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1 – 10 of 62Christopher Heywood and Monique Arkesteijn
This paper aims to report an analysis of the graphical representations of 14 corporate real estate (CRE) models. It does this to establish the systematic, metatheoretical…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to report an analysis of the graphical representations of 14 corporate real estate (CRE) models. It does this to establish the systematic, metatheoretical requirements for modelling CRE alignment which to date have been disguised in a multitude of models.
Design/methodology/approach
This meta study of CRE alignment models used a qualitative hermeneutic method to inductively develop understanding of the models’ constituent parts. Several iterations of graphical and textual analysis were required to do this. Further deductive analysis sought to understand the individual models relative to this new understanding.
Findings
The analysis showed that a total of 12 components have been used to model CRE alignment. These are divided into four Building Blocks: understanding corporate strategy; understanding real estate performance; making real estate strategy; and implementing real estate strategy. While every model’s representation contained the four Building Blocks, few models contained all 12 components, though all contained at least seven. Completeness of representation in this study should not be inferred as equating to effectiveness as an alignment process. Various feedback mechanisms were also evident between the components.
Originality/value
The analysis provides the most complete map of the modelling requirements for CRE alignment. It differs from previous theoretical work on alignment by synthesising a metatheory of alignment representation. By providing a more coherent theory by which to model CRE alignment the metatheory provides a consistent basis on which to investigate and theorise aspects of CRE alignment.
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Matti Christersson, Christopher Heywood and Peggie Rothe
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the social impacts of short-distance office relocation that also involved a new way of working, as perceived by employees during a…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the social impacts of short-distance office relocation that also involved a new way of working, as perceived by employees during a relocation process. Relocation is any process of moving business premises and can consist of (often) significant change in locality, building change, workplace change and ways of working. This case study was not influenced by the effect of locality change making it hence a short-distance relocation.
Design/methodology/approach
The social impacts are analysed based on the perceptions of approximately 15 per cent (nine employees) of the case organization across the relocation process – two months before, one week before and four months after the move. The qualitative data collection is conducted by semi-structured interviews, supplemented by diaries and participatory action research.
Findings
Before the relocation, the subject organization’s old premises were considered inadequate. Still, employees had concerns during the process about the new open office environment including the adoption of new ways of working. Some employees did experience resistance towards the change, although the amount of engagement possibilities was deemed sufficient and engagement recognized as an important part of the process. After the relocation, adaptation was considered easier than originally anticipated and experiences of improved inter-team collaboration were reported by most while others experienced just the opposite, pointing out to emerging individual differences.
Research limitations/implications
The limitations of this study arise mainly from the ability to statistically generalize on the basis of a single case study which this paper represents. Furthermore, since the last interviews were made four months after the move, all post-occupancy implications were possibly not yet fully experienced.
Originality/value
The paper provides information on the social impacts of organizational relocation process, as it identifies individual employee perceptions during a relocation process where locality change is minimal. Moreover, the threefold research approach across the relocation process enables the appearance of possible time-dependent development of adaptation to change in employee perceptions and these perceptions to be analysed in more detail.
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Eelis Rytkönen, Christopher Heywood and Suvi Nenonen
This paper aims to outline campus management process dynamics that are affected by glocalization, changing funding structures and digitalization, and answer: How do glocalization…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to outline campus management process dynamics that are affected by glocalization, changing funding structures and digitalization, and answer: How do glocalization, changing funding structures and digitalization challenge university campus management? and What implications do the challenges have on campus management processes?
Design/methodology/approach
Literature overview discusses how glocalization, changing funding structures and digitalization affect campus management. Empirical part explores how these forces affect management processes through 36 interviews on multiple embedded cases in the main campuses of Aalto University in Finland and the University of Melbourne in Australia.
Findings
Major challenges include future foresight, institutional sharing, economical paucity and functional flexibility. Heterogeneous user behaviors challenge absolute spatial measures as bases for designing learning and working environments. Finding a balance between long-haul portfolio maintenance for the university and future users and short-haul flexible pilots for the current user communities is crucial.
Research limitations/implications
The results derive from interviews of 36 campus management professionals from two campus management organizations limiting the validity and the reliability of the study. Further studies should be conducted by replicating the study in another context, by interviewing end users and clients and by investigating case investments and impacts over time.
Practical implications
Campus managers can answer the challenges through practical applications such as big data collection and sharing in physical environments, integrated service provision to thematic communities, cross-pollination of user communities and open access to information and infrastructure services.
Originality/value
This paper provides insights and tools to strategic alignment by comparing campus management of two fundamentally different systems in the context of higher education and on-going digitalization.
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Mohammad Arif Rohman, Hemanta Doloi and Christopher Andrew Heywood
While the success of the toll road projects procured through public private partnerships (PPPs) routes are widely confined to the cost, time and quality performance in the…
Abstract
Purpose
While the success of the toll road projects procured through public private partnerships (PPPs) routes are widely confined to the cost, time and quality performance in the delivery context, considerable evidence suggests that such success criteria are not sufficient when the toll road projects are assessed in relation to meeting the long-run community expectations. The purpose of this paper is to examine the key factors associated with the success of the toll road projects from a societal perspective in Indonesia.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on the input from 12 experts and a rigorous literature review, a questionnaire survey was designed and a total of 206 respondents from three broad stakeholders’ groups, namely, government, private and end-users’ communities were surveyed to measure the performance of eight toll road projects. The data were primarily analyzed using exploratory factor analysis and reliability test using SPSS Software.
Findings
Four significant factors associated with the project social benefit were established as a measure of the overall success criteria in toll road projects. It is expected these can be used as guidance to deliver project social benefit to the community in the overall project lifecycle.
Research limitations/implications
This research contributes to the incorporation of social project benefit attributes to the the toll road projects’ success criteria in overall project lifecycle.
Practical implications
This study can be used as guidance for the overall stakeholders, such as the government and the project manager to address the current social problems and better navigate the project direction in order to achieve the overall toll road project success in the overall project lifecycles.
Social implications
The research highlights how the Indonesian government’s program of developing toll road projects using the PPP procurement routes can be supported for complete social inclusivity by considering the social dimension to achieve long-term success.
Originality/value
Identification of the key project social factors based on the data set with a wide representation of the stakeholders has made the research original and unique.
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Christopher Heywood and Russell Kenley
The paper aims to establish empirical connections between corporate real estate management (CREM) practices and organisations' sources of sustainable competitive advantage (SSCA)…
Abstract
Purpose
The paper aims to establish empirical connections between corporate real estate management (CREM) practices and organisations' sources of sustainable competitive advantage (SSCA). The alignment of CREM practices with modes of achieving competitiveness provides greater competitive advantage from CREM.
Design/methodology/approach
The model for sustainable competitive advantage for corporate real estate (CRE) theorising the connections between CREM practices and SSCAs was implemented in a survey of Australian CRE managers. Practices' competitive benefits are reported at the aggregated level of practice categories and illustrated with a selected category of individual practices.
Findings
The model was supported by the study's results by providing connections suggested in the model but not previously corroborated in the literature. The cost source of sustainable competitive advantage was a dominant empirical competitive mode for CREM, as it was in the model. Categories of technical CREM practices providing competitive advantage were shown to be practices for “location/site selection”, “workplace styles” and “corporate finance for CRE”.
Research limitations/implications
The research's relatively small sample of organisations meant that not all practices were evident. However, the study does establish the model's usefulness for evaluating CREM's alignment with organisations' modes of competition.
Practical implications
For CRE and its management to fully support a competitive organisation it is essential that CREM practices align with that organisation's competitive positioning. This research evaluated a framework for CRE managers to do this.
Originality/value
CRE, its management, and their connections to competitiveness have seldom been studied but are important as CRE is an organisations' second largest resource. This paper's model is a significant advance in frameworks linking CREM practices to organisational competitiveness for both practitioners and also further theoretical work in the area.
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Abdul Jalil Omar and Christopher Heywood
The purpose of this paper is to introduce concepts of branding applicable to the corporate real estate management (CREM) service and present early results of a study of branding…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to introduce concepts of branding applicable to the corporate real estate management (CREM) service and present early results of a study of branding concepts to address a credibility‐positioning problem in CREM.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper presents case studies of CREM in Australia and Malaysia analysed from the branding perspective.
Findings
It is found that the CREM credibility‐positioning problem inside organisations depends not only on the technical performance of CREM service, but also involves the relationship between CREM and its customers.
Research limitations/implications
These are the early results of a study limited to a few case studies selected from four industry sectors in two different countries. Further findings might explain cross‐cultural perceptions for CREM's credibility‐positioning in emerging and mature real estate markets.
Practical implications
The research clearly identified the application of branding elements in CREM's relationship with customers. The findings of this paper are useful to CREM executives in increasing their credibility in their organisations.
Originality/value
The paper introduces branding theory as being useful and important in CREM practice.
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Kiran Naidu, Richard Reed and Chris Heywood
Driven by Western companies' requirements for efficiency and effectiveness, a trend towards outsourcing of business activities to India and other low‐cost countries commenced in…
Abstract
Driven by Western companies' requirements for efficiency and effectiveness, a trend towards outsourcing of business activities to India and other low‐cost countries commenced in the early 1990s and has continued to grow at a surprisingly fast pace. In a relatively short timeframe India has become a global hub for back‐office services, although the effect on the urban cities is yet to be fully comprehended. As American and European companies continue to relocate their information technology services and other back office works to the subcontinent, there has been a considerable flow‐on effect on Indian corporate real estate. This paper addresses two key questions. Firstly, the factors important for Western companies' outsourcing of organisational activities to India, and secondly, the effect of business outsourcing on corporate real estate locational requirements in India. A survey of corporate real estate representatives in India and the UK was conducted with the results providing an insight into the present state and possible future direction of outsourcing for India. This research presents a unique insight into the impacts of Western business outsourcing on corporate real estate in India, and presents findings that are useful to both organisations seeking to relocate business activities to India and for property market analysts looking to understand drivers behind this sustained demand for Indian corporate real estate.
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