The strategic planning and management of fixed assets in the form of facilities in New Zealand Police: A dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Property Studies at Lincoln University

Abstract

Fixed assets in the form of facilities (or real estate) exist only to support the service delivery strategies of the organisation utilising them. Typically, real estate represents a substantial component of an organisation's asset base. It follows then that the manner in which this resource is planned and managed can have a significant impact on the effectiveness of an organisation's performance. It is clear that real estate resources are increasingly subjected to strategic examination, management and interaction with other organisational resources to achieve enhanced corporate bottom lines, or in the case of the public sector, service delivery improvement. This dissertation seeks to focus on the latter and specifically the way in which New Zealand Police (NZ Police) approaches the planning and management of its fixed assets in the form of facilities (property or Corporate Real Estate). The research aims to arrive at an assessment of the degree to which current real estate planning and management practices support service delivery strategy, which in the case of NZ Police is the provision of "law, order and safety to all parts of New Zealand." The review of the literature in this field found four broad themes consistent across most types of organisations undertaking the planning and management of their real estate. These are the attitude of senior management to real estate, the way this function is organised, measurement of its performance and lastly the quality of staff tasked with real estate roles. The findings of the literature review were compared against research material collected on NZ Police from surveys and interviews, NZ Police documents and consultant reports. The comparison included an analysis of the "gap" between where NZ Police real estate practices are currently, with the position that the organisation needs to move to so that real estate more effectively supports service delivery. The research process found that real estate supports NZ Police service delivery to a limited degree but highlights the need for a stronger connection of real estate to strategic and operational planning, greater centralisation of real estate management and accountability and improvements in the quality of staff tasked with real estate roles, including the need for greater understanding by senior management of real estate and its contribution to the organisation. Implementing these improvements will hasten the pace toward a position or "future state" where fixed assets in the form of facilities more effectively support service delivery in NZ Police.