Towards a Strategic Approach to Workplace Solution Planning for Multinational Professional Services Firms

Master's Thesis from the year 2014 in the subject Business economics - Business Management, Corporate Governance, grade: B, Henley Business School University of Reading (Department of Real Estate & Planning), course: Independent Study, language: English, abstract: Purpose - To explore current practice and integrate proposed concepts from academic literature into a more comprehensive conceptual framework for workplace solution planning that is applicable to professional services firms. The paper aims for facilitating holistic considerations of strategic opportunities and, therefore, may enhance approaches in the early stages of workplace transformation projects. It also presents a critical reflection of the contemporary cost reduction paradigm. Design/methodology/approach - Review of literature from a wide range of academic disciplines and practitioners. Findings - In the realm of contemporary workplace solutions there is little evidence to be found of an evolution of CREM towards a truly strategic discipline but it still appears to be focused on operational metrics in the aftermath of the greatest recession after World War II. Originality/value - This paper integrates findings and theories from different disciplines in order to create a contextual understanding about the nature of knowledge work and the requirements for productivity-focussed workplace solutions in multinational professional services firms.

Thilo A. Bäß ist Sachverständiger für die Wertermittlung von bebauten und unbebauten Grundstücken (Chartered Valuation Surveyor), Dozent für Immobilienbewertung, Autor bzw. Co-Autor von Fachbüchern und Studien sowie Gründer einer Gesellschaft für Immobilienanalyse, -beteiligung und -management. Davor war er Prokurist der immobilienwirtschaftlichen Unternehmensberatung einer der "Big Four" und Geschäftsführer einer Grundstücksgesellschaft. Er studierte Betriebswirtschaftslehre, Immobilienökonomie und Rechtswissenschaften an den Universitäten Bayreuth, Deutschland (Diplom-Kaufmann), Auckland, Neuseeland (Postgraduate Diploma in Property), Reading, Großbritannien (Master of Science in Real Estate Investment and Finance) und Hagen, Deutschland (Rechtswissenschaften) und lebt in Berlin.