Guest editorial

Citation

Wofford, L., Worzala, E.M. and Wyman, D. (2021), "Guest editorial", Journal of Property Investment & Finance, Vol. 39 No. 2, pp. 45-46. https://doi.org/10.1108/JPIF-03-2021-171

PropTech and entrepreneurship in commercial real estate

Almost 50 years ago, Pyhrr (1973) described the commercial real estate (CRE) environment as complex, dynamic and uncertain. Today, the CRE business environment is described as volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous (VUCA). While clock time has remained the same, that is, an hour is still an hour, dynamism or event time, the number of events per unit of time continues to accelerate. Complexity and uncertainty have also increased in part because of the growth in the number and interaction of complex adaptive systems in every aspect of CRE. Technology innovation is an important factor affecting the rate of volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity in CRE. Never has CRE had a clearer mandate to understand “tech” of all kinds and its implications for CRE and its business environment.

It never has been more important for CRE firms and professionals to have visions, missions and organizational designs oriented to CRE of the future, not the past or present. Constantly, catching up is not a useful strategy because possible disruptors often are difficult to identify. Looking ahead and developing approaches for managing and creating change provides a smoother business path. CRE professionals must pay attention to change internal and external to the CRE industry. In fact, the notion of a CRE industry may be much too narrow for effective strategy development. On the academic side, equipping students with theories, frameworks, mindsets and tools suitable for the future, not just the present, is critical. Academic research also must focus on being relevant for the future, not just the past or present. In a VUCA environment, academic teaching and research activities dealing with strategic foresight with relevance and rigor will be valuable for CRE.

This second special issue on proptech and entrepreneurship-innovation in CRE contributes to this effort. As with the first special issue, the papers in this edition are exploratory in nature in that they raise potential opportunities and issues and begin the important work of framing appropriate questions. But, as with the papers in the earlier issue, work in this issue often goes beyond simply framing, as the authors initiate the difficult and intense process of identifying the edges between what is known and what is unknown. Specifically, they begin the work of identifying the relevant elements of a research framework: intellectual antecedents, pre-theoretical ideas, subject matter, analogies, concepts and language and methodology relevant to the topics at hand (Lachman et al., 1979). These papers represent reasoned and useful efforts to understand the connection between technology and the innovation needed for CRE to create value for individuals, organizations and society.

Implicit in this issue is the need for curiosity and a mindset capable of learning from where that curiosity leads. Such learning requires an exploration mindset capable of holding two opposing ideas in mind at the same time – an existing paradigm and the possibility of a new paradigm. Flexibility and adaptability will be hallmarks of successfully surviving and thriving in VUCA environments. These papers also highlight the need to consider how humans interact with technology and how the complexity of these interactions creates emergent properties. These emergent properties can create significant consequences for CRE. For example, telemedicine, telework and other “tele” activities have emerged or significantly increased during the recent pandemic. How these activities may affect CRE in the future are cogent and interesting questions.

Enjoy this collection of articles. The topics are wide-ranging and, hopefully, spur your thinking about the interaction between technology and CRE.