Fostering organizational purpose in coworking spaces: an empirical study on Italian freelancers

Organizational purpose has gained significant attention in recent years from both academics and practitioners who have primarily focused on employees working in traditional organizational settings, thus overlooking freelancers. However, changes in the economic context have increased the number of autonomous workers who benefit from the new workspaces such as coworking spaces. Whereas previous studies have investigated other kinds of benefits that freelancers might experience from working in coworking spaces (e.g., reduced costs, networking, psychological benefits), this paper investigates the potential advantages related to the perceived sense of purpose associated with the coworking spaces they work in. In particular, we explore which characteristics of a coworking space enhance users' perception of the purpose of the space. From an empirical viewpoint, we conducted a quantitative analysis on a sample of 90 freelancers operating in 31 coworking spaces in Emilia-Romagna, Northern Italy. Findings reveal that a pleasant and stimulating physical work environment, a sense of community, and a supportive internal climate open to change and innovation increase freelancers' perception of a coworking space’s purpose. These results contribute to the existing literature by linking research on organizational purpose with studies on coworking spaces and provide valuable managerial implications for coworking space managers.