IMPORTANCE OF USER-ORIENTATION IN EUROPEAN CORPORATE REAL ESTATE MANAGEMENT

"Currently, a transition in the perception of real estate business in European Non-Property Company is noticed. In recent years the theory and practice of Corporate Real Estate Management (CREM) has been dominated by the perspective of real estate as an operating asset, whose value-based management provides major contributions for better corporate finance results. But there is another observable trend: CREM is more focused on usersí objectives. Therewith European Non-Property Companies adopt the practice of North American and Asian companies. Their CREM departments have a self-image as a ""problem solver"" as well as service provider to the users for quite some time. An empirical survey with a subset of German Non-Property Companies with more than 10.000 employees was conducted to verify if an increased value-based finance perspective has lead to a less focus on the users` objectives. It was to examine the importance of the users in the strategic and operational business in European Corporate Real Estate Management using German ones as example. The study gives an answer which perspective respectively function is predominant in European Non-Property Companies. Additionally it shows the status quo if or how user-orientation is achieved by the CREM departments and how the user-satisfaction is measured and controlled. Finally it surveyed the connection between user-orientation and corporate success."