar (5 PM) at Beeotop about ethnographical perspectives on maker spaces

17th May: RGCS seminar (4 PM) at Marketing space: « From open spaces to collaborative spaces » with a discussion with the City of Paris (Maud Berthier) about students coworking spaces supported by the city of Paris.

5th July (2 PM, espace one at Dauphine): presentation and open discussions with Sawsan Awada-Jalu (Association L’école de … Read more

Corporate Coworking: What Is the Reality Behind It?

by Blandine Bréchignac

Beyond the quick and massive development of the coworking movement, a recent phenomenon raises attention: corporate coworking (sometimes called “corpoworking”). Is that a new corporate fashion trend? A new idea to strenghten employees motivation? A new lever for real estate optimisation? An incentive to innovate again and again (or more and better)? And what really happens in corporate coworking spaces?

All these questions made it necessary to conduct an in-depth study about corpoworking, what we did from July 2014 to October 2015, in three European countries, France, Germany and Switzerland, comparing the cases of six companies, of different sizes and diverse industries.

For greater precision, the study was based on a deliberately restrictive meaning of “corporate coworking”: the analysis bears solely on coworking spaces created by companies for their employees, and in some cases for outside users as well. The study does not focus on practices, which … Read more

Work transformations and the teaching of management: towards the end of business schools (as they are?)

Academics in the area of management are often invited to draw managerial implications about their research. This is often part of a section called “managerial implications” or “implications for practice” (in scientific journals). Most of the time, this results in extremely expected and unsurprising things. Beyond that, I have always found strange to put myself in the shoes of a manager… who will never read my article.

Research about work and workplace transformations could be a unique opportunity to make a key managerial contribution: rethinking management teaching.

What is the focus of most teachings today? I would say structures, tools, techniques, procedures and projects.

What is already a key lesson of most research about work and workplace transformations, the so-called end of waged employment, and the generalization of entrepreneurship? The new line necessary to follow the deep dynamic of capitalism, society and management is more and more grounded into practices … Read more

Event of RGCS Montreal – 01/15/2016

Le séminaire de RGCS Montréal aura lieu le 15 janvier 2016 (13h30-16h) dans les locaux de l’UQAM (salle DS-3650)

Thème : « Les espaces collaboratifs à Montréal »

Le programme sera le suivant :

13h30-14h : « Le réseau RGCS : philosophie et mode de fonctionnement dans le contexte de Montréal », Viviane Sergi (ESG, UQAM)

14h00-14h30 : « Les espaces collaboratifs à Montréal : un premier état des lieux » Annie Camus (ESG, UQAM)

14h30-15h30 : « Les enjeux de légitimité des espaces collaboratifs : le cas d’un maker space à Paris », Anouk Mukherjee et François-Xavier de Vaujany (Université Paris-Dauphine)

Les coordinateurs de RGCS Montréal,

Viviane, Annie et Anouk

Contact: collaborativespaces@gmail.com… Read more

Une nouvelle clé pour comprendre les espaces collaboratifs : les communautés émotionnelles ?

Max Weber ne cesse d’être découvert et redécouvert. C’est récemment en lisant ou relisant plusieurs de ses écrits que je suis tombé sur cette notion de « communautés émotionnelles » (Weber, 1971, &5, pp. 204-211).

Le concept est à mettre en perspective. Il est mentionné et défini dans le tome 2 d’Economie et société (traduction française de 1971 avec pour sous-titre : « L’organisation et les puissances de la société dans leur rapport avec l’économie). Le projet de Weber est d’articuler l’économique et le social en partant d’unités sociales, juridiques et historiques fondamentales : les communautés.

En particulier en occident, les communautés ont une histoire longue. Elles sont difficilement dissociables des « communautés domestiques » et de certaines de leurs extensions monastiques (j’ai évoqué dans un autre post la racine grecque du mot « abbé », abba, qui signifie « papa »). Les communautés sont le fondement, largement présentiel, … Read more

Event of RGCS London – 01/15

Dear all,

We are pleased to announce the next event of RGCS London, the 15th January, 9.00-16.00 at Cass Business School.

The topic will be: « Collaboration and Innovation in New Workplaces:coworking spaces and maker spaces in London »

Invitation can be accessed here: Invitation – RGCS London 15th January 2016

Please confirm your registration at the following adress: collaborativespaces@gmail.com

Looking forward to meeting you soon in London

François, Hélène, Stefan, Yesh & Nathalie, coordinators of RGCS London

Collaborative spaces in Paris, Singapore and Sydney: so far, so close?

I am just back from a trip in Singapore and Sydney which has been an opportunity to visit 15 collaborative spaces (e.g. coworking spaces, fab lab and maker spaces).

What a strange feeling… going so far, and feeling so close to what I already know.

Firstly, feeling so close to what I have seen in France and other countries. Same pieces of furniture (post-its, acoustic bubbles, iconic ping-pong tables, chalk boards, Ikea seats and tables…), same space design (welcome desk, general L or U shape of the place…), same emphasis on a ‘community’ (see the charter of Stone & Chalk below), general use of open spaces punctuated sometimes by small closed offices…

Picture 1: The community charter of Stone & Chalk in Sydney

This makes me realize, again, how global our world has become. People share the same information, the same training (e.g. standardized MBA programs), the same providers and … Read more

Sharing a bottle of wine: back to the roots of the sharing economy?

Still in Sydney, where I’ve had the opportunity to share a good bottle of wine today during lunch time. A good bottle of Australian pinot noir. For a wine lover, this is always a great experience. People drink their pint of beer in a pub. People can ‘share’ a bottle of wine. Sharing means both drinking together wine from the same bottle. Often, sharing the cost of it. But it means much more than this. It is a great opportunity for socialization. Firstly, when the waiter comes and asks who will taste first. This is of course a way to test if wine is ‘bouché’. But this also a great opportunity to valorize guests, place them in the ultimate position to judge and open the ritual. Depending on the experience, comments can then enrich the experience. Wine becomes melted into the discussion, part of a great phenomenogical experience. Mediating it, … Read more