Search results

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Relocation is a significant event in the course of an organization's lifetime. The purpose of this paper is to focus on the impacts that relocation has on the relocating organization itself and to identify the economic, social, and environmental impacts of office occupier relocation.

Drawing from the existing literature on impacts of occupiers' relocation, a conceptual framework for modelling organizational relocation impacts is developed. The literature review is done by a systematic review of the ten most relevant journals within the corporate real estate, property, and facilities sector.

Relocation has various impacts including relocation costs, disruption, employee reactions to change, altered lease attributes, and changed environmental footprint. Further, the changes in productivity, employee satisfaction, employee turnover, organizational dynamics, ways of working, commuting, accessibility for external stakeholders, and organizational culture and image are all possible impacts of organizational relocation.

The identified impacts are limited to office occupiers' short distance relocations. As the paper is conceptual by nature, there is a need for more empirical research on the impacts of relocation. The framework introduced in the article requires testing with experiences of relocated case companies and accordingly, it is to be developed further.

The paper provides central questions that relocating organizations should ask themselves.

Using the perspective of the relocating organization, the paper provides insight into the impacts of relocation from the expanded spectrum of Triple Bottom Line of sustainability. The study is of value to corporate real estate researchers and practitioners.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.