Corporate Real Estate Management

Purpose: Flexibility and mobility reflect a changing work culture in today’s world emphasizing more on employees and their well-being. With the war for talents becoming increasingly crucial in providing the optimal organizational system, exploring the concept of New-Work becomes highly relevant. However, many corporates still work with traditional approaches and lack in making their organizations more flexible such as offering the options of home office or leasing Flexible Office Spaces (FOS) for project teams. The purpose of this paper, therefore, is to make the existing research about home office and FOS/Co-working comparable to develop a mutual, scientific basis for sustainable decisions.Design/methodology/approach: An extensive qualitative literature review of more than 30 scientific papers has been conducted, comparing their research aspects, significant differences in scientific approaches adopted, and findings. Subsequently, current surveys and office work figures in Germany are analysed to predict potential flexible forms of working for the Commercial Real Estate industry.Findings: The qualitative analysis makes the common ground of the existing research visible. However, without regards of the specific needs of the individual corporate, no recommendation for a workplace strategy can be given. Therefore, before using any study on the topic for a strategic decision, corporates have to clarify their specific needs to develop and implement a workplace strategy that fits best to their organizational structure.Originality/value: The paper addresses corporates who, in the spirit of ‘New Work’, would make their working conditions more flexible and benefit from an overview of existing research in the commercial real estate industry, which still underestimates the consequences of FOS.