Differences in conventional and seniors-oriented apartment management

Facilities ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 37 (3/4) ◽  
pp. 157-167
Author(s):  
Heidi H. Ewen ◽  
Andrew Carswell

PurposeFrom the consumer side, this paper aims to highlight some of the various characteristics that older renters seek out from their apartment buildings, relative to conventional multifamily residential buildings and, from the operational side, to examine some of the costs involved in daily operation of such buildings.Design/methodology/approachThe Rental Housing Finance Survey provides data that enables scholars to test empirical differences in amenities and costs between senior-oriented communities and other apartment buildings.FindingsOccupancy rates outpace the rate for all other apartment communities. Regarding amenities, senior apartment communities are more likely than other communities to have a fitness center on premises, but less likely to have a swimming pool. Market value for senior properties is usually less than properties marketed toward multi-family property tenants. This difference may be due to a higher pattern of both operating/capital expenses within senior communities. Part of these increases in operating costs is due to a higher propensity to hire professional management companies and a higher fee for managing senior apartment communities.Originality/valueLiterature on seniors living within apartment communities is somewhat sparse, particularly regarding the operational aspects of managing apartment communities. There is a dearth of information on industry success measurements known as operating and capital expenditures. This study triangulates multiple sources of data to investigate differences in cost of senior housing apartment communities, as well as amenity structures.

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiuzhi Zhang ◽  
Zhijie Lin ◽  
Junghyun Maeng

PurposeThe sharing economy has enjoyed rapid growth in recent years, and entered many traditional industries such as accommodation, transportation and lending. Although researchers in information systems and marketing have attempted to examine the impacts of the sharing economy on traditional businesses, they have not yet studied the rental housing market. Thus, this research aims to investigate the impact of the sharing economy (i.e. home-sharing) on traditional businesses (i.e. rental housing market).Design/methodology/approachThe authors assemble rich data from multiple sources about the entry of a leading Chinese home-sharing platform (i.e. Xiaozhu.com) and local housing rental price index. Then, econometric models (i.e. linear panel-level data models) are employed for empirical investigation. Instrumental variables are used to account for potential endogeneity issues. Various robustness checks are adopted to establish the consistency of the findings.FindingsOverall, the estimation results show that the entry of a home-sharing platform will decrease the local housing rental price. Moreover, this impact would be strengthened in a more developed city. Additionally, this impact would be strengthened with higher prices of new houses or second-hand houses.Originality/valueFirst, this research is one of the first to study the impact of the sharing economy (i.e. home-sharing) on traditional markets (i.e. housing rentals). Second, it contributes to the relevant literature by documenting that the impact of a platform's entry is not uniform but contingent on city and housing market characteristics. Third, practically, the findings also offer important implications for platform operators and policy makers.


Facilities ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 38 (5/6) ◽  
pp. 395-420
Author(s):  
Visar Hoxha

Purpose The purpose of this study is to quantify the energy heating performance of apartment buildings in Kosovo built after 2003 and compare it against the energy heating performance of buildings in member states of EU and selected European countries. Design/methodology/approach This paper takes a case study approach focussed on the assessment of the heating energy performance of the building. This approach facilitated a detailed calculation of the selected materials’ energy performance used in a representative building structure in Kosovo comparing with passive buildings standard and energy heating performance of buildings in member states of EU and selected European countries. Findings Results of quantitative research find that the energy heating performance of apartment buildings in Kosovo built after 2003 is far higher than that of passive buildings standard and is better than the average annual energy heating performance of apartment buildings in member states of the EU and selected European countries. Research limitations/implications The research provides new knowledge regarding energy heating performance in new residential buildings in Kosovo and compares the findings with earlier research and energy consumption in other selected European countries. The research provides great benefits for researchers and practitioners working in the field of energy management as it compares the energy performance of residential buildings across Europe. Originality/value This paper provides a perspective on investigating the energy performance of a building structure of a residential apartment building in Prishtina, Kosovo. By unveiling the level of energy consumption of a residential apartment building in Kosovo representative of the new construction period can help the facility managers to acknowledge the standards they must achieve to refurbish the old building stock to achieve at least the same standard as the buildings in the new construction period.


2020 ◽  
Vol 38 (3) ◽  
pp. 345-363
Author(s):  
Iris Levin ◽  
Kathy Arthurson

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the causes, the nature and the extent of unneighbourly relations between neighbours living in small multi-owned residential buildings (MOBs, sometimes called strata) in Australian cities, and the effect of these relations on the health and wellbeing of residents. The impact of neighbour relations and conflicts on residents' health and wellbeing has not been explored before in the context of small MOBs in Australia (under 12 units).Design/methodology/approachThe research involved an analysis of secondary data on common problems experienced in MOBs between neighbours, in-depth face-to-face interviews with twenty-six residents and interviews with five managers of management agencies in metropolitan Melbourne (Victoria) and Adelaide (South Australia), Australia.FindingsWhen strata processes and management worked well residents were positive about living in such an arrangement. However, when the strata group was less harmonious residents reported that it impacted negatively on their health and wellbeing.Research limitations/implicationsThe study's findings are subject to the widely acknowledged limitations of small sample-based interview research. Findings indicate that there is a need to explore the benefits and disadvantages of living in small multi-owned residential buildings in Australia on a larger scale.Practical implicationsThere are three policy implications from the findings: a need for better education of prospective buyers regarding the nature of strata living; tighter regulation of rules for small multi-owned apartment buildings is required, (in a similar way to how the regulations operate in large apartment buildings); and a need to include private rental tenants living in strata in the everyday life around the management of the building.Originality/valueThe impact of neighbourly relations and conflicts on the health and wellbeing of residents living in MOBs, particularly small ones, has not been studied adequately, as current research focuses on large apartment buildings. This research addresses a gap in the literature in the study of small living arrangements (town houses, apartment buildings, terraces), with 12 or less apartments, with a focus on residents' health and wellbeing.


2020 ◽  
Vol 34 (6) ◽  
pp. 833-845 ◽  
Author(s):  
Youngsu Lee ◽  
Joonhwan In ◽  
Seung Jun Lee

Purpose As social media platforms become increasingly popular among service firms, many US hospitals have been using social media as a means to improve their patients’ experiences. However, little research has explored the implications of social media use within a hospital context. The purpose of this paper is to investigate a hospital’s customer engagement through social media and its association with customers’ experiential quality. Also, this study examines the role of a hospital’s service characteristics, which could shape the nature of the interactions between patients and the hospital. Design/methodology/approach Data from 669 hospitals with complete experiential quality and demographic data were collected from multiple sources of secondary data, including the rankings of social media friendly hospitals, the Hospital Compare database, the Center for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) cost report, the CMS impact file, the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society Analytics database and the Dartmouth Atlas of Health Care. Specifically, the authors designed the instrumental variable estimate to address the endogeneity issue. Findings The empirical results suggest a positive association between a hospital’s social media engagement and experiential quality. For hospitals with a high level of service sophistication, the association between online engagement and experiential quality becomes more salient. For hospitals offering various services, offline engagement is a critical predictor of experiential quality. Research limitations/implications A hospital with more complex services should make efforts to engage customers through social media for better patient experiences. The sample is selected from databases in the US, and the databases are cross-sectional in nature. Practical implications Not all hospitals may be better off improving the patient experience by engaging customers through social media. Therefore, practitioners should exercise caution in applying the study’s results to other contexts and in making causal inferences. Originality/value The current study delineates customer engagement through social media into online and offline customer engagement. This study is based on the theory of customer engagement and reflects the development of mobile technology. Moreover, this research may be considered as pioneering in that it considers the key characteristics of a hospital’s service operations (i.e., service complexity) when discovering the link between customers’ engagement through a hospital’s social media and experiential quality.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Guanghui Qiao ◽  
Liu Ding ◽  
Linlin Zhang ◽  
Huili Yan

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to reveal the knowledge evolution process, research hotspots and future trends in the accessible tourism research literature from 2008 to 2020. Design/methodology/approach A total of 213 articles on accessible tourism were selected from the core collection database of Web of Science (WoS) and analyzed using CiteSpace. Findings Over the 13-year period between 2008 and 2020, an increasing number of studies have been published concerning accessible tourism, but the overall base is still small. The research content mainly includes six modules. Among institutions, the University of Technology Sydney has published the largest number of papers. Cooperation among countries involves the USA, the United Kingdom, Australia, Portugal and China. Tourism Management is the leading journal for disseminating research on accessible tourism. Definition of “Accessible tourism” and the different scope of this phenomenon are re-discussed. In recent years, “experience” and “participation” have become the “new favorites” in accessible tourism research, which could reveal insights into future research directions. Research limitations/implications The sampling frame was defined in terms of the WoS database and even though this is an important database for global academic information, in the big data era, the authors may have to integrate information from multiple sources to comprehensively reveal and understand knowledge maps. Second, because of the operational constraints of the CiteSpace software, the authors only selected outputs published in peer-reviewed journals, excluding other published works, such as books and conference papers. Finally, because of the language restrictions of the authors, this research is limited to journals published in the English language. Practical implications Practically, the results of this study made a conclusion of accessible tourism research so that the researchers can easily know what has currently been done and what future research can do. Tourism managers can also understand the demands and the constraints of tourism for the people who have barriers to travel. They can supply more specific products for the accessible tourism and further promote the construction of barrier-free travel environments. Originality/value This paper unifies the literature on senior tourism and people with disabilities tourism, and uses CiteSpace to construct data and network visualizations, including a burst and dynamic analysis for the period covered by the sample. Furthermore, this paper proposed a more diversified accessible tourism.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Richmond Juvenile Ehwi ◽  
Lewis Abedi Asante ◽  
Emmanuel Kofi Gavu

Purpose In Ghana, the practice of landlords demanding that renters pay rent advance (RA) of between six months and five years is well noted. Surprisingly, renters appear divided into the benefits and drawbacks of the rent advance payment. Ahead of the 2020 general elections, the two leading political parties in Ghana promised to establish a rent assistance scheme to help renters working in the formal and informal sectors and earning regular incomes to pay their RA. This paper aims to scrutinize the differences in the demographic, employment and housing characteristics between the critics and non-critics of the RA payment in Ghana and the factors that predict the likelihood of being a critic of the RA system. Design/methodology/approach The study is exploratory and draws empirical data from surveys administered to 327 graduate renters from 13 regions in Ghana. It uses non-parametric and parametric tests, namely, Chi-square goodness-of-fit and T-test to explore these differences between both critics and non-critics of the RA. Findings There are statistically significant differences between critics and non-critics in terms of the association between their educational attainment on the one hand and their marital status, employment status and employment sector on the other hand. The research also reveals that monthly expenditures, number of bedrooms and RA period significantly predict the likelihood of being a critic of the RA payment or otherwise. Practical implications The study provides evidence which policymakers can draw upon to inform housing policy. Originality/value The study is the first to study the housing characteristics of graduate renters and to quantitatively distinguish between critics and non-critics of RA payment in Ghana.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Eunju Suh ◽  
Mahdi Alhaery

PurposeWhile United States is among countries with the world’s highest coronavirus infections, its approaches and policies to reopen the economy vary by state. A lack of objective criteria and monitoring toward satisfying the criteria can lead to another COVID-19 outbreak and business closures. Considering the pressing need to return to normalcy without a rebound of COVID-19 infections and deaths, an index that provides a data-driven and objective insight is urgently needed. Hence, a method was devised to assess the severity of the COVID-19 pandemic and determine the degree of progress any state has made in containing the spread of COVID-19.Design/methodology/approachUsing measures such as the weekly averages of daily new deaths, ICU bed occupancy rates, positive cases and test positivity rates, two indexes were developed: COVID-19 reopening readiness and severity.FindingsA clear difference in the pandemic severity trends can be observed between states, which is possibly due to the disparity in the state’s response to coronavirus. A sharp upward trend in index values requires caution prior to moving to the next phase of reopening.Originality/valueThe composite indexes advanced in this study will provide a universal, standardized and unbiased view of each state’s readiness to reopen and allow comparisons between states. This in turn can help governments and health-care agencies take counter measures if needed as to the anticipated demand for future health-care services and minimize adverse consequences of opening.


Facilities ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 37 (11/12) ◽  
pp. 825-838 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roger Andre Søraa ◽  
Håkon Fyhn ◽  
Jøran Solli

PurposeThis paper aims to investigate the role of a particular energy calculator in enhancing the energy efficiency of existing homes by asking how this calculator was developed and how it is domesticated by craftspeople working as energy consultants.Design/methodology/approachThe study is based on qualitative interviews with users and producers of the energy calculator (n= 22), as well as participation in energy consultation training.FindingsThe paper finds that, in the energy calculator, there is a striking lack of connection between the domestication and script because of lack of energy consultants’ involvement in the design and implementation process.Practical implicationsThe enrolment of energy consultants as energy calculator users earlier in and throughout the design process could be valuable in making the transition to an energy-efficient and environmentally friendly building sector.Social implicationsThe paper argues for recognition of the role of energy consultants, especially craftspeople, as participants in the design process for tools of governance. This is a call to acknowledge the value of particular skills and experiences possessed by craftspeople doing home consultation.Originality/valueBy understanding the intricate developer–user synchronicity in tools developed for upgrading the building sector, energy mitigation can be made more effective.


2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 94-109 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jani-Petri Laamanen

PurposeThis study aims to examine the externalities from regional home-ownership to individual-level entrepreneurship.Design/methodology/approachThe paper links individual-level data from the Finnish Income Distribution Statistics for years 1990-1992 to regional home-ownership proportions. Probit models of entrepreneurship with regional home-ownership and appropriate control variables as regressors are estimated. A rental housing market deregulation experiment which caused exogenous variation in regions’ home-ownership is exploited to identify the causal effects on entrepreneurship.FindingsResults show that higher home-ownership in a region leads to greater entrepreneurship. Further analyses together with the fact that homeownership tends to have detrimental labour market effects suggest that homeownership encourages entrepreneurship by leading to less paid work opportunities. These results are in line with those of earlier literature that self-employment and entrepreneurship, especially during bad economic times, are partly motivated by bad employment opportunities.Originality/valueThis study presents novel results on the externalities that home-ownership has on entrepreneurship. These externalities are shown to be important enough that they need to be considered when assessing the economic effects of various policies that affect the prevalence of owner-occupied housing. The instrumental variables’ estimates are the first causal estimates in the literature and the bias resulting from assuming exogeneity is shown to be nonnegligible.


2017 ◽  
Vol 27 (6) ◽  
pp. 1058-1080 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wenbin Sun ◽  
Jing Pang

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between service quality and firms’ global competitiveness in the service industry. A set of moderating effects is formulated to further reveal how the relationship varies under different situations. Design/methodology/approach This paper tests the model with data collected from multiple sources such as World’s Most Admired Companies and COMPUSTAT. Two types of robust regressions for panel data are employed in the empirical model estimation. Findings Service quality is found to significantly drive global competitiveness. Specifically, its impact is stronger for large service firms and when the global environment is characterized as low munificence, high dynamism, or high complexity. Practical implications The paper provides a set of implications for managers of service firms regarding global expansion and quality management. It generates useful guidelines of maximizing the power of service quality when a firm’s global competitive advantage is considered. Originality/value This paper takes the first attempt to formulate service quality’s influence on firm’s global competitiveness with a consideration of specific situational factors.


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