Kathy O. Roper

Justifying sustainable buildings – championing green operations

Purpose – A fundamental contribution that a corporate real estate (CRE) manager can make to the industry and to the world is the sincere attempt to implement green operations within their buildings portfolio. Reducing an organizations environmental impact is a strategic issue that not only reaches across each constituent part of its own operations and activities, but extends to include those of its suppliers and those who use its goods and services. Facility and real estate managers can demonstrate their value by participating in formulating and implementing policies for reducing the organizations environmental impact, redefining their role as one that underpins mainstream organizational and business needs, and bringing value to their organization while positively impacting the global environment. This paper seeks to address these issues.Design/methodology/approach – A review of current literature on the topic of sustainability and the background of the sustainability movement in the US was undertaken t...

A framework for talent management in real estate

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to propose talent management, in todays competitive marketplace, is critical in organizational success. Real estate organizations are now recognizing the value in attracting and retaining the best, brightest employees in order to achieve higher than average market share and elevated profiles. In the era of the knowledge worker, “talent” – narrowly defined as a core group of leaders, technical experts and other key contributors – are quickly becoming an organizations most important asset. As real estate companies continue to compete for the top tier talent, their strategies must become more integrated.Design/methodology/approach – Based on review of existing literature and expert panel interviews, a framework for integrating talent management strategies focused on multiple generations.Findings – There is clear evidence that innovative recruiting techniques must be geared to attracting the new generation of workers. Additional attention should be given to increasing ...

Optimal decision making on urban renewal projects

Purpose – The aim of this paper is to present a systematic approach to provide decision makers in the Taipei City Government and private developers with an opportunity to review their decisions on urban renewal project selections, and to provide a model which could be adapted for other locations.Design/methodology/approach – Porters diamond model of competitive advantage is applied to establish evaluating criteria on urban competitiveness quality, and a fuzzy set theory combining the PROMETHEE method is used to determine the priority of projects. In assigning scores for urban sustainability, the expected return for each project is calculated for the economic dimension and a subjective scale has been used for the social and environmental dimensions. Genetic algorithms (GA) are introduced to search optimal solutions considering cost‐score tradeoffs for decisions on investment ratio determination and renewal type selection. The proposed approach is tested by evaluating 13 urban renewal projects in Taipei Ci...

Distractions in the workplace revisited

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide a holistic and systematic understanding of a fundamental issue within open plan office designs: the sustainability of two extremely contrasting requirements, concentration and collaboration, in the same workspace and work environment at a given time. A literature review is presented, along with initial suggestions for potential improvements in knowledge work organizations.Design/methodology/approach – A thorough range of fields, including those outside the built environment, are investigated for their contribution to findings on distractions, especially auditory distractions and their impacts.Findings – This research underpins the need for cost analysis of the impact that distractions have on knowledge workers. Provisions for appropriate and adaptable workspaces are needed to meet the dual needs of collaboration and concentration on complex tasks in order to maximize worker contribution and value.Research limitations/implications – Additional field researc...

Integrating self‐managed work teams into project management

Purpose – To present the advantages and possible deterrents of self‐managed work teams, and offer recommendations on ways to integrate these teams into project management.Design/methodology/approach – A range of works, which provide a description and practical advice about self‐managed work teams, are reviewed in an effort to provide a thorough picture of self‐managed work teams. The information is sorted into sections: history of self‐managed work teams; self‐managed work teams: a definition; characteristics of self‐managed work teams; the role of emotional intelligence in self‐managed work teams; developing and empowering the team; barriers to successful self‐managed work teams; factors to consider before forming a self‐managed work team; and the longevity of self‐managed work teams.Findings – Integrates theories and findings from other works to offer a holistic view of self‐managed work teams in todays workplace.Research limitations/implications – Resources from USA, as well as European writings, were...

Decision support approach based on multiple objectives and resources for assessing the relocation plan of dangerous hillside aggregations

The overdevelopment of hillside areas, coupled with the effects of global climate change, has increased the likelihood of disasters with severe consequences, such as material damages and loss of lives. Thus, there is a great urgency to create relocation plans for dangerous hillside aggregations that are not suitable for human settlement. The government of Taipei City in Taiwan has not properly addressed the assessment needs for decisions involving priority and budget allocation for these relocation projects. This study proposes a hybrid approach combining the Delphi method, fuzzy-logic inference system (FLIS), and the multi-objective programming (MOP) method to assist the city government in dealing with complex aggregation relocation decision problems. Twenty-four projects are tested by the proposed approach. Compared to the original relocation plan, results from this study reveal that the proposed approach is more objective and effective in relocation prioritization, project selection, budget utilization, and resource planning. These results will provide the city government with useful information for improving the relocation plan, thereby reducing the potential for human and material losses due to inadequate decision-making.

Successful distributed work arrangements: a developmental approach

Purpose – To provide understanding in developing high‐performance distributed work arrangements (DWA), suggestions for an evaluation framework for analysis of DWA options, and to discuss the expected role of facility management (FM) in DWA.Design/methodology/approach – A self‐evaluation table was developed to provide an example of how to assess the potential appropriateness for establishing DWA within an organization. Additionally, relevant attributes demonstrating an organizations level of appropriateness toward DWA are evaluated.Findings – The best decisions regarding DWA have major impacts to an organizations resources and productivity, and can be aided by critical analysis of more complex factors and attributes to gain insight into these important decision‐making processes. FM support is critical to this decision making.Research limitations/implications – This paper only shows a simple interdependency typology among factors and the importance of possible levels of relevant attributes toward the leve...

Ergonomic solutions for an aging workforce

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to focus on obstacles faced by older workers in the workplace and provide three main ergonomic solutions designed to mitigate and prevent age‐related injuries.Design/methodology/approach – Research methodology includes a comprehensive literature review to identify issues, best practices, and improvements for ergonomic conditions in the workplace, especially those impacting aging workers.Findings – Solutions presented include strategies for reducing extreme joint movement, reducing extreme pressure, and reducing repetitive tasks. Examples of engineering improvements, administrative improvements, and safety equipment additions are also presented.Practical implications – This paper provides ergonomic solutions and examines the importance of providing effective workplace ergonomics for the older worker. The examples demonstrated can be directly applied by facility planners and managers who wish to create safe and productive working environments.Originality/value – With a...

A cost-benefit case for RFID implementation in hospitals: adapting to industry reform

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to analyze a conceptual framework to identify significant benefit and cost attributes of a radio-frequency identification (RFID) system for asset tracking in healthcare facilities. Sources of value function for RFID in healthcare are categorized according to major improvement. Several cost functions are proposed to measure aspects of automated tracking implementation. Design/methodology/approach – The four phases of problem definition, literature identification, assessment and analysis were used to begin the research. A cost–benefit analysis (CBA) was completed to identify the factors within healthcare with major benefits, and finally, a recommended group of items were identified to track with the CBA. Findings – RFID to manage mobile devices increases the utilization rate, decreases annual spending, allows withdrawal of funds for underutilized assets and establishes confidence that equipment is readily available when needed. These benefits provide improved staff productivity, quicker patient turnover, higher quality of care and more cost savings. Real-time location system technologies allow hospitals to be prepared for emergencies requiring the immediate use of medical devices without delay and allow staff to determine the status, condition and location of essential equipment, leading to a decrease in patient wait time. Additional improvements were also found. Originality/value – The transition from pay-for-service to pay-for-performance is taking place in an industry hampered by rising costs and limited available resources. Healthcare expenditures are estimated to grow dramatically, and various factors contribute to rising expenses, including an aging population and increased chronic conditions resulting in higher demand for care, poor quality and operational inefficiencies. Therefore, understanding benefits of new technology use like RFID is critical for improvement and efficiency in healthcare.

A proactive assessment of sick building syndrome

Purpose – This paper describes a new proactive approach for facility managers to assess and manage complaints of “sick buildings”.Design/methodology/approach – The assessment of the “sick building” syndrome problem is multifaceted and should include both objective data such as those collected and analyzed by industrial hygienists, and subjective data such as occupant perception measurements, usually gathered by surveys. The data for this research, both objective and subjective, were provided on a wide variety of office buildings and were analyzed using an artificial neural‐network based model.Findings – Current literature on the subject suggests that the cause of poor indoor environments involves many variables interacting in an unlimited number of combinations. Using a blended definition of a narrowly defined “sick building”, a framework for a decision‐making support system for facility managers is provided.Research limitations/implications – The data collection was limited to Southeastern US commercial ...