Many theories from different research disciplines apply to workplace design and management. This chapter describes a first attempt to integrate 21 of those theories into an overall employee-workplace alignment (EWA) framework, as a starting point towards developing a grand EWA theory. Through concept mapping, the tacit knowledge underlying each theory was made explicit in three to five statements that were sorted by 22 experts. By performing multidimensional scaling and cluster analysis, the statements were grouped into eight concepts that reflect the essence of the 21 theories within three regions of meaning: ‘Need-Supply Alignment’, ‘Cognition and Behaviour’, and ‘Organisational Context’. The framework created from the eight concepts connects the different theories in many ways. A further discussion of the three regions and underlying concepts of the framework, in relation to existing workplace research and theory, identifies many research gaps that need attention before the EWA theory can be fully developed. The chapter ends with implications for practice and some closing words for the entire book.

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This second book in the series focuses on the role of workplace management in the organization and the tasks that workplace management needs to consider. The 18 theories that are presented in this book and applied to workplace research discuss management aspects from the organization’s perspective or dive deeper into issues related to people and/or building management. They all emphasize that workplace management is a complex matter that requires more strategic attention in order to add value for various stakeholders. The final chapter of the book describes a first step towards integrating the presented theories into an interdisciplinary framework for developing a grand workplace management theory.@en