Companies spent more on acquisitions in 2015 than ever before, and it seems safe to assume that the working world of the future will be dominated by big businesses.

Yet many large companies are increasingly finding that real success may actually come from thinking small. According to PwCs Future of Work study, which surveyed over 1,300 workers and 200 C-level executives, employees at small businesses are significantly happier than their counterparts at larger corporations are, thanks to less red tape, more flexible work arrangements, closer-knit company cultures not to mention the latest communications technologies helping to make those workplace communities a reality. These feelings of meaning, satisfaction and independence can lead to greater productivity and innovation on the part of workers, and big businesses are taking note. Now, with the help of data-sharing platforms and collaboration tools , enterprises are achieving the best of both worlds: the intimacy and personal touch of the small-business approach, expressed across an international organization and bolstered by deep pockets.

As part of the Whats Working: Purpose + Profit platform, we collaborated with PwC to profile the emerging technologies that big business are using to build the workplace of tomorrow. By emulating the perceived benefits of smaller companies, these big firms are boosting employee morale and productivity, as well as increasing satisfaction among workers and customers.

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