Best Practice for Estate Management in UK Universities - Book Report/Review Example

Best Practices for E management in UK Universities Executive summary This report entails the causes of poor e management and theconsequences of such this poor management practices. Researchers have shown that there is under utilization of university premises by the university staff as well as the estate management department. This has resulted to inefficiencies in most universities in United Kingdom as well as massive losses. Introduction Real estate investment is one of the valuable and costly assets in the field of investment.

There is need therefore for those investing in this worthy venture to understand basic principles of estate management in order to ensure maximum profits at reduced costs of establishment and management. University investments need to be managed properly and in the best way possible to ensure maximum utilization and good returns. One of the important alternatives in an organization is choosing procurement for the real estate selection. Over the past years there has been confusion on the difference between estate ownership on one hand and management, utilization and contemporary economic uncertainty on the other hand (Barry Haynes & Nick Nunnington ,2010).

Estate management and acquisition takes the form of business, cultural and financial approaches. The cultural approach is based on the desire of having complete control over the entire asset. The business approach is based on acquisition of the estate. Financial approach is based on accumulation of capital growth. Previous research Prosperity of an organization is based on management adaptability to transforming taking place around them. Real estate is not an exception. There is need for the management to be keen on any changes taking place around the business venture.

The management should scan the market to detect on any changes that need to be in cooperated in the management of estate or else the business will lose its value. Changes in student’s tastes and preferences need to be considered by the estate management in making any decision that concerns estate management. Studies have revealed that commitment of the entire staff to identification of such changes is very vital in the better management of the university estate. The value of estate should reflect the market value at all time (Baker & David 2007).

Collection of data on real estate over a period of time helps in getting information to be used in the analysis of major trends in real estate management (Luck & Gibson, 2006). Gibson and Luck developed components in the trends of real estate. They indentified new working practices, over sourcing, technology infrastructure and CRE management and strategy. The networking practices helped in the knowing the links between work activities and their impact on real estate management. Outsourcing is used in telling whether services of real estate management should be outsourced or gotten from within.

The management should be in a position to analyze cost of outsourcing services in comparison with employing personnel in carrying out some management operations within the estate. Technological infrastructure tells the impact of technology on the efficiency of real estate management and the use of technology in maximizing output from real estate establishment. In cooperation of high speed internet within the estate cold help boost attraction to estate. This would help students carry out their researches efficiently and cheaply.

Automation of major systems in the estate will help reduce the space taken by individual workers in carrying out their daily activities (Haynes & Mannington, 2010).Major trends estate management that has been adopted includes: Creating the connection between management of facility to the strategies of establishing estate is an important aspect of estate management. The business objectives should be in line with the management procedures. The culture and branding the estate adopts should not contradict the satisfaction of employees and the users of the estate.

Preparation to emergency and risks should to be considered in management of University estate management. Basic safety and security from attacks from terrorists and natural calamities should be put in place. The trends in management are another vital aspect to be considered. Changes in management departments and the general estate organization should be handled with care to ensure any hick up does not affect the entire university management (Michael Thorncroft , 1965). Sustenance of significance components of university estate is very important.

Management of energy and performance of the buildings need to be looked into. Any measures that will ensure minimization of wastages should be treated with care. Recycling and reuse are very key terminologies that common in estate management. Lack of data on space management is contributing factor wastage of space used in establishment of estates. There is need for enough research on maximum space utilization in the establishment of university estates. Under utilization of spaces emanates from various reasons some of which are the way of teaching n university, how research and learning are done in most universities in united kingdom.

Failure to maximize use of available spaces in the university results to space under utilization. Perception of university students and university staff on best practices of space utilization contributes a lot to space under utilization. In some cases poor time tabling and room allocation contributes a lot to space under utilization. It is a common practice in most universities to develop resistance in the morning and evening. A lot of resistance has also been witnessed on lesion allocation on Friday afternoon.

Requesting room allocation of the rooms on a daily basis even though the room can only be used once a week or a month puts a lot of strain on room usage. Space utilization is more about people and place. There should be a balance between interests in space utilization and the demand for space. The estate management should look at the best way possible of ensuring that there exists a balance of customer demand for space, financial implications and the general management efficiency. Methods adopted The methods adopted in this research were the use of questionnaires and mathematical models in the analysis estate utilization compared to the output per usage.

Variables in the mathematical modeling were the users of university premises as well as the monetary outcomes and time. Summary and conclusions Various universities in United Kingdom need to have given poor estate management a keen approach. There has been intensive research on the best management practices necessary eliminating poor estate management practices. Some universities need to introduce program on real estate management in order to equip university estate managers with necessary skills for managing university estates.

The already employed estate management staffs need to be trained on best estate management practices to boost their efficiency at the work place. Estate is an investment and for this reason the university should take keen interests in maximizing its usage. Any under utilization needs to be prevented at all costs. The university time tables should be structured in such a way that ensures no under utilization of the university premises. There should be a strong link between the time tabling department and the estate management to reduce under utilization of the university premises.

Thorough market research should be done to ensure that university estate is at par with the market technological trends. List of References Haynes B. & Nunnington N. 2010. Corporate Real Estate Management – Strategy and Implementation. EG Books. Edwards, Victoria &Ellison Louise 2004. Corporate Property Management; Aligning Real Estate with Business Strategy. Oxford: Blackwell Science. Baker, David 2007. Strategic Change Management in Public Sector Organizations’. Oxford: Chandos. Gibson, V.

& Luck, R. 2006. Longitudinal analysis of corporate real estate practice: Workplace strategies and facilities management: building in value. David Anthony & Holloway B 2006. Strategic Management Accounting and Managerial Decision-Making re-conceptualized: towards a collaboratively oriented theory of organizational decision enhancement (ODE) . Higher Education Funding Council for England (2000) Estate Strategies; a guide to Good Practice HEFCE National Audit Office (2006) Getting the Best from Public Sector Office Accommodation London: The Stationery Office.

NHS Estates (2005) Developing an Estate Strategy; Modernizing the NHS London: The Stationery Office Maintenance and Energy Management: Burton, Simon E.2001. Energy Efficient Office Refurbishment. Chanter B. and Swallow P.2007. Building Maintenance Management. (2nd Ed) Oxford: Blackwell Publishing. Department for Education and Skills 2000-2003 Asset Management Plans (Guidance Documents Section 1-7). Higher Education Funding Council for England (1998) Building Repairs and Maintenance Study in the Higher Education Sector; National Report HEFCE June 98/30, and Management Review Guide HEFCE Space management group 2009.

UK Higher Education Space Management Project Space utilization: practice, performance and guidelines. Viewed 21 November 2013. < http://www.smg.ac.uk/documents/utilisation.pdf > Space management group 2005.UK higher education space management project review of practice report. Bernadette C and Annamaria T 2007.Managing the University Community: Exploring Good Practice. The University of Edinburgh. Quality Infrastructure: Estate Strategy 2010-2020 Michael Thorncroft , 1965. Principles of Estate Management.

Estates Gazette, Limited C.J. Arnison, 1988. The Real Principles of Estate Management. Property Management, Vol. 6 Iss: 4, pp.267 – 273 Tim Stapleton, 1994. Estate Management Practice. Estates Gazette, Limited Anthony Banfield, 2005. Stapletons Real Estate Management Practice.