Making the case for the ‘super nucleus’: The next generation of corporate real estate, HR and IT enterprise integration

Abstract

In 2012, 70 corporate real estate (CRE) leaders representing a broad range of industries, geographies and functions made a number of startling predictions that were documented in CoreNet Global's Corporate Real Estate 2020 research initiative. One of those predictions, affectionately known as the ‘super nucleus’, stirred a healthy debate among CRE, human resources (HR) and information technology (IT) professionals about one central question: What will high-performance organisations expect of enterprise support functions, and what are the implications for CRE? The term ‘super nucleus’ was coined to describe full integration and unified leadership at the most strategic levels of support function activity. The CoreNet Global study predicted that, by 2020, this strategic integration would be likely in addition to greater consolidation and more consistent sourcing of service delivery resources and expertise. Since the results of the study were published, CRE and other support function leaders have continued to explore the feasibility and justification for greater support function integration. Advocates of the super nucleus suggest that high-performance organisations will be (or are already) early adopters and explore new talent sources to fulfil the leadership void for the next generation of shared services organisations. Opponents of the super nucleus concept maintain that such an undertaking will be met with deeply entrenched organisational resistance or be too cumbersome to even attempt. The authors believe that high-performance organisations will overcome these challenges and adopt support services strategies that will improve overall corporate performance and productivity within the next decade and beyond. The competitive pressures and dynamic nature of many industries will lead C-suite executives to demand more strategic alignment of corporate infrastructure resources with business units and the super nucleus very well could be the answer.