The strategic link between business strategy and property strategy : a dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Property Studies at Lincoln University

Abstract

Most corporations put considerable effort into developing their strategic business plan to position, focus, and solidify their place in the commercial market(s) that they operate in. Those business plans would ideally take account of the commercial environment; factors such as strengths, opportunities, behaviour of the competition, market-place trends, and risk. This research has found that many corporates do not put corresponding effort into strategies around their real estate. If the property function is to truly support the strategic business plan, one would expect a strong link between the two strategies – strategic alignment and correlation of property to business. Property strategy should ideally be consistent with business strategy, adding value to the business by the provision of appropriate real estate solutions that accommodate the workforce and machinery of that business. It is the authors view that property can have a huge influence on corporate culture, business opportunity, flexibility and bottom-line profit. Further work is required to measure the performance of companies that do have a strong connection compared to those that do not, to ascertain whether the connection does in fact correlate with business performance. That further work has not formed part of this dissertation and sits beyond the scope of this research.