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The purpose of this paper is to explore the role knowledge plays in expert commercial valuer practice to unpack the way theoretical and experiential knowledge operates in order to improve practice and education.

Adopting a cognitivist perspective and identifying meta-reasoning, using a grounded theory methodology, through the study of 11 chartered valuation surveyors practicing in Birmingham, United Kingdom, the distinctive theoretical and experiential knowledge they used was elicited through their in-depth reflection on a valuation task followed by analytical interviews exploring meaning and reasons of actions described.

The results confirmed that multi-sourced and rich valuation knowledge was a key attribute of a valuation expert. However, the experiential knowledge was not used to undertake the task but to select the methods and knowledge appropriate for the task and context. This meta-reasoning is a key to the speed, accuracy and justification of their practices. Thus, the experience gained from many years of valuation provides expert valuers with meta-reasoning involving knowledge of what, how and when to deal with problems in different circumstances such as the knowledge of markets and handling of clients.

Making meta-reasoning a key aspect of valuation will identify its characteristics more clearly, thus assisting the development of practitioners and providing a new focus for education to advance professional goals.

Meta-reasoning and meta-cognitive knowledge have not been identified as a key to successful valuation practice. This meta-reasoning allows a subtle balance of theory and experience in valuation practice that is appropriate to the situation.

Discusses the components of valuation expertise as applied to the residual mortgage valuation domain and considers the different levels of analysis at which this expertise is exhibited. Explores the difference between ′true′ valuation expertise and expertness, the implications of the consultant′s ability to work across different domains of specialization by using analogies and the use of both individual and multiple experts in producing a ′domain theory′ which could be utilized in the production of an expert system for the mortgage valuation problem.

Expert systems are currently being developed in many and varied professions. A major problem however is the extraction of knowledge from the required expert in order that it can be represented within the system. This paper will summarise the problems of knowledge elicitation, outline the methods currently used to acquire expert knowledge and describe the method we have refined from these general principles as the most suitable for ‘capturing’ the expertise of a practicising residential mortgage valuer. The basis of this paper is a research project investigating the application of expert systems to the valuation of vacant possession residential properties for mortgage purposes continuing at the Polytechnic of Wales.

This paper aims to explore how sell-side analysts and salespeople make sense of uncertainty on their market knowledge, valuation and marketing outputs.

Data is collected by direct observations of and interviews with analysts and salespeople in the Turkish stock exchange, an emerging market with considerable global fund management activity.

Analysts face considerable uncertainty on their market value forecasts but dismiss it as local dynamics not incorporable to valuation practices in global sell-side business. Salespeople, despite paying more attention to such dynamics owing to their sales tasks, limit themselves to analyst output in marketing. Both actors recognise the importance of analyst work to be able to have “a right to speak” in global sell-side business.

Changing market conditions and regulations since the time of study have been shaping analysts and salespeople work in global sell-side business, for example, the way sell-side is compensated by buy-side, buy-side’s move to receiving sell-side services from fewer brokers and hence shrinking sell-side teams. The paper does not address these. Nonetheless, it shows how valuation and marketing can be two distinct lines of work in sell-side business irrespective of market conditions and raises the question for future research as to how sell-side professionals manage this distinction, and how they make sense of and cope with broad market dynamics beyond sell-side and buy-side relations (e.g. automated trading machines, online retail trading).

The paper provides rare observation-based insights into analyst and salespeople work, including their sensemaking of uncertainty. It shows the importance of market identities and associated knowledge in valuation and marketing work in sell-side business.

The purpose of this paper is to identify the core dimensions of problem solving of experts in commercial valuation in order to provide a rich stimulus for managing current practice and enabling future development.

The study adopted a cognitive position but emphasised understanding the everyday commercial property valuation practice in a naturalistic context and from the participants’ perspectives. Given this, a grounded theory approach was employed as a research strategy to guide the data collection and surface theoretical interpretations. Data were obtained through in-depth interviews with practicing valuers working in private real estate firms within metropolitan Birmingham, UK.

The interviews uncover four dimensions of experts’ problem-solving practice in commercial valuation: multidimensional, domain-specific knowledge base; cognitive process that is centred on analysis and reflection; collaborative problem-solving venture with colleagues; and professional practice issues awareness. A conceptual model is proposed which integrates these dimensions enabling a clearer understanding of the nature of valuation work.

This study was designed to be descriptive and theory generating, thus, the findings cannot be generalised as the sample was confined to one city and consists of a small number of senior practicing valuers. Therefore, the findings may not be fully applicable to other practicing valuers, other geographical locations or more widely to other types of property valuation. Nevertheless, the findings provide an important cognitive framework which can be verified by other researchers seeking to examine the practice of expert valuers.

The identification of the core dimensions of expert problem solving in commercial property valuation is shown to have implications for valuation practice, education and continued research. The valuation practice environments need to develop mechanisms to provide time that would enable these multi-dimensions of professional competence to be developed. Further work is needed to expand and refine the model across expert practice in other specialty areas of valuation practice.

This study expands the current understanding of valuation process to areas of expertise that have received less coverage in behavioural valuation literature, that is, the central role of knowledge and cognition and how these are integrated for effective valuation problem solving and decision making.

The relationship between sustainability and value in property has been a major area of investigation over the past decade. However, in spite of the extant literature and research, the connections made by valuers in practice of the value relationship are still unresolved. The purpose of this paper is to investigate, in the Australian context, valuers’ perception of the relationship between sustainability and value; and their experience and knowledge of sustainability in valuation practice.

The research investigates valuers’ perception and knowledge of sustainability and its inclusion in valuation practice in Australia. The approach uses a longitudinal survey of valuers from 2007 to 2015 tracking valuers’ knowledge, understanding, inclusion of sustainability reporting and the perceptions of the relationship between sustainability and market value.

This paper presents findings from a longitudinal survey that has been conducted in Australia since 2007, identifying changes between 2007, the height of the property market and sustainability engagement prior to the global financial crisis, and the subsequent years to 2015. The growth of sustainability in the property market is significant, however, valuers’ knowledge and reporting on sustainability is not demonstrating the same level of development. As a result, this is inhibiting valuers reporting on sustainability and has implications for practice and treatment of market values.

This research highlights the need to examine how to assist valuers to more rapidly develop knowledge and experience to reflect the implications of change in practice. Current approaches being developed in the UK and Europe, like the introduction of RenoValue professional development programs and guidance documents, to assist valuers to develop their knowledge needs to be implemented in the Australian environment as current approaches are inadequate, and steps need to be taken in order to assist their development of knowledge and experience as the market demonstrates growth and acceptance of sustainability. This research identifies the need to re-examine how professional development is undertaken and knowledge developed by those practicing in the profession in Australia.

This longitudinal survey is the only research that has spanned a substantial period of time attempting to ascertain valuers’ perception of the relationship between sustainability and value; and attempts to track the knowledge development of valuers in the context of sustainability. The findings identify how the market is developing and adhering to a product model development theory, however, also identifies more fundamental issues and implications for valuation praxis, in the development of knowledge and ability of valuers to adapt to change and reflect these valuations.

The purpose of this paper is to theorize the existing idea of subjective probability a la Keynes’s Treatise on Probability Theory. Then to show that, under the especial kind of financial valuation model in the absence of interest rate and speculation, subjective probability is not of a major concern in Islamic financial theory.

The topic is of an epistemological nature premised on the Islamic unity of knowledge and the world-system with special attention given to the formulation of the financial model for evaluation under its unitary characteristic at each time period of financial evaluation. The approach, while being epistemological, is also mathematical in the financial valuation field.

Mathematical calculation of approximate solution using Newton-Raphson method applied to Islamic financial valuation model with yields, evolutionary learning and of the nature of unitary discursive experience at every stage of valuation taken continuously establishes the innovative method approximating subjective probability of events to limiting negligible field.

The nature and importance of Islamic valuation models brings about the implication of diversification of risk and production diversification that altogether underlie the limiting phenomenon of subjective probability in a narrow closure.

The epistemological implication of unity of knowledge and unity of the specific events during the valuation experience causes the socio-economic system to gain increasing levels of stability and certainty while subjective probability narrows down in its small closure.

This paper is boldly original in the light of its methodology that addresses the much pursued topic of subjective probability in the Islamic heterodox economic and financial field.

Uniquely among the built-environment professions in the country, professional valuers in South Africa until recently did not require to have a university degree. The vast majority of professional valuers therefore, especially at senior levels, hold the national diploma as the highest academic qualification. There is evidence to suggest that many regard this state of affairs as unsatisfactory. Given the foregoing, the purpose of this paper is to answer two interrelated questions, first, whether South African trained and educated valuers were “competent” and met industry standards, and, second, whether the South African valuation curriculum met international norms.

Empirical data for the study were obtained by way of a survey of valuers registered on the South African Council of the Property Valuers Profession (SACPVP) database and a case study of the University of Cape Town’s valuation curriculum. The survey involved the mailing of an online questionnaire, using the “Survey Monkey platform”, to 2,062 individuals, representing the total population of valuers registered with the SACPVP, across all registration categories. A total of 324 individuals, or 15.7 per cent of the target population, responded to the survey.

Results from the study on the first question showed that it was professional status and length of experience, rather than academic qualifications, which correlated with competence. In addition, the results suggest that there are grounds for concern regarding proficiency in at least some of the valuation methods across the board. Further, the study revealed significant levels of dissatisfaction amongst employers with the general competence of valuers under their supervision. On the second question, the study concludes that the South African valuation curriculum did not meet international norms in terms of certain criteria.

The paper recommends a review of the South African valuation curriculum; to allow for a differentiation between the different academic levels, to facilitate a more conceptual approach at the higher levels, and to close the identified gaps in knowledge and skill-sets arising from both a deficient curriculum and a changing industry landscape.

At a time when attempts are being made to improve standards in the South African valuation profession, the study makes a critical contribution, by identifying areas where the national curriculum is deficient, both in terms of industry requirements and relative to international norms.

Behavioural studies of valuers have suggested that valuers rely on a number of cognitive strategies involving reasoning and intuition when undertaking a valuation task. However, there are few studies of the actual reasoning mechanisms in valuation. In other fields, much attention has been paid to forward and backward reasoning, as this shows the choices and decisions that are made in undertaking a complex task. This paper studied this during a valuation task. The purpose of this paper is twofold: first, to develop a methodological approach for empirical research on valuers’ reasoning, and, second, to report expert-novice differences on valuers’ use of forward and backward reasoning during a valuation problem solving.

The study utilised a verbal protocol analysis (VPA) to elicit think-aloud data from a purposive sample of a group of valuers of different levels of expertise undertaking a commercial-valuation task. Through a content analysis interpretive strategy, the transcripts were analysed into different cognitive segments identifying the forward and backward reasoning strategies.

The findings showed that valuers accomplished the valuation task by dividing the overall problem into sub-problems. These sub-problems are thereafter solved by integrating available data with existing knowledge by relying more on forward reasoning than backward reasoning. However, there were effects associated with the level of expertise in the way the processes of forward and backward reasoning are used, with the expert and intermediate valuers being more thorough and comprehensive in their reasoning process than the novices.

This study explores the possibility that forward and backward reasoning play an important role in commercial valuation problem solving using a limited sample of valuers. Given this, data cannot be generalised to all valuation practice settings but may motivate future research that examines the effectiveness of forward and backward reasoning in diverse valuation practice settings and develops a holistic model of valuation reasoning.

The findings of this study are applicable to valuation practice. Future training efforts need to evaluate the usefulness of teaching problem solving and explicitly recognise forward and backward reasoning, along with other problem-solving strategies uncovered in this study, as standard training strategies for influencing the quality of valuation decisions.

By adopting VPA, this study employs an insightful and rich dataset which allows an interpretation of thoughts of valuers into cognitive reasoning strategies that provide a deeper level of understanding of how valuers solve valuation problem; this has not been possible in previous related valuation studies.

This article draws on the literature on valuation and evaluation and the orders of worth framework to consider the process of knowledge commercialization from academia to practice. Based on the study of two knowledge commercialization projects in a business school, the study contributes by showing how the orders of worth framework may assist in understanding the assignment of worth to knowledge-based objects in the context of multiple and potentially competing systems of valuation. The study also adds to the literature on the orders of worth framework by showing how “composite objects” or “assemblages” that achieve compromise or synergy (i.e., mutual reinforcement) between different value systems may be constructed and potentially sustained.