Re-theorising the Office as an Information Ecosystem: Implications for Management Theory and Professional Practice in Nigeria

This study re-theorises the concept of the office as a complex information ecosystem, developing an original theoretical proposition that reconceptualises the office environment from a mechanical administrative space to a dynamic, adaptive system of information flows, power relations, and knowledge transactions. The existing theoretical vocabulary of office management, rooted in classical administrative management theories, is inadequate for capturing the complexity of contemporary office environments shaped by digital technologies, hybrid work arrangements, and platform-mediated communication. The research employs a conceptual theory-building methodology in four stages. Stage One systematically reviews theoretical foundations across office management theory, information ecology, complexity science, and organisational communication (1990 to 2024). Stage Two conducts sixty empirical interviews with senior office managers, organisational theorists, and information scientists across Lagos, Abuja, Kano, Port Harcourt, Enugu, and Kaduna to ground the theoretical reconceptualisation in Nigerian professional experience. Stage Three develops the Office Information Ecosystem Theory (OIET) through iterative integration of conceptual and empirical findings. Stage Four subjects the theory to critical validation through a peer review symposium attended by fifteen Nigerian and three international scholars. The OIET proposes seven ecosystem dimensions and twenty-two theoretical propositions, representing a major original contribution to office management theory. Recommendations target university curriculum committees and the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators of Nigeria. Keywords: information ecosystem, office management theory, reconceptualisation, Nigeria, theoretical contribution