A study on office workplace modification during the COVID-19 pandemic in The Netherlands
Purpose: Triggered 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. Design/methodology/approach: A 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. Findings: The 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. Originality/value: This 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.
Year of publication: |
2021
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---|---|
Authors: | Hou, Huiying (Cynthia) ; Remøy, Hilde ; Jylhä, Tuuli ; Vande Putte, Herman |
Published in: |
Journal of Corporate Real Estate. - Emerald, ISSN 1463-001X, ZDB-ID 2039746-X. - Vol. 23.2021, 3 (07.06.), p. 186-202
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Publisher: |
Emerald |
Saved in:
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