Editorial

Citation

Cooke, H. (2016), "Editorial", Journal of Corporate Real Estate, Vol. 18 No. 4, pp. 226-226. https://doi.org/10.1108/JCRE-07-2016-0027

Corporate real estate (CRE) is a diverse subject drawing upon many influences and is multi-facetted in what it covers. Yet, it never ceases to surprise me as to how little coverage CRE gets outside its own world. Everyone who works uses space of some type. Their organisation may try and avoid commitment to it, but, as a consequence, their people use serviced offices; coffee shops; libraries; dining rooms; etc. for their physical space needs. They rely directly or indirectly on others, such as service providers, to provide space or use their space via servers, or the like. The role of CRE as the fifth resource and its importance for knowledge workers has been recognised within CRE for a long time; however, the wider recognition is still to materialise. Trying to get business schools to put some element of a CRE module on the curriculum is still an uphill struggle. As a result, CRE still causes companies dearly with poor decision-making on CRE issues.

The diversity of CRE is illustrated with the papers in this issue covering topics and wide range of topics such as lease lengths, building information modelling (BIM), new ways of working and IT systems.

Danielle McCluskey, Mike McCord, Lay Lim and Peadar Davis examine the impact on commercial leases in three centres in the UK of the recession and the change to shorter more flexible leases, highlighting the way the landlord-tenant negotiating process operates.

BIM has been changing the way architects and engineers design buildings, but Sara Wilkinson and Julie Jupp look at how BIM adds value for CRE practitioners and how it is impacting the life cycle of buildings.

The Workplace has become one of the essential elements of CRE, and Olga Van Diermen and Schelte Beltman’s paper considers how New Ways of Working is introduced and is the important aspect of communication through the entire process of making change a success.

Our final paper by Damir Janssen-Tapken and Andreas Pfnur considers enterprise resource planning systems and its benefits in CRE using evidence from Austria, Germany and Switzerland and how that supports CRE managers.

This is my final editorial for the Journal of Corporate Real Estate (JCRE), as I am stepping down at the end of 2016 after four years. I would like to express my thanks to all those who have helped during my time as editor. To the authors, thank you for making the time to submit an article to JCRE; I know the blood, sweat and tears that go in to writing an article. To all the reviewers I have worked with, thank you for your essential work in providing feedback and helping in improve articles and, with it, the Journal, and apologies for all the chasing e-mails! To the members of the Editorial Advisory Board, thank you for your guidance and support. To the team at Emerald, thank you for keeping me on the straight and narrow, especially in navigating the production process. Finally, to my Co-Editor, Rianne Appel-Meulenbroek, thank you for a very enjoyable partnership and learning experience over the past three years.

Christopher Heywood steps in to my shoes to become the Co-Editor with Rianne, and I wish them both well in their roles and in continuing to push JCRE forward.