Aligning real estate with the corporate environment

Abstract

This paper questions current practices both in management science and real estate management which consider real estate outside of the strategic decision-making process. The paper starts with an examination of organisations as complex adaptive systems and the nature of work in times of transformation. It suggests that the fundamental mistake often made is to focus too much on the change being about the use of technology. Instead, the authors believe that the real opportunity lies in the change in operation, process and culture. As such, management decisions need to be linked to real estate potential and real estate decisions have to incorporate resource impacts. Evidence suggests, however, that there is a deep disparity between the research produced in management science compared with that in the real estate field. What the authors suggest illustrates a bounded rationality which requires shared experiences and research to bridge the differences in approach and ideas. Several models are put forward to address this disparity but the authors believe that the real solution lies in a model which embraces the five dimensions of real estate through a process of dialogue and anticipatory learning.