Thesis (M.Hous.M)--University of Hong Kong, 2004. / Also available in print.

In view of the factors influencing and the steps in the design of a Website, building a successful Website will vary from business to business. This study investigates what is required from a small commercial and industrial property and services business to take their business online and create an effective Website. The environment of the property market reflected the role that government plays in the property industry and also the role of the private sector. Marketing in the real estate context indicated that if real estate agents have access to the right type of information, not only can they add value to their own organizations, but they can also capitalize on the same information to create added value for their clients. The elements of the marketing management process include four steps, namely to gather information, to set marketing goals and plan strategy, to organize and implement marketing strategy and to control the marketing activities. Marketing in the online environment showed that the Marketing Mix includes personalisation, privacy, customer services, community, site, security and sales promotion. The principles of online marketing revealed the important role of the customer and customer relationships. An investigation into the difference between e-commerce and online marketing made it clear that online marketing is one component of e-commerce. This study critically analysed the available literature in order to suggest a proposed framework of what should be included in the Website of a small commercial and industrial property and services business. In order to successfully research online marketing of commercial and industrial properties and services in a small business, a basic but thorough understanding of online marketing principles and Website content are important. In this study a qualitative research approach was followed where secondary sources were critically evaluated to design the required framework. Thereafter three Websites of marketing of commercial and industrial properties and services were content analysed to see whether anything else should be added to the framework. This would assist in taking a small business in commercial and industrial properties and services online. The framework suggests that the Website homepage content should include:  Business overview/information Products/services What’s new Search Employment opportunities Interactive feedback Customer service/ assistance Index/directory  Financial facts Links to other sites Online business services/utilities  Guest book Frequently Asked Questions Messages from CEO A purposeful sample of three Websites was then content analysed so as to provide the information necessary to reach the objectives of the study. The following Websites were included in the content analysis: Broll, which operates as a national agency with international associations. The firm renders services (Estate Agency) and does not own property. Bruce McWilliams Industries Pty Ltd is operative in Port Elizabeth, Uitenhage and surrounds. It is a family business that owns property, which it develops and markets itself. Seeff is a national agency. It renders services (estate agency) and does not own property. Lastly, a narrative of a small commercial and industrial property and services business was created by means of document analysis of a specific business. The researcher was allowed to study the documents and diaries of the business in order to provide a narrative for this business. This narrative can be used as part of the envisaged Website for the business.

D.Phil. / The primary objective of this thesis is to follow a systems approach to improve property management in state departments and state-owned enterprises. The public sector, bureaucracy and state-owned enterprises (SOEs) globally and in South Africa (SA) are examined using a systems approach to provide the context for property management in state departments and SOEs. The effectiveness of property management in SA‟s National Department of Public Works and National Department of Public Enterprises are evaluated. Property management in rail transportation organisations globally and in SA receives focused attention. The SA state-owned company Transnet Limited, primarily a rail transportation enterprise, and Propnet, Transnet‟s property management unit, are examined in depth. Lessons learned, findings and recommendations are presented in a Management Matrix. The Management Matrix is incorporated in a State Property Management Transformation System, the implementation of which will improve property management in state departments and SOEs both globally and in SA.

Many of our most important and debated environmental problems of today have a tight relationship to the built environment. Examples are energy use, diffusion of chemical compounds through building materials and products and negative health impacts caused by emissions to indoor environments. Systematic work with such issues practiced in environmental management systems has become more and more common in companies, also in real estate companies. A series of studies have been exploring whether the application of environmental management systems also effectively ascertain reduced environmental impact. It has turned out that in many cases, this was not even possible to evaluate, since follow-up procedures often are insufficient. The purpose of this project was to study environmental management in real estate companies and to come up with ideas on how this practice could benefit from improved follow-up of environmental impact. In the first part of the project, nine real estate companies of different types were studied through deep interviews and document analysis. The companies were primarily chosen because they were considered to have an ambitious environmental management practice. And even though many of the companies also were very ambitious, the results indicate that it is difficult to draw conclusions concerning improvements in terms of reduced environmental impact. The formulation of targets and objectives with unclear relation to reduced environmental impact is an important reason. A result is that follow-up of improvements is pursued in diverse ways and this is mainly due to the difficulties of relating company activities to environmental impact. In the second part of the project a case study of a real estate unit (a housing unit with 900 apartments) was pursued. Large amounts of quantitative data on environmentally influencing flows were collected in order to explore the possibilities to account for the environmental impact of such a unit. Based on these data, a few environmental indicators with as clear relationship to environmental impact as possible were suggested and calculated, mainly through LCA-methodology. The amount of CO2-equivalents per year caused by the energy use and transports of the unit is one example of an indicator, which is expressing the unit’s contributions to the global problem of climate change. Both the flow’s extent and significance are then expressed in contrast to traditional measurements of energy use, like the amount of kWh/sqm and year. Indicators of this type may be used in order to develop environmental management in real estate companies, for example to formulate objectives and targets with a higher degree of relationship to environmental impact and to follow-up the efficiency of the environmental management system more clearly. For energy use, this is possible today. For other aspects in real estate management, indicators need to be developed further. Concerning availability of data from real estate for calculating environmental impact, structural difficulties to find data is a problem for some activities. However, routines for data collection are possible to develop. Clear, quantitative target formulations and benchmarking are examples of situations that support the introduction of routines for such data collection. / <p>QC 20100601</p>

Värdet av det svenska fastighetsbeståndet utgör två tredjedelar av den svenska nationalförmögenheten och det kommersiella fastighetsbeståndet kan värderas till cirka 3 200 miljarder kronor. En av de viktigaste yrkesrollerna för en fungerande kommersiell fastighetsmarknad är i sin tur fastighetsförvaltaren. Detta medförde att Aff – Forum för förvaltning och service under slutet av 2010 införde en auktorisation för fastighetsförvaltare.   Det huvudsakliga syftet med uppsatsen är att undersöka var auktorisationen befinner sig i dagsläget samt hur framtiden för auktorisationen ser ut och vilka åtgärder som Aff behöver göra. Vidare syftar uppsatsen till att undersöka efterfrågan och behovet av auktorisationen hos olika aktörer. Syftet är även att klargöra hur Affs auktorisation är uppbyggd samt att undersöka om utformningen är den bästa möjliga. För att undersöka detta har författarna intervjuat elva företag inom branschen samt Professor Stellan Lundström och doktorand Sigrid Katzler från KTH. De intervjuade företagen bedriver sin verksamhet inom olika typer av fastighetsslag. För att undersöka den långsiktiga efterfrågan och behovet av auktorisationen har flera generella drivkrafter som oftast finns vid införandet av en auktorisation studerats. Dessa kan till exempel bestå av att skapa en konkurrensfördel, höja kompetensen eller höja inträdesbarriärerna.   Den empiriska studien visade på att de intervjuade aktörernas insikt i auktorisationen var att beteckna som relativt dålig. Trots detta hade tre av de intervjuade företagen auktoriserade förvaltare inom bolaget. Behovet av en auktorisation rådde de delade meningar om. Tre företag ansåg att det inte fanns ett behov, ett flertal företag uttryckte att auktorisationen kunde medföra nytta i olika hänseenden. De senare gick dock inte så långt som att kalla det ett behov. Inget företag ansåg att behovet för en auktorisering var större inom något specifikt fastighetsslag. Däremot såg företagen en skillnad i vilken konkurrensfördel auktorisationen skulle innebära för ägande bolag och konsultbolag. Konkurrensfördelen att kunna marknadsföra auktorisationen mot kund ansågs vara betydligt större för konsultbolagen. De flesta av de intervjuade företagen ansåg att auktorisationen kan fungera som ett verktyg för kompetensutveckling. Auktorisationen sågs även som ett medel för att skapa en enhetlig definition av fastighetsförvaltare. Slutligen tyckte alla företag samt Katzler och Lundström att utformningen var relevant, dock framhävde vissa att den skulle kunna delas upp i fler steg.   Slutsatsen från studien är att kännedomen är så låg att Aff har ett direkt behov av att marknadsföra organisationen samt auktorisationen. Detta skulle också bidra till att Aff uppfattas som mer legitima. Utifrån studien ter det sig som att de ägande bolagens kunder, till skillnad från konsultbolagens, inte kommer efterfråga en auktorisation. Det krävs dock fortsatt forskning för att bekräfta detta. / The Swedish property stock constitutes two-thirds of the Swedish national wealth and the value of the commercial real estate stock can be estimated to 3 200 billion SEK. One of the most important professions to maintain an efficient commercial real estate market is the real estate manager. This caused Aff – “Forum för förvaltning och service” to introduce a professional certification for real estate managers by the end of 2010.   The main purpose of this thesis is to analyse where the certification is on the market and how the future will look for the certification. Furthermore, the purpose is to establish the demand and need among different market actors. The purpose of the thesis is also to clarify the structure of the certification and examine the current format. To analyse this, the authors have conducted interviews with eleven companies operating in the real estate market. Professor Stellan Lundström and doctoral student Sigrid Katzler from KTH have also participated in interviews. Several different drivers have been studied in order to analyse the long-term demand and need for a professional certification for real estate managers. These drivers can for example be to create a competitive advantage, raise the competence level or to raise the entry barriers for the profession.   The empirical study revealed that the interviewed companies had little knowledge of the certification. Although the knowledge in general was modest, there were three of the interviewed companies that had certified real estate managers. There were different opinions concerning the need for a certification. Three of the companies explicitly claimed that they did not see any need, several of the companies expressed that the certification could bring advantages. The companies expressed a difference in the competitive advantage the certification could bring for companies that own real estate and for service firms. The competitive advantage to market the certification towards the customer was believed to be much greater for the service firms. Most of the companies thought that the certification could be used as a mean to increase competencies for the real estate managers. The certification was also thought of as a mean to create a unanimous definition of the real estate manager. Finally, all of the companies as well as Katzler and Lundström considered the disposition to be relevant although some of them expressed that it could be divided into different levels.   The conclusion is that the general knowledge is rather modest and that Aff have an urgent need to market the organisation and the certification. This would also contribute to Aff’s legitimacy. The study indicates that the customers of the companies that own real estate are not going to demand a certification as much as those of the service firms. However, further study is needed to confirm this.

Purpose – The authors want to give an actual overview of the CREM in Sweden and investigate how certain issues, such as business alignment and strategy of CREM are handled in Sweden.Importance – Scant published research in the academic field of corporate real estate management is covering the Swedish market, hence this paper tries to close this gap. Design/methodology/approach – The paper examines current literature on the topic of CREM and analyses market data gained by a survey and interviews to illustrate the status of CREM in Sweden to dayLimitation – The participation rate in the survey prevents the authors from drawing conclusions significant for the whole market, a wider ranged survey including unlisted companies would certainly help enhancing this research and identify more patterns in the marketKeywords – Corporate Real Estate Management, strategy, business alignment, performance, benchmarking, flexibility, outsourcing, Sweden

The change in property management during a crisis - Covid19. Crisis management and commercial property management are two phenomena that are well documented in each field, but there is a lack of research regarding what crisis management looks like in the real estate industry. This essay intends to combine these and describe how the management of commercial properties handles crises and how they need to change their management work. The purpose of this thesis is thus to describe how the property management of commercial properties has changed during a crisis with Covid-19 as a starting point. The study intends to account for the basics of how commercial property management has been affected and what measures the property managers have had to take. Based on the problems underlying the study, a qualitative research method was applied. During the collection of data, a number of interviews were conducted with respondents who worked with management of commercial properties. A total of seven interviews were conducted which were transcribed, coded and interpreted. The essay also contains a method chapter where we describe in detail how the study was conducted and how we took into account the respondents participating in the study. After the method chapter, we have a chapter where we set the conditions that are specific to the Covid-19 pandemic. The results of the survey show that managers who work in commercial management have needed to take measures to ensure the safety of both themselves, employees and their tenants. How prepared they have been for a similar crisis has varied and so have the measures implemented. The results also show how customer contact has changed and how the finances have been affected by the measures they have had to implement. After the results were presented, an analysis was performed where the results are linked to previous literature. Then a conclusion is presented where we summarize the main points of the results and it also describes the study's contribution to the field of research. Finally, opportunities for future research are presented. / Krishantering och kommersiell fastighetsförvaltning är två fenomen som på varsitt håll är väldokumenterade men det finns brist på forskning gällande hur krishanteringen ser ut inom fastighetsbranschen. Denna uppsats avser därmed att kombinera dessa och beskriva hur förvaltningen av kommersiella fastigheter hanterar kriser och hur de behöver ändra sitt förvaltningsarbete. Syftet med detta examensarbete är därmed att beskriva hur fastighetsförvaltningen av kommersiella fastigheter har ändrats under en kris med Covid-19 som utgångspunkt. Studien avser att redogöra grunderna för på vilka sätt kommersiell fastighetsförvaltning påverkats och vilka åtgärder som fastighetsförvaltarna har blivit tvungna att vidta. Utifrån den problematik somligger till grund för studien tillämpades en kvalitativ forskningsmetod. Vid insamlingen av data genomfördes flera intervjuer med respondenter som arbetarinom förvaltningsområdet med kommersiella fastigheter. Totalt genomfördes sju intervjuer som transkriberades, kodades och tolkades.  Uppsatsen innehåller också ett metodkapitel där vi ingående beskriver hur studien har genomförts och hur vi tagit hänsyn till medverkande respondenter i studien. Efter metodkapitlet finns ett kapitel där vi presenterar förutsättningarna som är specifika för Covid-19 pandemin. Undersökningens resultat visar att förvaltare som jobbar inom kommersiell förvaltning har behövt vidta åtgärder för att säkerställa säkerheten för både sig själva, medarbetare och för sina hyresgäster. Hur förberedd de varit inför en liknande kris har varierat och det har även åtgärderna gjort. Resultatet visar även hur kundkontakten ändrats och hur ekonomin i företagen påverkas av åtgärderna de varit tvungna att ta. Efter att resultatet presenterats genomfördes en analys där resultatet sammankopplas med tidigare litteratur. Därefter presenteras en slutsats där vi sammanfattar resultatets huvudpunkter och det redogörs även för studiens bidrag till forskningen. Sist presenteras möjligheter till framtida forskning.

Fastighetsförvaltning var tidigare ett tekniskt område där arbetet utgick från fastigheterna.Detta är något som inte det närmsta passar in på dagens fastighetsförvaltning, som utgår från flera intressenter och parametrar. Förvaltningen utgörs idag av flera tjänster som fungerar som ett helhetserbjudande för hyresgästerna. Hyresgästerna kan därför idag räknas som konsumenter till funktioner och tjänster kopplade till fastigheten. Detta har inneburit att fastighetsförvaltning i allt större utsträckning utgår ifrån kundens behov och förväntningaroch att möta dessa är en förutsättning för att lyckas. Dessa funktioner och tjänster som fastighetsbolagen erbjuder för sina hyresgäster består av aktiviteter som utförs i förhoppning om att kunna öka kundnöjdheten. Det görs genom att ett mervärde skapas då förvaltningen möter hyresgästens behov och överträffar deras förväntningar. Det råder däremot en osäkerhet vilka aktiviteter som utförs i syfte att höja kundnöjdheten, vilket denna studie syftar till att undersöka. Utifrån detta har en kvalitativ metod valts bestående av litteraturstudier och empirisk tmaterial insamlat från årsredovisningar. Resultaten visar att aktiviteter som kundservice, kundkommunikation, kundundersökningar och arbete mot att skapa engagerade medarbetare kopplas direkt till kundnöjdhet och genomförs av alla bolagen. Vidare visar resultaten att kundnöjdhetsarbetet skiljer sig något mellan bostadsbolag och kommersiella bolag, där vissa aktiviteter anses viktigare än andra. Studien bidrar genom detta till att kartlägga vilka aktiviteter som ses som kundnöjdhetsarbete av olika typer av fastighetsbolagen.Avslutningsvis så anser vi att det skulle varit intressant att vidareutveckla studien genom att kolla på ett mer varierat urval av fastighetsbolag för att hitta större skillnader i deras kundnöjdhetsarbete. / Property Management was previously a technical area where the work was based around the properties. This is something that is not very accurate for today´s property management,which consists of interests of several stakeholders. Today the management consists of several services that serve as a comprehensive offer for the tenants. The tenants can therefore be observed as consumers for functions and services linked to the property. This has led to that property management is increasingly based on the customer's needs and expectations and to fulfill those is a prerequisite for success. These services that the real estate companies offer to their tenants consist of activities that are carried out in the hope of being able to increase customer satisfaction. This is done by creating value when the management meets the tenant's needs and exceeds their expectations.On the other hand, there is an uncertainty to which activities are carried out with the aim of increasing customer satisfaction, this is therefore the aim of the study. Based on this a qualitative method has been chosen consisting of literature studies and empirical material collected from annual reports. The results show that activities such as customer service, customer communication, customer surveys and a work towards creating engaged employees are directly linked to customer satisfaction and are carried out by al lcompanies. Furthermore the results show that customer satisfaction work differs somewhat between housing companies and commercial real estate companies, where some activities are considered more important than others by the different companies. The study helps to identify which activities are seen as customer satisfaction work of different real estate companies.Finally, we believe it would have been interesting to further develop the study by looking at amore varied selection of real estate companies to find greater differences in their customer satisfaction work.

The purpose of this study was to determine the factors which influence the off-campus rental housing choices of students attending Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. An interview schedule was developed and administered by telephone to a random sample of 204 Virginia Tech students who were renting off-campus housing in Blacksburg, Virginia. The data were examined by analysis of means, frequencies, correlations, and t-tests. The findings revealed significant differences (p<.01) between students who lived in traditional rental apartments and students who lived in student condominiums in preferences for amenities, lease options, and maintenance. No difference in satisfaction levels was found to exist between the groups. All students in the sample showed preferences for a large number of amenities, most of which were provided by the Blacksburg rental market. Cost was identified as the greatest influence on housing choice for the entire sample, while noise and inadequate parking were the major dissatisfactions. / Master of Science / incomplete_metadata

published_or_final_version / Housing Management / Master / Master of Housing Management