Editorial

Citation

Warren, C.M.J. (2017), "Editorial", Property Management, Vol. 35 No. 4, pp. 366-367. https://doi.org/10.1108/PM-06-2017-0038

In the fourth issue of Property Management for 2017, we present six more research papers presented by researchers working in Hong Kong, Norway, the UK, Australia, South Africa, Malaysia and Ghana. There are two papers in this issue which represent collaborative research by universities spread across two continents and it is pleasing to see that national boundaries are becoming less of a barrier to international research. It would be rewarding to see more papers of this type, perhaps where more established researchers are able to work with those in regions less experienced in presenting research papers to publish their research.

The first paper in this issue comes from Asle Gauteplass from Norges Teknisk-naturvitenskapelige Universitet Trondheim, Norway and Arnt Hopland from the Norwegian School of Economics, Bergen, Norway. Their paper is entitled “Using game theory to stimulate provision of local public facilities”. The paper explores how the central government can use well-known game theoretical concepts in order to stimulate provision of local public facilities. The paper focusses on the provision of local government services such as kindergartens, schools and health services and the ability of central government to influence the optimal provision of services. The results provide an interesting perspective on the provision of essential public sector facilities.

The second paper is written by Matthew Tucker, Mohd Masuri and Alison Cotgrave from the Liverpool John Moores University, UK. This paper identifies the critical strategic issues for the integration of facilities management into the development process. Using a semi-structured interviews methodology, the researchers conducted ten interviews with professionals in the development and FM industry in the UK. The findings of the paper entitled: “Critical strategic issues for the integration of facilities management into the development process” support the proposition put forward from the literature review, that, FM should be integrated into the development planning process. This view is all the more critical as BIM becomes an established development and FM standard.

The third paper is written by Jeffrey Boon Hui Yap and Seh Vian Goh from the Department of Surveying, Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman, Malaysia. Their paper is entitled: “Determining the potential and requirements of transit-oriented development (TOD): the case of Malaysia”. The purpose of the study is to explore the potential of transit-oriented development and how buyers perceive these developments and their comfortable walking distance to transport facilities within Malaysian cities. The growing population in Malaysian cites is stimulating the development of TODs. The paper uses a survey method which focusses on generation Y participants in order to identify their housing preferences. This study while limited to Malaysia provides some insight into the changing housing preferences and has application in many rapidly expanding cities.

The fourth paper was written by Douw Boshoff from the University of Pretoria, South Africa and David Parker from the University of South Australia. The paper entitled “Preferences among real estate journals: perceptions vs reality” examines the relationship between real estate journal rankings and researchers preferences for publication. The paper used a survey of members of the International Real Estate Society to identify preferences and compared these with impact factors obtained from Google. The paper shows some interesting results and reinforces the preference for US-based journals particularly by researchers from the ARES region. The paper also provides some useful analysis of citation rates and H factors for leading real estate journals.

The fifth paper is based on the research undertaken in the UK and Australia where the author seeks to identify the key performance criteria that the public sector which to achieve in the delivery of development projects. This paper is written by Terence Lam from the Technological and Higher Education Institute of Hong Kong and is entitled “Prediction of performance outcomes for procurement of public-sector construction consultants for property management”. The research methodology employed interviews and questionnaires which were focussed on the delivery of public sector buildings for universities. While the scope of public sector building type is limited, the research findings are as might be anticipated in terms of time cost and quality but also find that client relationship is also a key success factor. This research project, funded by the RICS Research Trust, while focussed on the development industry has implications for property managers seeking the development of new assets.

The final paper is a collaboration between three universities and was written by Kwasi Baffour Awuah and Jessica Lamond, both from the University of the West of England, Frank Gyamfi-Yeboah from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Ghana and David Proverbs from the Birmingham City University, UK. Their paper is entitled: “Sources and reliability of property market information for property valuation practice in Ghana”. The research reports on the critical need for reliable property transaction data in order to undertake accurate real estate valuations in Ghana. The research method employed incorporates a data research and questionnaires and interviews with practicing valuers. The findings show that there are a number of data sources available but, as in many parts of the world, incomplete and scattered data along with non-disclosure of property transactions leads to imperfect data sets on which to base market appraisals.

I trust that you find the research presented in this issue of Property Management interesting and thought provoking. As always I look forward to receiving your research papers for publication in future issues of the journal.