This book is about the currently evolving global standardization of corporate workplace models
and the challenges this poses for their implementation in a local context. In recent years
multinational corporations were increasingly engaged in the development of standardized global
workplace models. For their implementation and feasibility it is decisive as how these
standards fit the diverse regional workplace cultures. This topic was pursued in the course of
a research project comparing established workplaces in Germany USA and Japan against global
workplace standards of multinational corporations. The analysis confirmed the expected
differences among local workplaces and on the other hand a predominant mainstream among global
corporate workplace standards. Conspicuous however are the fundamental differences between
local models and corporate standards. For the implementation of global standards in local
context this implies multiple challenges on cultural organizational and spatial level. The
analysis findings provide information for assessing current projects and pinpointing
optimization measures. The analysis framework further provides a tool to uncover and assess
needs and restrictions for the development of future workplace models.
