D. Horváth, T. Csordás, K. Ásványi, J. Faludi, A. Cosovan, Attila Endre Simay, Z. Komár
{"title":"Will interfaces take over the physical workplace in higher education? A pessimistic view of the future","authors":"D. Horváth, T. Csordás, K. Ásványi, J. Faludi, A. Cosovan, Attila Endre Simay, Z. Komár","doi":"10.1108/JCRE-10-2020-0052","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/JCRE-10-2020-0052","url":null,"abstract":"Purpose\u0000The purpose of this paper is to argue for the sustained need for the physical workplace and real-life encounters in higher education even in the digital age despite being seemingly transformable into the virtual sphere as seen during the COVID-19 situation.\u0000\u0000\u0000Design/methodology/approach\u0000This study is based on a collaborative autoethnography by a group of seven higher educators with an overall 2,134 student encounters during the study’s time span. The authors then connect these practitioner observations with relevant COVID-19-related studies thereby adding to research on higher education as a workplace.\u0000\u0000\u0000Findings\u0000The data suggest that the physical workplace strongly bolsters the personal experience and effectiveness of higher education through contributing to its dynamics. Spaces predetermine the scope and levels of human interaction of teaching and learning. In a physical setting, all senses serve as mediators, whereas, online, only two senses are involved: vision and hearing. The two-dimensional screen becomes a mediator of communications. In the physical space, actors are free to adjust the working space, whereas the online working space is limited and defined by platforms.\u0000\u0000\u0000Practical implications\u0000Although higher education institutions may indeed fully substitute most practices formerly in a physical setting with online solutions, real-time encounters in the physical working space belong to its deeper raisons d'être.\u0000\u0000\u0000Originality/value\u0000This paper highlights the necessity of the physical workplace in higher education and describes the depriving potential of the exclusively online higher education teaching setting.","PeriodicalId":45969,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Corporate Real Estate","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2021-08-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48897929","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Office relocation: changes in privacy fit, satisfaction and fatigue","authors":"C. Weber, B. Gatersleben","doi":"10.1108/jcre-12-2020-0066","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/jcre-12-2020-0066","url":null,"abstract":"Purpose\u0000The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of an office move (and associated changes in settings, protocols and autonomy) on changes in privacy fit, privacy-related coping appraisal as well as changes in satisfaction and fatigue. The study builds on Altman’s (1975) privacy regulation model and the cognitive appraisal theory as a transactional model of stress.\u0000\u0000\u0000Design/methodology/approach\u0000Data was collected over two points of measurement from 61 office workers who moved from a standard open-plan office to an office that is activity based. The first questionnaire was distributed six weeks prior to the office move and the follow-up questionnaire approximately eight months after. With its longitudinal design, this study extends past research by demonstrating the changing nature of privacy fit and revealing predictors of change in privacy fit and coping appraisal.\u0000\u0000\u0000Findings\u0000Cross-lagged autoregression analysis of change confirmed suggested predictors such as increase in variety of settings and in adherence of others to protocols that positively influenced post-move privacy fit. Further, change in coping appraisal post move was predicted by an increase in perceived environmental and behavioural flexibility. Changes in privacy fit and appraisal were associated with increases in job and workplace satisfaction and decreases in emotional and mental work fatigue post move.\u0000\u0000\u0000Originality/value\u0000Results could inform physical workplace design as well as cultural interventions in organisations. To the best of authors’ knowledge, this is the first study investigating the psychological process of privacy experience by using a transactional model of stress.","PeriodicalId":45969,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Corporate Real Estate","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2021-08-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46890308","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Guest editorial","authors":"Marko Orel","doi":"10.1108/JCRE-09-2021-070","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/JCRE-09-2021-070","url":null,"abstract":"[...]entire city blocks and business districts that were previously lively from dusk until dawn were transformed into virtual “ghost towns” seemingly overnight. Because of the growing uncertainty about COVID-19, and the ensuing public debate around sustaining the global economy during the first half of 2020, the Journal of Corporate Real Estate has announced a call for papers for a special issue devoted to manuscripts on the aftermath of the pandemic and the workplace-related challenges that the lockdown has caused. Building their findings upon a desktop study and qualitative interviews with both corporate real estate managers and well with workplace consultants, Huiying (Cynthia) Hou, Hilde Remøy, Tuuli Jylhä and Herman Vande Putte report that office modifications have been predominantly related to need for personal protection of workers and administrative control that resulted in agile portfolio strategies and redesign of the office workplaces.","PeriodicalId":45969,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Corporate Real Estate","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2021-08-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45341083","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Methods for eliciting user experience insights in workplace studies: spatial walkthroughs, experience curve mapping and card sorting","authors":"Maral Babapour Chafi, A. C. Cordero","doi":"10.1108/JCRE-12-2020-0069","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/JCRE-12-2020-0069","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000Purpose\u0000Drawing on a user-centred design perspective, the purpose of this paper is to (i) provide an overview of three contextual user research methods, namely, spatial walkthroughs, experience curve mapping and card sorting, (ii) exemplify their applications in different case studies and (iii) compare the methods according to their contributions for the study of users’ workplace experiences. Previous workplace studies with qualitative approaches mainly rely on methods such as interviews and observations. Although these methods provide rich data, the understanding of office users, their use situations and finding more fitting workplace designs can benefit from deeper user experience insights.\u0000\u0000\u0000Design/methodology/approach\u0000Three methods and their variants were tested in studies of user experience in flexible offices: spatial walkthroughs, experience curve mapping and card sorting. The methods were tested during workshops and interviews in four case studies with a total of 114 participants.\u0000\u0000\u0000Findings\u0000Spatial walkthroughs were more immersive and provided the most insights on the actual context with respect to spatial design qualities, while experience curve mapping enabled understanding the temporal aspects of the user experience and card sorting enabled exploring user experiences with respect to predetermined spatial qualities and contextual aspects.\u0000\u0000\u0000Originality/value\u0000Spatial walkthroughs, experience curve mapping and card sorting methods have not previously been applied in workplace studies. They facilitate dialogue, participation and user involvement and provide insights for making evidence-based recommendations for designing or redesigning office environments that fit users’ needs and preferences.\u0000","PeriodicalId":45969,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Corporate Real Estate","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2021-07-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48910386","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"De-scripting office design: exploring design intentions in use","authors":"E. Søiland","doi":"10.1108/JCRE-10-2020-0039","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/JCRE-10-2020-0039","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000Purpose\u0000This paper aims to explore how users respond to office design through their use of space. Intentions for how office spaces should be used can be not only understood as sociomaterial scripts that are inscribed into the architecture by designers but also communicated through organisational change processes. The paper elaborates on how users de-script office spaces, that is, how they respond to these scripts through use.\u0000\u0000\u0000Design/methodology/approach\u0000The paper draws on a case study of an office design intervention in a public organisation. Taking a sociomaterial approach, the paper uses the concepts of scripting and de-scripting to analyse the data.\u0000\u0000\u0000Findings\u0000The findings show that users subscribe to, repair, resist or re-script design scripts. This suggests that users can enact agency in use through creative acts of appropriation. Further, both materiality and user participation play equivocal roles in user responses.\u0000\u0000\u0000Research limitations/implications\u0000The paper is based on a single case study where the design process was studied retrospectively. The case is regarded as typical of contemporary office design processes, but more studies that follow projects from design into use are needed.\u0000\u0000\u0000Practical implications\u0000This suggests that design solutions should be better adapted to the work practices instead of applying generic concepts to specific situations and that design and use should be understood as overlapping processes.\u0000\u0000\u0000Originality/value\u0000The originality of this study lies in linking aspects of the design process with user responses and in taking a sociomaterial approach to examine design and use.\u0000","PeriodicalId":45969,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Corporate Real Estate","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2021-07-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"45839133","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"“Covid-working”: what to keep and what to leave? Evidence from an Italian company","authors":"C. Tagliaro, Alessandra Migliore","doi":"10.1108/JCRE-10-2020-0053","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/JCRE-10-2020-0053","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000Purpose\u0000This paper aims to explore the extent to which Covid-19 has challenged work habits and outcomes. The authors argue that after the lockdown period workers have been experiencing a new work mode called “Covid-working”. The aim is to provide a first interpretation of this phaenomenon and elaborate on future real estate strategies and workplace policies based on this experience.\u0000\u0000\u0000Design/methodology/approach\u0000Using survey data, this research analyses Covid-working in a large-sized company in Italy. The survey was answered by 90 employees and addresses three domains: locations of work; a comparison between work-from-home (WFH) and work from the office; and outcomes of Covid-working vs office-working.\u0000\u0000\u0000Findings\u0000With Covid-working, the workers of the case company drastically changed their traditional work from the office approach to pure WFH. While this abrupt switch might generate difficulties in adaptation, this working practice was generally appreciated by this company’s workers. Positive and negative outcomes of Covid-working confirm previous studies on remote working. Recommendations on multi-location of work, new value for the headquarters and diversity empowerment open up avenues for future real estate strategies.\u0000\u0000\u0000Originality/value\u0000Observations on Covid-working are still limited and mainly appear on grey literature, due to the newness of this phaenomenon. Empirical studies such as the proposed one can increase companies’ awareness of the positive and negative outcomes of this experience and support their future workplace strategies.\u0000","PeriodicalId":45969,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Corporate Real Estate","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2021-06-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42349138","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"A study on office workplace modification during the COVID-19 pandemic in The Netherlands","authors":"H. Hou, H. Remøy, Tuuli Jylhä, H. Putte","doi":"10.1108/JCRE-10-2020-0051","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/JCRE-10-2020-0051","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000Purpose\u0000Triggered by public concerns over office workplace safety during the COVID-19 pandemic, this study sheds light on the office workplace environment and aims to investigate how organisations respond to forces from the external environment (impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic) and how they modify their office workplace management strategically and operationally to suit the stakeholders’ needs and future development in the post COVID-19 period.\u0000\u0000\u0000Design/methodology/approach\u0000A desktop study was conducted to provide the framework for the in-depth interviews with five corporate real estate (CRE) managers and three workplace consultants. Thematic analysis including coding technique was adopted to analyse the qualitative data.\u0000\u0000\u0000Findings\u0000The findings show that during the COVID-19 pandemic, most of the intended and implemented office workplace modifications are mainly related to two types of risk control: administrative control and personal protection. At a strategic level, organisations react to the external forces by re-modelling their businesses and working towards re-orienting their CRE strategies, such as portfolio transformation, agile portfolio strategies and redesign of the office workplace, etc.\u0000\u0000\u0000Originality/value\u0000This is a topical and timely study that presents the general practice of office workplace modification during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the related CRE management (CREM) strategies developed for the new normal. The findings obtained through in-depth interviews have well supported the CREM strategic alignment theory. It is foreseen that office workplace management will encounter other challenges due to uncertainties of the COVID-19 pandemic. The findings of this study provide a practical lens to look at the future changes of office workplace environment.\u0000","PeriodicalId":45969,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Corporate Real Estate","volume":"1 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2021-06-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"62072033","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Andreas Pfnuer, Julian Seger, R. Appel-Meulenbroek
{"title":"Corporate real estate management and companies’ success: empirical evidence for a conceptual framework","authors":"Andreas Pfnuer, Julian Seger, R. Appel-Meulenbroek","doi":"10.1108/JCRE-12-2019-0051","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1108/JCRE-12-2019-0051","url":null,"abstract":"\u0000Purpose\u0000The purpose of this study is to explain the contribution of Corporate Real Estate Management (CREM) to corporate success and to substantiate it empirically. However, no empirically tested holistic concept classifies and explains the different success contributions of CREM in their mechanisms of action and organisational levels.\u0000\u0000\u0000Design/methodology/approach\u0000This study develops a holistic two-dimensional model from existing literature to explain the relationship between CREM decisions and business success, and then tests it empirically using multidimensional data scaling from a telephone company survey (CATI) of 59 CREM managers sampled from the 200 largest German companies.\u0000\u0000\u0000Findings\u0000The created theoretical model holistically explains CREM success and existence as part of a non-property company, with specific performance drivers on specific organisational levels. The empirical data confirm that both dimensions of the model and, thus the measurement concept for modelling the CREM contribution to business success is robust across sectors and company/portfolio size in Germany.\u0000\u0000\u0000Originality/value\u0000The empirical confirmation of the conceptual model of CREM success provides novel support for the institutionalisation of the CREM function in companies and the holistic classification of different CREM research directions.\u0000","PeriodicalId":45969,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Corporate Real Estate","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2021-04-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43033430","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}