Bringing space into social entrepreneurship research: A qualitative study of space design in the public health context.
Creators: name: Nguyen, Hung Man
name: Dey, Pascal
Publisher: name: (:unav)
Year: 2024

description: There is a common perception that spaces are fixed and unchanging (Stephenson, Kuismin, Putnam, &amp; Sivunen, 2020) and spatial factors are usually overlooked or taken for granted (Hujala &amp; Rissanen, 2011). However, designing and redesigning spaces play a crucial role in the entrepreneurial process of organizing (Barinaga, 2017). According to Best and Hindmarsh (2019), it is essential to move beyond the traditional focus on architecture and instead concentrate on spatial arrangements or other elements within the physical setting of spaces. Normally, spaces should be designed or redesigned with the aim of enhancing their overall appeal and increasing the potential of action for those who utilize them (De Molli, Mengis, &amp; Van Marrewijk, 2020). The design of organizational spaces which involves the use of aesthetic elements (Connellan, 2013; Hancock &amp; Spicer, 2011; Hujala &amp; Rissanen, 2011) is of utmost significance, as the first impression of a space can influence one’s perception of the nature of work carried out within it (Küpers, 2002). Furthermore, previous research highlights that the design of spaces can elicit specific emotions that prompt people to achieve desired goals, such as fostering curiosity and attention in an educational setting, reinforcing hunger in a dining room, sleepiness in a bedroom, to name a few (Arbib, 2021). Space design thus uses various modes and registers to encourage certain behaviors and experiences and scholars have pointed out that contact with organizational space, whether through sight, smell, taste, hearing or touch, provides a sensory experience that conveys emotional experiences and meaning (Alexander, 2010). Nonetheless, it is important to note that certain modes such as smell and taste have an immediate, precognitive and primarily affective impact on individuals (Barberá-Tomás, Castelló, De Bakker, &amp; Zietsma, 2019) while other modes such as sight have a slower, more linear and primarily cognitive impact on individuals (Meyer, Jancsary, Höllerer, &amp; Boxenbaum, 2018). This highlights the importance of incorporating appropriate sensory factors into space design for evoking desired emotions and behaviors of individuals. Scholars in the field have studied a number of such “mood settings”, when one stepping into a space, that meticulously crafted through spatial design considerations such as binding (Björkvall, Van Meerbergen, &amp; Westberg, 2023; Stenglin, 2008), orientation and recognition (De Molli et al., 2020), enchantment (Siebert, Wilson, &amp; Hamilton, 2017) or embeddedness (Kimmitt, Kibler, Schildt, &amp; Oinas, 2023). In the realm of social entrepreneurship literature, although there is research with a spatial dimension (social entrepreneurial ecosystems, regional clusters, etc.), the role of organizational space remains largely overlooked. We contend that organizational space is not merely a passive backdrop for social entrepreneurial endeavors but rather a vital catalyst for societal transformation. However, in certain contexts like healthcare settings, functionality often takes precedence, with spatial design aimed at ensuring patient safety and operational efficiency (Andrews &amp; Shaw, 2008; Hujala &amp; Rissanen, 2011). This paper aims to address this literature gap by presenting findings from a qualitative investigation of a social franchising project named Sisterhood in Vietnam that, by introducing a network of new, well-designed consulting rooms to existing (public) local commune health stations, enhanced the provision of sexual and reproductive health services (Nguyen &amp; Dey, 2023). Our inquiry unpacks how these beneficial effects were enabled by the re-design of organizational space which opened up new experience. To properly understand how organizational space improves people’s experience, different Sisterhood’s sources of data were collected and analyzed: 25 individual/group semi-structured interviews and internal documents/reports. Furthermore, observational data played a crucial role in our analysis, comprising field notes and photographs taken by the first author during his visits to commune health stations. These observations were supplemented by documentation of various objects within the commune health stations and their consulting rooms, such as signboards, logos, posters, brochures, etc.