Does the commercial real estate industry need “more pussy on the block?”

2019 ◽  
Vol 37 (5) ◽  
pp. 627-637 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dustin C. Read
Keyword(s):  
Real Estate ◽  
Gender Bias ◽  
Second Generation ◽  
Commercial Real Estate ◽  
Real Estate Industry ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Local Chapter ◽  
Professional Credibility ◽  
The Impact

Purpose In a controversial 2018 interview, commercial real estate mogul Sam Zell insinuated that companies should promote their employees based exclusively on merit and avoid purposefully taking steps to get “more pussy on the block” in the name of gender equality. The comment was criticized not only for its crassness, but also for its failure to recognize the challenges many women working in the commercial real estate industry face in their efforts to obtain the same opportunities, compensation and status as similarly-qualified men. In an effort to overcome these disparities, the purpose of this paper is to focus on the pervasiveness of second-generation gender bias and stereotyping in the field through a qualitative analysis. Design/methodology/approach Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 39 women serving as local chapter presidents of a prominent commercial real estate trade group to explore the impact of gender on their career advancement and their experiences with second-generation gender bias. Findings The findings suggest unintentional discrimination often influences women’s careers by drawing their communication skills, professional credibility and commitment to the organizations for whom they work into question. Originality/value The research contributes to the existing literature by offering additional evidence that unintentional discrimination is common in male-dominated industries, such as commercial real estate. It also provides clear examples of social cues women perceive to heighten tension along gender lines and impinge upon their ability to ascend to leadership positions.

How do women maximize the value of mentorship? Insights from mentees, mentors, and industry professionals

2019 ◽  
Vol 41 (2) ◽  
pp. 165-175 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dustin C. Read ◽  
Patti J. Fisher ◽  
Luke Juran
Keyword(s):  
Real Estate ◽  
Commercial Real Estate ◽  
Mentoring Relationships ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Leadership Roles ◽  
Real Estate Industry ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Mentoring Relationship ◽  
Local Chapter ◽  
Starting Point

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the perceptions of women working in the commercial real estate industry to assess how they approach mentoring relationships and take steps to maximize the value derived therefrom. Design/methodology/approach Through thematic analysis of 39 interviews conducted with women serving as local chapter presidents of CREW Network, the paper offers insights as to how women position themselves to receive mentorship throughout their careers and engage with mentors to address their evolving needs. In particular, three themes of commitment, reciprocity in the mentoring relationship and mentee motivation emerged. Findings The results suggest that this is a strategic process and one in which many women are proactively engaging to ascend to leadership positions in the corporate world. While the study is limited to those working in commercial real estate, clear implications exist for other industries. Originality/value By identifying and exploring these themes, the paper serves as a starting point for future research considering how women inside and outside of the commercial real estate industry can more strategically pursue mentorship and use it to attain leadership roles.

scholarly journals Cap rates and risk: a spatial analysis of commercial real estate

2018 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
pp. 25-43
Author(s):  
Florian Unbehaun ◽  
Franz Fuerst
Keyword(s):  
Real Estate ◽  
Risk Perceptions ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Risk Premia ◽  
Real Estate Market ◽  
Commercial Real Estate ◽  
Data Series ◽  
Large Set ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Impact

Purpose This study aims to assess the impact of location on capitalization rates and risk premia. Design/methodology/approach Using a transaction-based data series for the five largest office markets in Germany from 2005 to 2015, regression analysis is performed to account for a large set of asset-level drivers such as location, age and size and time-varying macro-level drivers. Findings Location is found to be a key determinant of cap rates and risk premia. CBD locations are found to attract lower cap rates and lower risk premia in three of the five largest markets in Germany. Interestingly, this effect is not found in the non-CBD locations of these markets, suggesting that the lower perceived risk associated with these large markets is restricted to a relatively small area within these markets that are reputed to be safe investments. Research limitations/implications The findings imply that investors view properties in peripheral urban locations as imperfect substitutes for CBD properties. Further analysis also shows that these risk premia are not uniformly applied across real estate asset types. The CBD risk effect is particularly pronounced for office and retail assets, apparently considered “prime” investments within the central locations. Originality/value This is one of the first empirical studies of the risk implications of peripheral commercial real estate locations. It is also one of the first large-scale cap rate analyses of the German commercial real estate market. The results demonstrate that risk perceptions of investors have a distinct spatial dimension.

scholarly journals The impact of lease structures on the optimal holding period for a commercial real estate portfolio

2015 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
pp. 121-139 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles-Olivier Amédée-Manesme ◽  
Michel Baroni ◽  
Fabrice Barthélémy ◽  
Mahdi Mokrane
Keyword(s):  
Real Estate ◽  
Portfolio Management ◽  
Cash Flows ◽  
Commercial Real Estate ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Holding Period ◽  
Specific Risk ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Real Estate Assets ◽  
Rental Value

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the impact of lease duration and lease break options on the optimal holding period for a real estate asset or portfolio. Design/methodology/approach – The authors use a Monte Carlo simulation framework to simulate a real estate asset’s cash flows in which lease structures (rent, indexation pattern, overall lease duration and break options) are explicitly taken into account. The authors assume that a tenant exercises his/her option to break a lease if the rent paid is higher than the market rental value (MRV) of similar properties. The authors also model vacancy duration stochastically. Finally, capital values and MRVs, assumed to be correlated, are simulated using specific stochastic processes. The authors derive the optimal holding period for the asset as the value that maximizes its discounted value. Findings – The authors demonstrate that, consistent with existing capital markets literature and real estate business practice, break options in leases can dramatically alter optimal holding periods for real estate assets and, by extension, portfolios. The paper shows that, everything else being equal, shorter lease durations, higher MRV volatility, increasing negative rental reversion, higher vacancy duration, more break options, all tend to decrease the optimal holding period of a real estate asset. The converse is also true. Practical implications – Practitioners are offered insights as well as a practical methodology for determining the ex-ante optimal holding period for an asset or a portfolio based on a number of market and asset-specific parameters including the lease structure. Originality/value – The originality of the paper derives from its taking an explicit modelling approach to lease duration and lease breaks as additional sources of asset-specific risk alongside market risk. This is critical in real estate portfolio management because such specific risk is usually difficult to diversify.

scholarly journals Measuring customer satisfaction: a study of the Swedish real estate industry

2016 ◽  
Vol 34 (4) ◽  
pp. 316-331 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Palm
Keyword(s):  
Real Estate ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Commercial Real Estate ◽  
Signal Quality ◽  
Organisational Development ◽  
Real Estate Industry ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Real Estate Sector ◽  
Customer Evaluations ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to identify the strategies of formal customer evaluations and the use of satisfied customer index in the Swedish commercial real estate industry. Design/methodology/approach – This research is based on an inventory of 24 commercial real estate companies use of formal customer evaluations and an analysis of 15 interviews with top-level managers in the Swedish commercial real estate sector. Findings – Only half of the companies included in the study conduct formal evaluations, although they are considered to work customer oriented. Two different strategies for using formal evaluations is, for improvement work and for signalling quality. One proposed explanation to why only half of the companies conduct formal evaluations is the possibility that the official Swedish Real Estate Barometer is not sufficient if the company would like to use the result for organisational development. There are instead indications that this barometer mainly is used in publicity and marketing purpose, to signal quality. Research limitations/implications – The research in this paper is limited to Swedish commercial real estate sector. But, the overall strategies for conducting formal evaluations should be applicable in general. Practical implications – The insight the paper provides regarding how the industry perceive the Swedish Real Estate Barometer gives direct implications of improvements of the barometer. Originality/value – It provides an insight regarding the use of formal customer evaluations and a proposition of how the Swedish Real Estate Barometer could be changed to better support and fulfil the aim of being a barometer for benchmarking.

New boundaries

2019 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
pp. 118-135 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrick Lecomte
Keyword(s):  
Real Estate ◽  
Smart Cities ◽  
Active Role ◽  
Commercial Real Estate ◽  
Smart Environments ◽  
Current Debate ◽  
Smart Space ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Smart Technologies ◽  
The Impact

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to fill a gap in the real estate academic literature by defining the essence of real estate in smart urban environments. Space has traditionally been a silent component of real estate. Smart technologies powered by Ubi-comp are turning space into an active part of real estate, which represents a paradigm shift for commercial real estate. This shift requires new concepts and tools to analyse and model real estate in smart cities. Design/methodology/approach The paper defines the notions of smart space and smart real estate. Several concepts and tools are formulated, starting with a model of space users in smart cities, called the Cyber-Dasein inspired by Heidegger’s existential phenomenology of space. Findings The paper then analyses smart space’s attributes and proposes several metrics for commercial real estate in smart environments. After introducing three regression models for constructing a price index of smart real estate, the paper concludes by advocating that commercial real estate take an active role in the current debate about smart cities. Research limitations/implications The paper does not provide any empirical analysis of smart real estate. Practical implications Smart environments offer real estate a unique opportunity to set up methodologies, concepts and tools for new properties in new cities. Now is the time to think carefully about the impact smart technologies will have on commercial properties before other stakeholders (in particular smart cities vendors and multinational technology giants) have fully modelled smart space and its nexus with smart real estate. Originality/value This paper is the first paper to provide a conceptual framework for the analysis of commercial real estate in smart cities.

scholarly journals Incentives in Swedish commercial real estate companies: the property manager function

2017 ◽  
Vol 35 (2) ◽  
pp. 150-164 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Palm
Keyword(s):  
Real Estate ◽  
Effective Property ◽  
Commercial Real Estate ◽  
Property Management ◽  
Real Estate Industry ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Management Level ◽  
Real Estate Sector ◽  
Work Tasks ◽  
Management Organisation

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to identify factors on the property management level for analysing incentives for an effective property management with a focus on organising it in-house. Design/methodology/approach This research is based on an interview study of 11 firm representatives from the Swedish commercial real estate sector with in-house property management. Findings The study concludes that the property management organisation in the in-house setting is governed in an informal way, with a large portion of “freedom with responsibilities” setup instead of regulations. Research limitations/implications The research in this paper is limited to the Swedish commercial real estate sector. Practical implications The insights into the paper regarding how decision makers create incentives for the property management organisation can provide inspiration to design incentives for effort. Originality/value It provides an insight regarding how the commercial real estate industry prioritises different work tasks and how incentives are created to enable effort.

Representations of gender in annual reports in the real estate industry in Sweden

2016 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
pp. 5-17 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karin Maria Staffansson Pauli
Keyword(s):  
Real Estate ◽  
Public Housing ◽  
Commercial Real Estate ◽  
Business Strategies ◽  
Annual Reports ◽  
Research Approach ◽  
Real Estate Industry ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Real ◽  
The Real Estate

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to clarify how annual reports of public housing and commercial real estate companies contribute in “doing gender” of the real estate industry in Sweden. How the issue of gender is dealt with in photographs, in two different types of organizations, with different corporate and business strategies, is important as they play a significant role in constructing the industry itself. Are there any differences in how they perceive gender, and what constitutes gender of the industry? Design/methodology/approach – Analysis of photographs in annual reports, 14 public housing companies and eight commercial real estate companies, in the year of 2011. Findings – The paper provides empirical insights about how “gender is done” in annual reports, men alone are shown more often as employees and both women and men are portrayed in stereotypical positions. Women are depicted more often as young and also presented in “token positions”. Research limitations/implications – Because of the chosen research approach, in studying only one year, a longitudinal study would be recommended for future studies. Practical implications – The paper includes implications for the development of gender symbols and images representing the industry, in how gender is done in public situations as in annual reports. This is not only important for the industry itself but also to stakeholders involved with the industry. Originality/value – This paper fulfils an identified need to study how photographs shown in annual reports reveal gender structure.

A study on automated property management in commercial real estate: a case of India

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Taran Kaur ◽  
Priya Solomon
Keyword(s):  
Real Estate ◽  
Technology Acceptance ◽  
Stakeholder Management ◽  
Real Estate Market ◽  
Commercial Real Estate ◽  
Property Management ◽  
Theory Approach ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Management Domain

PurposeProperty management in commercial real estate (CRE) is an important operational function that needs to be managed because it brings large cost implications to the organization. As India aspires to become a developed real estate market, analysis of the growing importance of automating property services and technology acceptance by stakeholders are two key concerns that need to be explicitly addressed. This study aims to examine the extent of property technology (PropTech) adoption in India and propose a technology-enabled stakeholder management model in Indian CRE.Design/methodology/approachThe research is qualitative in nature and follows the grounded theory approach. Research data were collected by conducting a series of semi-structured interviews with 18 property management professionals from different prominent Indian companies using PropTech.FindingsThe findings suggested the nine most typical automated property management functions in Indian CRE. The result of this research is the automated property services model for stakeholder management in CRE. The model demonstrates the value of implementing technology in property services in India.Practical implicationsThe study provides useful insights into how artificial intelligence (AI) in property management can be applied to address property-related challenges, various stakeholder needs and improve property performance in accordance with energy efficiency policies.Originality/valueThis paper attempts to add to the limited body of literature on technology in the property management domain. The model demonstrates how automated property services meet the needs of different stakeholders in CRE and provides remote working procedures within the COVID-19 pandemic context.

Impact of safety management system on safety performance: the mediating role of safety responsibility

2020 ◽  
Vol 27 (10) ◽  
pp. 3155-3170 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ruipeng Tong ◽  
Na Zhang ◽  
Xiaolong Wang ◽  
Hui Zhao
Keyword(s):  
Real Estate ◽  
Management System ◽  
Safety Management ◽  
Safety Performance ◽  
Real Estate Industry ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Mediating Role ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Relationship

PurposeSafety management system (SMS) has been widely adopted to explore its influence on safety performance (SP). However, most existing researches recognized SMS as a one-dimension structure and neglected the influences of its subdimensions. Similarly, the impact of safety responsibility (SR) on SP received little attention. This study aims to explore the relationship between subdimensions of SMS and SP, while incorporating the mediating effect of SR.Design/methodology/approachThe research data were gathered from safety management evaluation report of a large real estate enterprise in China during 2010–2017. This paper carries out a series of data analyses to explore the impact of SMS and SR on SP. In order to analyze the synergistic impacts of SMS and SR on SP, path analysis, correlation analysis and mediation analysis were conducted using hypotheses concerning with the main subdimensions.FindingsThe results indicated SMS and SR decreased the project risk level and improved SP of real estate projects. Furthermore, the effect of SR partially mediated the relationship between the SMS and SP.Practical implicationsFindings in this research contribute to improve SP in real estate industry as well as other industries by the active assumption of SR and the successful implementation of SMS.Originality/valueThis research shows the relationship between subdimensions of SMS and SP and the mediating role of SR on SMS–SP relationship to improve SP in real estate industry.

The impact of Generation Z in the intention to purchase real estate in Kosovo

2019 ◽  
Vol 38 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-24 ◽  
Author(s):  
Visar Hoxha ◽  
Emblema Zeqiraj
Keyword(s):  
Real Estate ◽  
Quantitative Research ◽  
Real Estate Industry ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Real ◽  
The Real Estate ◽  
Generation Z ◽  
Intention To Purchase ◽  
And Behaviors ◽  
The Impact

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to identify the impact that Generation Z has on the real estate industry of Kosovo. By studying the behaviors and characteristics of Gen Z the stakeholders in the real estate industry can gain advantages and opportunities in getting to comprehend their preferences, their perspective and their decision to buy real estate in Kosovo. Design/methodology/approach The present study used a quantitative research method. For the purpose of this study a questionnaire with close-ended questions is used. The questionnaire used for this study is a self-evaluation and self-administrated questionnaire. The study included 200 people, mainly Albanian speakers who participated in the questionnaire. All participants of the questionnaire were strictly members of Generation Z that were born in the time period of 1995–2012. In this questionnaire the participants were provided with full anonymity, since none of their identity data were requested during this process. Findings The findings of this study indicate that Gen Z and their different characteristics will have an impact on the real estate industry. Research limitations/implications This study can be utilized as a landmark for agents of real estate on understanding how they can use the characteristics and behaviors of Gen Z in their favor, by pointing out the prominence of those characteristics and behaviors in realizing the needs and desires of the potential buyers and the influence they have on the decision to buy property. Furthermore, through this study, the real estate agencies will be provided with multiple reasons that substantiate the necessity to perform the proper research about differences between generations. Originality/value The study is the first quantitative study that studies the linkage between behaviors and characteristics of Generation Z and their intention to purchase real estate.

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