A study of organisational response to the management of operational property assets and facilities support services as a business resource - real estate asset management. Vol. 1-2
Abstract
The research was driven by three objectives:
• to clarify the nature and strength of the link between strategic business planning and
the contributory role of the corporate real estate assets;
• to model the management processes that are necessary for a proactive approach to
real estate provision and their ongoing management as operational facilities; and
• to develop an integrated management development model for real estate asset
management that is built on continuous improvement.
The underlying aim of the study is to develop models and frameworks that justify and
provide for the competencies necessary for the continuous alignmof the operational
real estate assets to changing business requirements. The above research objectives
were operationalised by investigating three related organisational variables - structure,
processes and competencies.
The main findings reflect a situation in which organisations are looking to optimise on all
its business resources. The dynamics of the market place and the pace of technological
development are forcing many organisations to look at their operational assets more
closely. The evidence from the case studies organisations supports the following:
Structure - It is not so much the positioning in terms of closeness to corporate
management, but the level of influence that real estate/facilities executives have on the
corporate decision making processes that relate to operational facilities issues.
Processes - A proactive management approach must provide for procedures that
incorporate the strategic business intentions in facilities dimensions and be in a position
to provide solutions to business needs.
Competencies - It is incumbent upon the real estate/facilities department to understand
the nature of the business they are supporting and develop competencies that support
the corporate strategic intent.
The research proposes an integrated resource planning framework that incorporates the
requirements of three principal business resources; people, technology and property.
The proposed framework regards Real Estate Asset Management, REAM, as an
integrative planning and management process that considers the outcome in operational
facilities provision as matching the requirements of people, technology and property; to
consciously create the desired workplace environment as defined by real estate
variables (via the strategic facilities brief) and facilities services variables (via the service
levels brief). The proposed framework was validated against a panel of experts
practising in the field of real estate and facilities management.
The contribution in knowledge in the field may be viewed in terms of a critical
examination of the role of operational facilities as a business resource and the
implications this has on the practice of real estate asset management in an
organisational setting.