M.Com. (Business Management) / The commercial real estate broking industry is considered one of the most competitive industries globally, with research showing that it has many competitors and the ease of entry is rather easy. This research was conducted in the context of the commercial real estate broking industry in order to examine the extent of competition in the industry and to establish how one of the companies in this industry can sustain the competitive advantage. The study revealed that gaining and sustaining competitive advantage is about strengthening the resources that are not valuable, rare and imitable in the organisation as reflected in the model by Knott (2009: 166). The primary purpose of this study was to explore how JLL SA can obtain and sustain competitive advantage in the competitive commercial real estate broking environment through the Resource Based View. The research methodology applied in this study was a qualitative study, which consisted of 9 semi structured interviews from Jones Lang LaSalle South Africa (JLL SA). The criteria for the population sample was that the respondents had to have adequate experience in the commercial real estate broking industry and had a thorough knowledge of the company under review. The research highlighted a number of challenges regarding the market position of JLL SA and that the company does not have a formal rivalry strategy. From the research, it was found that strategic planning, particularly for competition happens as and when the organisation is challenged by competition. The study also reveals that JLL SA does not communicate a strategic direction for tackling competition. The main recommendations of this study is that JLL SA adopts the model suggested by Knott (2009:166) as a measure to gain and sustain competitive advantage. The model refers to the valuable, rarity and inimitability of resources through, in which JLL SA can selects attributes or resources to evaluate in order to sustain competitive commercial real estate broking industry is considered one of the most competitive industries globally, with research showing that it has many competitors and the ease of entry is rather easy. This research was conducted in the context of the commercial real estate broking industry in order to examine the extent of competition in the industry and to establish how one of the companies in this industry can sustain the competitive advantage. The study revealed that gaining and sustaining competitive advantage is about strengthening the resources that are not valuable, rare and imitable in the organisation as reflected in the model by Knott (2009: 166). The primary purpose of this study was to explore how JLL SA can obtain and sustain competitive advantage in the competitive commercial real estate broking environment through the Resource Based View. The research methodology applied in this study was a qualitative study, which consisted of 9 semi structured interviews from Jones Lang LaSalle South Africa (JLL SA). The criteria for the population sample was that the respondents had to have adequate experience in the commercial real estate broking industry and had a thorough knowledge of the company under review. The research highlighted a number of challenges regarding the market position of JLL SA and that the company does not have a formal rivalry strategy. From the research, it was found that strategic planning, particularly for competition happens as and when the organisation is challenged by competition. The study also reveals that JLL SA does not communicate a strategic direction for tackling competition. The main recommendations of this study is that JLL SA adopts the model suggested by Knott (2009:166) as a measure to gain and sustain competitive advantage. The model refers to the valuable, rarity and inimitability of resources through, in which JLL SA can selects attributes or resources to evaluate in order to sustain competitive advantage.

Due to increasing skill and awareness of overall functions in programs such as Excel, an increasing number of analysts at real estate firms and consultancies have started developing "desktop" versions of valuation models used for professional appraisal of property value. Due to personal preferences, differences in schools and professional backgrounds, these so called desktop models vary in quality, robustness, accuracy, design and user friendliness. Professional software suites are not suitable either, as they are expensive, hard to learn, hard to adapt to specific needs of the business, outdated design and need of additional IT resources. At a multinational Real Estate consultancy such as Jones Lang LaSalle, requirements on tools used for professional opinions on questions as important as property value, are rigorous. Therefore, decision was made to develop a new DCF model which would be closely monitored by management and have a prismatic approach meaning that the model would satisfy the needs of more than one division at Jones Lang LaSalle. When reviewing existing models and practices at the company, the result became a tailored DCF valuation model that was focused on increasing efficiency of appraisers at Jones Lang LaSalle. Aside from being robust and technically sophisticated, the result also suited the specific needs of Jones Lang LaSalle in terms of features and user interface. Development of the model involved several divisions to ensure that the needs were met for Research & Valuation, Capital Markets, Corporate Solutions and Asset Management at Jones Lang LaSalle.