Collaborative practices underlie the creation of innovation yet how and when these practices emerge is not well understood, particularly given the presence of flexible and open workspaces. Based on seven case studies of entrepreneurial Tech/FinTech firms in London, we explore how collaborative spaces lead to collaborative practices, when they do. Our findings suggest the enabling and inhibiting role of interstitial spaces (e.g. informality and spatiality) and identify catalysts in the emergence of collaborative practices in a coworking space. A theoretical and critical contextualisation advances our understanding of how collaborative practices emerge and articulates the conditionality of openness in the form of underlying mechanisms for collaboration and, subsequently (open) innovation outcomes. We discuss implications for future research and management of coworking spaces.- Reproduced
Collaborative Practices in Innovation Collaborative Practices Innovation Flexible Workspaces Open Workspaces Entrepreneurial Tech Firms FinTech Firms London Case Studies Interstitial Spaces Informality Spatiality Coworking Space Catalysts for Collaboration Theoretical Contextualisation Critical Contextualisation Openness Collaboration Mechanisms Open Innovation Outcomes Future Research Implications Management of Coworking Spaces Innovation and Collaboration Management