Review and assessment of factors affecting the workplace relocation process

Remodeling as a circular approach in built facilities: an assessment of lifecycle factors towards successful delivery

Purpose

This research presents a review and assessment of the factors affecting the implementation of remodeling projects, during their lifecycle.

Design/methodology/approach

A mixed design approach comprising of qualitative and quantitative methods was utilized. The research commenced with a literature review to identify the factors affecting remodeling projects over their lifecycle phases, namely re-programing, design, construction, and operation and maintenance. A survey was administered, to solicit experts' evaluation of importance, on a sample of 90 professionals, including 30 architects, 30 contractors and 30 real estate developers, to obtain a diversified assessment of the factors. Based on the values of their relative importance indices, a set of 27 factors were ranked and correlated, among all areas, to expose the differentiation of their views.

Findings

The research has empirically determined that data availability of the remodeling project, contractor competency for carrying out the remodeling project, and safety during the disassembly and demolition (D&D) activities are the most important lifecycle factors leading to a successful delivery of the remodeling projects. These factors provide a practical guide for professionals endeavoring on delivering a successful and effective remodeling of built facilities.

Originality/value

This research explores professional practice in comparison to the literature and the legislative discourses, to ensure an effective delivery of remodeling projects over their lifecycle. This research provides practitioners, and regulators with a lacked area of research, while introducing a thorough investigation upon the factors affecting remodeling projects, their importance and ranking, from a project's lifecycle perception.

Disposal of government offices in Jakarta pending relocation of the Indonesian capital: an application of multi-criteria analysis

Purpose

This article develops a viable means of assessment of the suitability for disposal of hundreds of national government offices in Jakarta as a facet of the relocation of Indonesia's capital from Java to Borneo.

Design/methodology/approach

A “disposal assessment model”, based on multi-criteria analysis (MCA) and a bespoke model of office adaptation, is constructed and applied to the population of to-be-vacated public office buildings in Jakarta.

Findings

In this initial demonstration mode, the disposal assessment model is tested on a live dataset and found able not only to rank buildings for disposal against stated objectives but also to incorporate more complex variables and lead into other forms of business analysis.

Practical implications

A fit-for-purpose model is shown capable of assisting decision-makers involved in major asset disposal, while also accounting for the stances of project stakeholders.

Social implications

The model offers the possibility to evaluate and, likely, optimise net social benefit for Jakarta and Indonesia both quantitatively and qualitatively.

Originality/value

The disposal assessment model builds on prior work in operations research and property management to develop a new construct applicable to a novel asset issue of massive proportions.

Organizational workplace relocation: assessment of facilities and real estate managers' practices

Purpose

This research investigates the literature and perspectives of bilateral domains of experts, the facilities management (FM) and real estate management (REM) professionals. It provides insights towards a comprehensive understanding of office facilities relocation as organizational workplaces.

Design/methodology/approach

An investigation of the literature was conducted, to identify design aspects, drivers, challenges, and technical and functional considerations of the workplace relocation. A structured survey was utilized, as face-to-face interviews with 32 FM and 32 REM professionals, to explore and compare their perspectives and expertise.

Findings

The study identified key aspects for workplace relocation that were rarely focused on, holistically, in the literature. The research led to identifying the drivers, challenges, considerations, scenarios, and design needs pertaining to the implementation, acquisition, and occupation of the workplace in times of relocation. There is a dispersed view on workplace relocation between FM and REM, which requires alignment. FM and REM experts' perspectives were intrinsically discussed to ascertain the identified key areas.

Practical implications

Workplace relocation is a change that disturbs almost every workplace around the globe, at least once in its life cycle. This study enlists comprehension of the knowledge obtained from a review of the international literature, to provide a holistic guide for organizational decision makers, and interlink FM and REM professionals' perspectives, for enhanced decision-making.

Originality/value

This article reviews the literature on workplace relocation, covering FM and REM domains perspectives to advance the organizational workplace relocation practices.

Is a new office a blessing in disguise? The strategic importance of relocation

Purpose

Corporate relocation is a rare event in the history of an individual company. The choices related to location, building and workplace constitute major long-term strategic decisions that determine the company’s future operating environment. However, business decision-makers often do not evaluate all the aspects of relocation before making relocation decisions. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to systemise the knowledge behind corporate relocation and the strategic qualities and impacts of these choices.

Design/methodology/approach

This conceptual paper is based on a comprehensive literature review of 74 articles on the strategic qualities of short-distance corporate relocation of knowledge-intensive firms. Based on the review insights, a conceptual model of the strategic operational qualities for work environment selection is developed.

Findings

This paper identifies three strategic layers of physical environment change, namely, location, building and physical work environment, which need to be considered when deciding to relocate. Corporate relocation affects a company through five operational qualities, namely, staff productivity, costs, employee retention and availability, operational changes and organisational culture.

Practical implications

Relocation is a complex process for an individual company. Justifying choices based on direct costs can lead to unexpected changes in indirect costs for the company. This paper helps decision-makers understand the strategic importance of corporate relocation, identify relocation goals and plan successful relocation.

Originality/value

This paper uses a strategy and organisation lens to provide a systematic overview and synthesis of the strategic qualities of short-distance corporate relocation of knowledge-intensive firms.