Office relocation management in Finland – challenges and service opportunities

• Published in: Property management 2015-08, Vol.33 (4), p.348-366
• Main Authors: Rothe, Peggie, Heywood, Chris, Christersson, Matti, Sarasoja, Anna-Liisa
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Commercial real estate; Decision making; Lessors; Office space; Property management & built environment; Questionnaires; Real estate & property; Relocation; Site selection; Studies; Work environment
• ISSN: 0263-7472; 1758-731X
• DOI: 10.1108/PM-04-2014-0019

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to increase the understanding of the management of office relocations in Finnish organisations with a focus on the use of, and need for, external advisory services. Design/methodology/approach – The study used a sequential mixed method approach. First, the use of relocation-related services, and organisations’ perception of the need for them, was assessed through a questionnaire sent to all organisations with more than 50 employees in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area (HMA). The data includes 83 responses. Subsequently, service experiences, perceived service needs, and the challenges that organisations face in relocation are studied through thematic interviews with 15 organisations that have recently relocated. Findings – The findings show that, despite facing many challenges when relocating, many organisations do not consider using external service providers. Most organisations do not acknowledge the complexity of the process until afterwards, and they also lack knowledge of the availability of relocation-related services. Research limitations/implications – The main limitation is the population size of the questionnaire. A larger population would have allowed for more generalisations, but the results do provide insight into the organisations’ issues in managing their relocations. Practical implications – In order to facilitate the better organisational relocation experiences, and to develop the market for relocation-related services, service providers need to begin educating organisations of the challenges and opportunities of relocation, and successively increase the awareness of the availability of services. Originality/value – Relocation, when it is considered in the literature, is most often construed as being about location, or site selection. This study approaches the phenomenon from the organisations’ perspective and considers relocation a process that needs to be managed.