How far and often do organizations relocate offices

Abstract

Purpose – Relocation is one of the tasks that corporate real estate management is responsible for. They are important events for organizations as there can be a variety of different impacts due to relocation. Previous research has made a distinction between long and short distance relocations. This paper focuses on contributing to the knowledge of the relocation phenomenon. The purpose is to examine the scale and volume of companies’ HQ relocations. Design/methodology/approach – The study uses quantitative data of address changes of Finnish companies which is qualitatively analyzed in respect to the relocation distance and the amounts of relocated companies in order to formulate an understanding of how far and often companies have relocated. Findings – The findings of this study indicate that the majority of relocations are short distance relocations; Two thirds were relocations of less than ten kilometres. The median relocation distance was less than five kilometres. Further, 30 percent of the companies had relocated at least once during the five and half year period and six percent during the last year of the dataset. Practical implications – The increased knowledge of the relocation phenomenon’s scale, volume and nature supports the development of relocation management as well as relocation related service business, thus enabling organizations possibly to relocate more efficiently and optimally. The dominant role of short-distance relocations suggests that from organizations’ perspective, there are certain underlying drivers for organizations to remain within same region. Originality/value – The findings of the study give an overall view of the scale and volume of the relocations phenomenon within the private sector in Finland. The importance of relocation management and workplace change requires more attention as opposite to the mere location selection approach Keywords – Corporate Real Estate Management, Relocation, Headquarters, Finland Paper type – Research paper