Questions and Answers of Real Estate Finance and Investment

Employee transport: this relates to an employee’s commute to work and any commutes between facilities in the company. LO.1
Health/wellbeing: this relates to an employee’s ability to establish a work–life balance;allowing employees the flexibility of mobile working means they can reduce their commute time, thereby
Community involvement: adopting alternative workplace strategies means that employees save commuting time that they could use on social projects. LO.1
Identify the beliefs and values of your organisation or an organisation of your choice using the cultural web analysis. Identify which aspects of the web are most likely to be influenced by CREAM
Ensure that ICT is fully utilised with regards to the management of CREAM and monitor for any potential implications that may change the future delivery of the business. LO.1
Consider how changes in ICT and disruptive technologies discussed in Chapter 2,‘Position’, might impact upon both corporate and CREAM strategies and how you would preserve alignment given such
Establish a strategic relationship with the human resources department so that the people dimension can be integrated into future strategic proposals. LO.1
Identify the organisation’s branding strategy. Integrate it into the CREAM strategy, thereby ensuring that workplace design reflects the brand identity of the organisation. LO.1
Using Figure 3.6, identify how CREAM might add value in your organisation or an organisation of your choice. LO.1
Identify which corporate strategies from Table 3.2 are significant in your organisation.Try to align which real estate strategies in the table have the most significant impact upon that strategy. LO.1
Consider the factors from Tables 3.2 and 3.3 in relation to the building you work in. Do you think the factors were aligned when the decisions were made to select this building?If not, why? LO.1
Check that all components of the CREAM strategic alignment model are in alignment, thereby ensuring that the organisation receives a strategic solution from CREAM. LO.1
You might also read the Nokia, Nottinghamshire and TMT Sector case studies at the back of the book at this point, and review this chapter again for each of those studies.Identify what kind of
Using the same company, identify the components of its organisational paradigm: its mission and vision statement, national characteristics, organisational personality, values and beliefs and brand
Can you identify any disconnects between the components you have identified? LO.1
Prepare a brief specification of the characteristics of a HQ building for the company you have considered in points 1–3. LO.1
Access the Hofstede Centre website and examine your country of origin. Do you agree with your country’s position in the six dimensions? Do you recognise these characteristics in yourself, or
If you know someone from another country than your own, try to estimate, from your interactions with that person, where their country may sit on the six dimensions before you find out from the
Consider the Steelcase office design characteristics. For your country, what do you think would be the most significant office design characteristics for its cultural profile? LO.1
What colour is your organisation? What does that mean in terms of managing change? LO.1
How would a CREAM professional use the colours approach to change management to support a successful corporate relocation? LO.1
How do you feel the change to integrated service provision will impact upon CREAM and how will it shape the demands for education of CREAM professionals and their future career paths and
For your organisation, determine how the workplace has become distributed. This should include evaluations of:a work undertaken in the office and the different work processes adopted;b work
Where open-plan office environments are used, adopt strategies that aim to maximise the advantages of the open plan while at the same time minimising the potential disadvantages. LO.1
Create different working environments for different work activities. What activitybased work styles would suit your organisation? LO.1
How would you ensure that activity-based working is successful in terms of managing the volatility of demand for space? LO.1
What protocols are needed to make sure the introduction of flexible working, including activity-based working, remains successful after its introduction? LO.1
Constantly monitor the use of different working environments with the aim of undertaking adaptive measures in environments that are not supporting the work processes. LO.1
Consider the benefits that can be achieved from co-working. These could include the possibility of increased collaboration and also the increased flexibility that can be achieved in your corporate
Evaluate worker mobility within the buildings. This enables a better understanding of how the buildings flow from the occupier perspective and can be used to better facilitate ad-hoc interactions and
Constantly evaluate the changing work style trends and developments in technology with the aim of establishing future workplace requirements. LO.1
What proposals could establish, integrate and maintain the health and wellbeing of the occupier into all workplace solutions? LO.1
Our first procurement question has to be to fully consider why we are taking the space and ensure that the business case is solid. Whatever procurement route we take, this will be a long-term – and
Examine the advantages and disadvantages of freehold and leasehold property and the strategic and financial issues. How does this relate to your organisation, or its business units? Consider whether
Is there sufficient flexibility within your portfolio? Would a more contemporary approach be beneficial? LO.1
Are the lengths of the leases of your operational real estate consistent with your business plans? Do you have sufficient flexibility and have you considered the real risks of long leases compared to
Undertake utilisation studies of your meeting and boardrooms. Are they being underutilised? If so you should consider moving to premises, at the next opportunity at which you can procure these and
Where leasing, examine the landlord carefully and look to metrics on their performance with the likes of the RICS codes on leasing and service charges, the occupier satisfaction indices, etc.
If you are considering a new building, examine the cash flows of both freehold and leasehold opportunities in addition to the strategic and operational needs. With freehold, take advantage of the
and 8. At the same time, remember that leasing a pre-let development might provide some of the same opportunities to design-in your preferences. LO.1
If you consider that capital tied up in your portfolio is not working as hard as capital in the business, it may be worthwhile to examine a sale-and-leaseback transaction. LO.1
If you do consider sale-and-leaseback, think about the financial reporting implications of the accounting for leases rules and consider how this may affect the attractiveness of a sale-and-leaseback.
Large organisations may wish to consider total property outsourcing and focus on their core business. However, you should be aware of both the advantages and disadvantages to such transactions. LO.1
A way of establishing the organisational demand for space is through the use of a strategic brief. During the preparation of the brief, consideration should be given to:a evaluation of the
Once the organisational demand has been established, possible locations and buildings can be evaluated. The building and workplace appraisal should include an evaluation of:a the macro location
Consider how to integrate the CREAM strategic alignment model proposed in Chapter 3, ‘Purpose’, with what you have read in this chapter to ensure that the building and workplace supply match the
Identify what communication strategies and change management programme requirements are necessary to run in conjunction with a successful relocation project. LO.1
Consider how a detailed analysis of work styles could inform the space planning process.How would you ensure that the analysis is translated into an effective design? LO.1
How would you ensure a representative dataset from any observations or survey of what tasks people perform in their current office environment to support your space planning process? LO.1
How would you measure the need for meeting rooms/spaces in a relocation process? LO.1
Draft a post-occupancy survey instrument to examine the effectiveness of a relocation/reconfiguration process. LO.1
Critically evaluate the relocation-based case studies (Case Studies 3, LO.1
and 9). What are the main differences between them? How has the relocation process evolved over the period of time from the first case study (2008) to the last (2016)? LO.1
What arguments could you use to persuade an organisation to shift its focus from the supply of real estate and the ‘property deal’ to a demand-driven analysis approach based upon the needs of the
Generation Y workers have clear expectations of the workplace that include a number of different spaces to allow for work, play and rest. They also expect the workplace to be highly connected so that
Older office workers have their own expectation of workplace provision, which is largely determined by their preferred work style. However, they also have some unique expectations that are related to
Ensure a balance of workspace provision is provided to meet the diversity of expectations and facilitate multigenerational working. Also give special consideration to team-based workspaces, informal
Consideration needs to be given to both calm, reflective environments and stimulating interactive environments to ensure the right balance is achieved to support the different tasks undertaken and
Identify the gender profile of the workforce and be aware of potential difference in requirements based on gender, specifically relating to individual control of thermal comfort. LO.1
When considering multinational office environments, consider the potential differences in national culture and integrate local cultural differences into global workplace strategies. LO.1
Look around where you work. How many distinct profiles can you identify in your office? Do you think your workplace supports the differences between the profiles you have identified? LO.1
What strategies can you suggest to improve the fit between the profiles of the people you have identified and the configuration of the workplace to improve satisfaction and potentially
The very first question, as always, is why are we even discussing this? Do you really need this space? Always double check the case for space. The cheapest, most sustainable and only carbon-neutral
Do not be afraid to purchase expert advice. Consultants’ fees might be the easiest way to bankruptcy, but space is a long-term commitment so making sure everything is correct and what you sign is
Occupy a certified building such as BREEAM Excellent or Very Good or LEED Platinum or Gold. Probably. Evidence suggests that developers and landlords obtain higher rents and capital valuations, so
Occupy a building with a good EPC rating – A or B. The same caveats may apply as above. Better energy efficiency will save costs and benefit the environment. However, remember that social factors
Create an occupation plan, ensure that fit-out takes into account the realities of how people use buildings. Energy-saving devices should be fitted to manage the resources more effectively. A decade
Introduce or retrofit sustainable measures. These can be social or technical, concerning reorganising how the building works or adding extra features. Examples include solar shielding in hot
Consider your own CSR policies with the way that the space is being run. Practice what you preach or be clever in hiding this. Good CSR practices can be utilised in branding.Jarring inconsistencies
Do you need the space you occupy? We raised this as the very first question, but it should be constantly revisited. The needs of the business change, so check and recheck.Undertake space and
You need hard data to manage your assets. Utilise the likes of the RICS SKA system.Building information modelling needs to be constantly kept up-to-date and used. Use ISO 14001 to review compliance
In fact, in the long term, we need to be far more ‘scientific’ as a profession. Occupancy surveys need to be a more integrated part of what we do, and we need to build evidence to make the case
Be transparent. Continue to be socially responsible and keep au fait with cultural and business norms within your sector and locations. Ensure that best practice is communicated throughout the
Do not simply accept regulation, but ensure that your organisation involves itself in consultations and represents its viewpoint. Involve trade and professional bodies with this, too. Disseminate
Embrace technology. As a profession, we must learn about the digital tools available and use them. The business needs to recognise that the non-core ‘IT department’ is now a hub of the business.
Finally, keep an open mind. Our daily tasks might keep us fully occupied, but we need to continually measure and monitor. Current buzz concepts (as of 2016) such as ‘quality of life’ might prove
Does your organisation undertake systematic performance measurement and/or benchmarking? If not, why not? LO.1
Does your organisation examine year-on-year performance and compare facilities internally? For example, total occupancy costs or space per person at each location. If not, consider starting a
Do you have an ‘apples and pears’ problem? Have you fully considered issues of compatibility, including:• measurement;• type of occupation; and• periods of depreciation. LO.1
Are you aware of the variety of benchmark clubs or publications available to externally validate your internal analysis? Consider which are the most suitable for your organisation, in terms of cost,
Consider linking your company strategy and real estate strategy by using appropriate‘hybrid’ indicators, such as real estate costs as a percentage of production costs per business unit. LO.1
Consider a strategic approach as advocated by Osgood, rather than simplistic measurement of space. Are there strategic opportunities to align business goals, culture and human resource issues with
Are your service charge payments too expensive ? Use the freely available OSCAR service to benchmark your costs against the average in the UK and Frankfurt (for offices). LO.1
Analyse your occupancy costs and, using either MSCI/OPD, DTZ/Cushman &Wakefield online occupancy metrics or Actium Consult benchmarks, determine whether your occupancy costs are out of line with
Consider a strategic approach to space usage and measurement as advocated by Osgood and consider the types of workflow and use of the space before applying an analysis of space per person. LO.1
Examine the Balanced Scorecard approach and consider the real estate metrics that should be included to support the business strategy of your organisation. LO.1
Explore the PLANON website and consider how a system such as this could enhance your understanding and measurement of performance. LO.1
How could the reporting of performance measurement and benchmarking as facilitated by integrative systems such as Planon impact upon an organisation’s productivity? LO.1
Ensure that detailed attention is given to lighting, temperature and ventilation at the design and procurement stages if the impacts of the physical attributes of the office environment are to have a
It is important that the CREAM professional plays specific attention to the behavioural office environment. The office spaces created should be managed to optimise the balance between interaction and
The CREAM professional should ensure that any workplace solution enhances the three levels of connectivity. The levels are:a Workplace connectivity: the connection between the office occupier and
Consideration should be given to the potential impact on occupier productivity of the different office layouts such as individual, shared, combi and flexi offices. LO.1
Develop a detailed understanding of the linkages between health, wellbeing and productivity in the workplace. Also give special consideration to office plants and biophilia. See Chapter 9,
When evaluating productivity improvements, consider undertaking a longitudinal study that includes a pre-evaluation, intervention and post-evaluation so that relative measures of productivity can be
Research into workplace productivity is constantly evolving and is moving from purely academic research to a more action research approach with unique solutions being developed. Therefore, the
Functional: a traditional CRE model that promotes autonomy based on real estate function, with each function or ‘silo’ reporting to the global lead. LO.1
Geographic: allows the global lead to have overall control of the real estate functions, with regional executives liaising with local business units and service provider representatives on the
Process: involves structuring the real estate team and functions around delivery and transformation processes, matching each activity to the lifecycle of real estate.Executives accountable for each
Market/customer: assigns relationship managers to key business units who then report back to the CRE lead. Each business unit manages a range of strategic and tactical services on behalf of the
Expectations and pressures build, heightening the risk of underperformance.Leadership pressure demands action at both tactical and strategic levels. CRE teams are being challenged to impact and add

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