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Focussing on the UK’s institutional real estate universe, this paper analyses variations in the operational management of real estate investment portfolios. For the main categories of institutional investors, the key tasks in real estate operational management, and the ways in which these tasks are typically bundled and categorised by investment managers are reviewed. Three broad operational management models are outlined. Case studies of real estate operational management models in practice are discussed.

The research approach is primarily descriptive, drawing upon illustrative investor case studies.

A range of operating models are identified for managing real estate investment portfolios. Specialists real estate investors tend to have highly vertically integrated operating models viewing most operational management functions as core operational capabilities. Multi-asset owners tend to have a vertically disintegrated operating model outsourcing fund, asset, property and facilities management. Investing institutions such as fund houses and specialist real estate investment advisors seem to have converged upon a common hybrid operating model with high margin, analytical functions such as fund and asset management being insourced and low margin, routine functions such as property and facilities management being outsourced.

Despite the size of the global, institutional real estate investment universe (estimated by DTZ to be worth more than USD 13.6 trillion in 2015), the topic of how (and how effectively) these assets are managed by institutional investors has attracted very little attention from the real estate research community. This paper provides some initial analysis and insights into operational management models for real estate investment portfolios in the contemporary real estate investment management landscape.

This paper aims to examine the performance efficiency of 56 real estate assets within the rental sector in the UAE to evaluate the relative operation efficiency in relation to revenue generation.

The data envelopment analysis (DEA) approach was used to measure the relative operational efficiency of the studied assets in relation to the revenue performance. This method could produce a more informed and balanced approach to performance measurement.

The outcomes show that scores of efficiencies ranging from 7% to 99% in some of the models. The results showed that on average buildings are 75% relatively less efficient in maintenance, in term of revenue generation, than the benchmark set. Likewise, on average, the inefficient buildings are 60% relatively less efficient in insurance. Result also shows that 95% of the building assets in the sample are by and large operating at decreasing returns to scale. This implies that managers need to considerably reduce the operational resources (input) to improve the levels of revenue.

This study recommends that the FM operational variables that were found to inefficiently contribute to the revenue should be re-examined to test the validity of the findings. This is necessary before generalising or interpolating the results that are presented in this study.

The information obtained about operational performance can help FM managers to understand which improvements in the productivity of inefficient FM resources are required, providing insight into how to reduce operating costs and increase revenue.

This paper adds value in using new FM operational parameters to evaluate the efficiency of the performance of built assets.

This paper aims to provide a comprehensive analysis of the transformative impact of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Large Language Models (LLMs), such as GPT-4, on the real estate industry. It explores how these technologies are reshaping various aspects of the sector, from market analysis and valuation to customer interactions and evaluates the balance between technological efficiency and the preservation of human elements in business.

The study is based on an analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of AI as a technology in applications for real estate. It uses this framework to assess the potential of this technology in different use cases. This is supplemented by an emerging literature on the topic, practical insights and industry expert opinions to provide a balanced perspective on the subject.

The paper reveals that AI and LLMs offer significant benefits in real estate, including enhanced data-driven decision-making, predictive analytics and operational efficiency. However, it also uncovers critical challenges, such as potential biases in AI algorithms and the risk of depersonalising customer interactions.

The paper advocates for a balanced approach to adopting AI, emphasising the importance of understanding its strengths and limitations while ensuring ethical usage in the diverse and complex landscape of real estate.

This work stands out for its balanced examination of both the advantages and limitations of AI in real estate. It introduces the novel concept of the “jagged technological frontier” in real estate, providing a unique framework for understanding the interplay between AI and human expertise in the industry.

The focus of the research was to provide a business perspective to the role of real estate assets in supporting the fulfilment of corporate business plans. Based on a comprehensive survey of published literature and a series of in‐depth interviews of corporate real estate/facilities managers, an integrating resource management framework was developed to model the nature of interactions between strategic business planning and operational asset management in an organisational setting. The study supports the view that research efforts aimed at improving management effectiveness of the operational real estate asset base must be channelled to provide frameworks or models that promote understanding to all parties involved in the process, from a knowledge base that aims to define better: the operational requirements of core business(es); the key real estate and facilities service attributes; and options evaluation to meet dynamic changes.

The asset allocation decision for a pension portfolio needs to consider several, sometimes conflicting, aspects. Most pension managers use models and processes that are developed for the traditional asset classes for analyzing this problem. The purpose of this paper is to investigate how real estate is included in this process, for what purpose and how the real estate portfolio is constructed.

Seven individuals responsible for the asset allocation process were interviewed, and their responses were analyzed with regards to organizational options and their real estate strategy.

It was found that real estate is held for three different purposes, risk diversification, inflation hedging/liability matching and return enhancement and that the allocation has increased over time. The allocation strategy has evolved at least in part in conjuncture with the organizational structure set in place to overcome real estate market frictions.

The interviews were geographically limited to pension funds domiciled in Sweden and Finland.

It is concluded that the organizational capabilities of the pension fund of handling real estate is an important consideration for the ensuing real estate portfolio.

The originality of this paper lies in that it is based on interviews with individuals who are responsible for the asset allocation decision at large pension funds. The findings of the paper identify areas of interest for future research.

The purpose of this paper is to show how international companies (can) use real estate as a means to reinforce corporate identity and to express brand values in order to evoke a positive image in today's competitive world.

A review of literature, seven case studies including analysis of company documents and in-depth interviews with marketing experts and real estate advisors, and a cross-case analysis showing the translation of brand core values in real estate strategies of these multinationals.

The findings show that brand values are incorporated in the location strategy, building strategy, workplace strategy and at portfolio management level by all companies, but in different ways and with different focus points. Most commonly used brand values are “Green” values, i.e. sustainability, reliability, transparency, innovation and people oriented. Branding policies take into account both internal stakeholders such as the employees and external stakeholders such as customers and investors.

The number of interviews is rather small and limited to Dutch staff members of multinationals. Reliability of the findings was enforced by triangulation through connecting the interview findings to literature and strategic documents. Additional empirical research is needed to further explore which strategic choices can be made and in particular what are the actual costs and benefits of “branding by real estate”.

The different ways to translate corporate brand values in real estate and the conceptual framework that has been developed to describe the step-by-step approach – from defining a vision to translating corporate culture and corporate identity into a well-considered real estate strategy – can be used by policy makers and real estate managers in real estate decision-making on strategic, tactical and operational level.

The paper links findings from corporate real estate management with insights from marketing theory and adding value by real estate.

Sound real estate decisions are both financially and strategically essential to corporate success. Given their importance, this paper aims to illustrate how the actor network theory (ANT) can be a valuable alternate lens to bounded rational and political perspectives in providing insights into corporate real estate decision‐making processes.

This exploratory investigation uses a case study approach to retroactively examine the real estate decision‐making process over five to seven years in four organizations ranging in size from four to 125 employees. The study uses multiple data sources including 25 in‐depth interviews, site visits, archival data, websites, documents, and email correspondence.

Using the constructs of ANT, the findings reveal how real estate decision making involves iterative but identifiable phases through which heterogeneous actors seek to converge diverse interests and where artifacts affect behaviors and outcomes as much as or sometimes more than their human creators.

Given the case study method, this research lacks generalizability. Researchers are encouraged to test the findings in different contexts.

The ANT perspective helps managers faced with real estate decisions to appreciate the relevant matrix of need, power, and interests; recognize and seek to control the power of artifacts; and, view real estate decision making not as simply making a choice among logical alternatives, but as orchestrating a long, complex process.

This investigation compares the perspectives of ANT to the classical bounded rational and political lenses in examining corporate real estate decision making; demonstrates ANT's value in providing additional insights; and, discusses its implications for understanding and managing these complex processes.

Regarding the immense real estate divestitures that have taken place over the last couple of years, some stakeholders have begun to wonder if these short‐term activities may affect the long‐term competitive advantage of a company. While it appears reasonable that property divestitures enhance the financial situation of a company from a so‐called owner perspective, there is no equivalent quantitative evaluation for the loss in space utilisation and flexibility from a user perspective. Consequently, real estate decision making is based upon an insufficient information basis and is dominated by the investment perspective. In order to better align corporate real estate and real estate investment functions better, this paper introduces a formal decision model which describes the situation of corporate real estate decision makers. They have to trade off entrepreneurial flexibility gained by real estate holdings against the financial opportunity cost of freeing up capital. Making use of a prototype decision situation, the paper demonstrates how the decision maker can improve the underlying information basis for property divestment decisions, using a real option approach. Hence, real estate decisions gain in two respects: they are more transparent and, more importantly, their design is more suitable if the company wants to employ real estate holdings to increase the overall value of the company.

Many established trading companies have had considerable capital value locked into their operational properties. These properties have been identified as producing lower returns on invested capital than core business activities. Consequently, there has been a growing trend for the splitting of operational property from core business activity. This paper seeks to identify trends in sale‐and‐leaseback, which is the most common model in the UK.

This paper reviews, the existing literature and some past transactions in order to identify the motivations of both operational businesses and property investors in adopting the model. Some transaction case studies are also highlighted.

Identification of the motives behind this approach. Accounting, taxation and capital release are identified as the main drivers when the model first became widespread in the UK two decades ago. It is now driven by taxation and capital release. Originally adopted by leading companies, sale‐and‐leaseback has more recently been used by weaker covenants. The model has remained popular with investors, but there have been some recent failures.

This paper examines recent trends and seeks to identify how the sale‐and‐leaseback model may develop in the UK. Furthermore, the application of the model in the UK may give some insight into its application in other parts of the world, where it is either gaining further acceptance or may have greater potential application.

The success of every business depends to a large extent on its corporate real estate (CRE), given that, it is the physical assets that support its operations. To achieve this success, organizations must adopt a strategic approach to CRE management. The purpose of this paper is to examine the extent of adoption of strategic corporate real estate management (SCREM) practice in Ghana based on the views of CRE managers.

The embedded mixed method approach was adopted for the study. In total, 72 CRE managers were selected from 35 institutions in 5 sectors (tertiary education, health, banking, security and service industry) where real estate is a requirement for accreditation using a multi-stage sampling technique.

An analysis of the existing practices underpinning SCREM in Ghana showed that SCREM has not been adopted completely in Ghanaian institutions. No organization has a complete systematic structure in place for SCREM as the practice is evolving. This finding correlates the global trend that CRE is not strategically managed like other corporate resources.

Current SCREM practices in Ghana, as divulged by this research, provide useful insight into the current status quo of SCREM and what must be done to ensure that CRE achieves its attribute of value adding.

The paper outlines the elements of SCREM practice, adding to the limited literature on the practice in Ghana and worldwide. It also sets the stage for further research in SCREM practice and CRE performance.