European Journal of Innovation Management

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to propose propose a practical framework for the design and measure of active ba and assess whether workplace reformation initiatives actively contribute to promoting knowledge creation by activating ba.

Design/methodology/approach – The workplace reformation is first segmented into virtual and physical environments. Then, using the SECI knowledge-creation process, the effects of each environment as well as their mutual interactions on active ba are analyzed. Next, the case studies of two workplace reformations are introduced, the first using a qualitative analysis and the second the results of a questionnaire survey carried out at three different stages of the implementation.

Findings – The effective implementation of workplace reformation in two separate entities enabled the creation of active ba. The influence of the physical and virtual environments on the creation of active ba were significantly different, thus justifying the assumption of the division of such environmental factors. The main factor of active ba generated by a complete workplace reformation was shown to be direct communication.

Research limitations/implications – The two firms studied here belong to the same group of companies, and both departments' workplace reformations were conducted by the same person, whose widely known track record may be seen as a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Practical implications – Because these two types of workplace reformation reversely impact the emergence of direct communication, and therefore the type of active ba, practitioners could avoid the co-existence of groups organized under different configurations by simultaneously implementing a workplace reformation across both virtual and physical environments.

Originality/value – This research shows how workplace reformation – achieved with the same people, all things being equal, relatively immediately and inexpensively – can raise knowledge productivity.