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Article
Publication date: 1 September 2005

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…

1968

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.

Details

Journal of Corporate Real Estate, vol. 7 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1463-001X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 2 March 2010

Chris Heywood, Gregory Missingham and Russell Kenley

This paper aims to establish a basis for considering and then studying the affective psychology found in subjective assessments encountered in managing facility provision, in this…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to establish a basis for considering and then studying the affective psychology found in subjective assessments encountered in managing facility provision, in this case in Australian local government.

Design/methodology/approach

The literature was used to construct a suite of models that provides a legitimate basis to consider affective, subjective and other assessments in the field. A psychologically‐based orientational qualitative enquiry using an Affective Lexicon was used for an empirical study.

Findings

The study found that affect is pervasive in the management of local government facilities. It was found in expectations facility management has concerning consequences of its work, stakeholders' expectations and evaluations, and had utility in managing facility projects. A Scheme of Affective Management is proposed that uses a suite of techniques to achieve affective outcomes and consequences from facility management. These results challenge so‐called objectivity in the field.

Research limitations/implications

The empirical study occurred in Australian local government but it is likely that the results are generalisable to other countries and also to the private sector and could apply more generally to effective facility management.

Practical implications

A Scheme of Affective Management is introduced that provides a suite of practices that could be employed to manage facility projects' affective outcomes.

Originality/value

The field embraces the psychology of facilities. This paper is a very early example that demonstrates that considering psychology in the management of facilities is also important.

Details

Facilities, vol. 28 no. 3/4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0263-2772

Keywords

Content available

Abstract

Details

Journal of Corporate Real Estate , vol. 25 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1463-001X

Article
Publication date: 1 June 2006

Chris Heywood and Jim Smith

This paper's purpose is to identify successful methods used to integrate stakeholders into the early phases of strategic community facility projects.

2851

Abstract

Purpose

This paper's purpose is to identify successful methods used to integrate stakeholders into the early phases of strategic community facility projects.

Design/methodology/approach

A two‐stage research method was used at project inception and design phases of a community facility. Project inception used action research pre‐design strategic needs analysis workshops with internal local authority stakeholders to capture the council's internal stakeholders' agreed strategic aspirations, resulting in a performance‐based brief. Subsequently, observation‐based research investigated project processes conducted by others. Owing to the nature of the brief, additional engagement was required with stakeholders internal and external to the council.

Findings

The processes integrating council and municipal stakeholders are described. These included identification of stakeholders and their roles in project processes. Stakeholders were shown to be the target for individual strategies within the facility's multiple strategies. Management practices employed by facility managers to integrate stakeholders were documented at strategic planning, project inception, governance and pre‐construction phases.

Research limitations/implications

The research was conducted into a single facility but this is representative of other community facilities. This facility was significant for its multiple organisational and municipal strategies, and the high levels of stakeholder satisfaction. Stakeholders' early integration into project processes is likely to address a problematic expectation‐evaluation gap identified in the literature.

Practical implications

This paper identifies successful practices for facility managers to employ at early project phases.

Originality/value

Stakeholder integration is particularly important in community FM where there are multiple stakeholders and issues of internality and externality effects from facilities are debated.

Details

Facilities, vol. 24 no. 7/8
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0263-2772

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 June 2005

Jim Smith, Peter E.D. Love and Chris Heywood

The purpose of this article is to create a strategically positioned client performance brief with a clear and workable statement of the project requirements specified by a…

1372

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this article is to create a strategically positioned client performance brief with a clear and workable statement of the project requirements specified by a representative group of stakeholders.

Design/methodology/approach

The application describes the relocation of a library with community facilities with a local council. This action research study of the project inception stages used the process of strategic needs analysis (SNA). This approach uses a workshop setting involving stakeholders in identifying a range of strategic options for the project problem. The development of a range of realistic options was aided by the use of a problem‐ structuring computer program, Situation Structuring. Individual workshop participants then expressed their preferences for the final options using a second software package (Strategizer) and after a short period for analysis the results were presented to a second workshop for discussion. The performance brief was then prepared to reflect stakeholders' and the workshop's preferences.

Findings

The process involved is described with the development and selection of organizational strategic options with the council stakeholders. The creation and identification of user performance indicators to guide the design development process is illustrated and a sample from the final performance brief is provided. The project is nearing completion and the local Council considers the process has been a success.

Research limitations/implications

The process described has been developed over six studies in varying client environments in Australia. Further studies are needed in client organisations with a rolling program of capital works to test the robustness of the approach described.

Practical implications

This work can assist the facilities manager to play an important role in the development of the initial performance‐based brief during the project inception stage that can assist clients and guide the design team.

Originality/value

Establishing client needs during the formative stages of a project (before design commences) is becoming an increasingly important role for the facilities manager. This work presents a description of a process that provides the means for clients and facilities managers to ensure that their strategic needs are met within the defined project.

Details

Facilities, vol. 23 no. 7/8
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0263-2772

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 16 February 2015

Chris Heywood, Eckhart Hertzsch and Mirek Piechowski

The purpose of this paper is to report an investigation of the effect of location on refurbishment strategies to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions using the temperate and…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to report an investigation of the effect of location on refurbishment strategies to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions using the temperate and sub-tropical urban locations in Australia. This occurred within a larger research project that investigated methods for sustainable refurbishments to office buildings and their optimized timing from an investment perspective.

Design/methodology/approach

An office building in Melbourne was used to develop seven sets of improvements using an integrated approach to upgrade mechanical services and the building envelope. Using asset management trigger points the impact on net present value and internal rate of return were calculated, taking into account the capital expenditure required, the energy savings due to the refurbishment, as well as a possible rental increase due to the upgrade and lesser operational energy bills for the tenants. To investigate the importance of the location attribute the upgraded building’s performance was modelled in a different climate by using a Brisbane weather file.

Findings

A number of unexpected results were found, including that the same sets of improvements had similar reductions in GHG emissions in the two locations, they had similar impacts on the investment criteria and when using the National Australian Building Energy Rating System it was shown that it was easier and cheaper to get an uplift in stars in Melbourne than Brisbane.

Research limitations/implications

This location-specific analysis is the result of using a more sophisticated and holistic methodology to analyse sustainable refurbishments that more closely resembles the complexity of the decision making required to make buildings more sustainable.

Practical implications

This paper provides a basis for property investors to make decisions about sustainable investments when location is important. This can occur when a portfolio is distributed across various climate zones.

Originality/value

The research project that the paper reports addresses the complexity of building attributes, possible sets of improvements to reduce GHG emissions and their investment decisions, within a life cycle view of assets. It is rare that this complexity is addressed as a whole, and rarer that locational climatic differences are examined.

Details

Property Management, vol. 33 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0263-7472

Keywords

Content available
Article
Publication date: 17 August 2015

Clive M J Warren

127

Abstract

Details

Property Management, vol. 33 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0263-7472

Article
Publication date: 4 April 2008

Wisa Majamaa, Matti Kuronen, Juha Kostiainen and Chris Heywood

This paper aims to examine the identification and engagement of future inhabitants in urban planning processes using a new “public–private–people partnerships (4Ps)” participation…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to examine the identification and engagement of future inhabitants in urban planning processes using a new “public–private–people partnerships (4Ps)” participation method, where public, private and people are in partnership. This form of participation gives new information, related to consumers’ residential choice, unlike those environments produced by using other participation methods.

Design/methodology/approach

The empirical study is based in innovation theory where end‐users are primary stakeholders in the innovation process, and even innovators themselves. A case study of a new participation method based on a two‐phase internet questionnaire is used to research practical solutions in integrating end‐users into urban planning process.

Findings

This paper demonstrates that the widely used theory of communicative action in planning and its aim of increasing citizens’ activity in planning and development processes can be developed to the stage that it also includes future inhabitants as stakeholders. Thus urban planning processes become innovative and customer‐oriented through their openness, end‐user orientation and interpretative nature.

Originality/value

The case study findings indicate that the new participation method described here gives flexibility and benefits to all stakeholders and is a method to create consumer desirable neighborhoods. Engaging future inhabitants in planning processes opens previously unseen potential for including consumerist possibilities for cities and developers. This paper illustrates that this new 4Ps participation method makes comprehensive participatory planning and development possible through giving an opportunity to include consumers’ opinions and needs into an alternative to traditional communicative planning.

Details

International Journal of Housing Markets and Analysis, vol. 1 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1753-8270

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 17 August 2015

Peggie Rothe, Chris Heywood, Matti Christersson and Anna-Liisa Sarasoja

The purpose of this paper is to increase the understanding of the management of office relocations in Finnish organisations with a focus on the use of, and need for, external…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to increase the understanding of the management of office relocations in Finnish organisations with a focus on the use of, and need for, external advisory services.

Design/methodology/approach

The study used a sequential mixed method approach. First, the use of relocation-related services, and organisations’ perception of the need for them, was assessed through a questionnaire sent to all organisations with more than 50 employees in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area (HMA). The data includes 83 responses. Subsequently, service experiences, perceived service needs, and the challenges that organisations face in relocation are studied through thematic interviews with 15 organisations that have recently relocated.

Findings

The findings show that, despite facing many challenges when relocating, many organisations do not consider using external service providers. Most organisations do not acknowledge the complexity of the process until afterwards, and they also lack knowledge of the availability of relocation-related services.

Research limitations/implications

The main limitation is the population size of the questionnaire. A larger population would have allowed for more generalisations, but the results do provide insight into the organisations’ issues in managing their relocations.

Practical implications

In order to facilitate the better organisational relocation experiences, and to develop the market for relocation-related services, service providers need to begin educating organisations of the challenges and opportunities of relocation, and successively increase the awareness of the availability of services.

Originality/value

Relocation, when it is considered in the literature, is most often construed as being about location, or site selection. This study approaches the phenomenon from the organisations’ perspective and considers relocation a process that needs to be managed.

Details

Property Management, vol. 33 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0263-7472

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 29 August 2008

Wisa Majamaa, Matti Kuronen, Chris Heywood and Juha Kostiainen

The purpose of this paper is to examine the identification and engagement of future inhabitants in planning processes for residential developments using a new “4Ps” participation…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the identification and engagement of future inhabitants in planning processes for residential developments using a new “4Ps” participation method, where the 4Ps denote public, private and people are in partnership. This form of participation gives new information, related to consumers' residential choice, unlike those environments produced by using other participation methods.

Design/methodology/approach

The empirical study is based on innovation theory where end‐users are primary stakeholders in the innovation process, and even innovators themselves. A case study of a new participation method based on a two‐phase internet questionnaire is used to research practical solutions in integrating end‐users into urban planning process.

Findings

This paper demonstrates that the widely used theory of communicative action in planning and its aim of increasing citizens' activity in planning and development processes can be developed to the stage that it also includes future inhabitants as stakeholders. Thus urban planning processes become innovative and customer‐oriented through their openness, end‐user orientation and interpretative nature.

Originality/value

The case study findings indicate that the new participation method described here gives flexibility and benefits to all stakeholders and is a method to create consumer‐desirable neighbourhoods. Engaging future inhabitants in planning processes opens previously unseen potential for including consumerist possibilities for cities and developers. This paper illustrates that this new 4Ps participation method makes comprehensive participatory planning and development possible through giving an opportunity to include consumers' opinions and needs into an alternative to traditional communicative planning.

Details

International Journal of Housing Markets and Analysis, vol. 1 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1753-8270

Keywords

1 – 10 of 43