Considering corporate real estate and human resource factors in an integrated cost model

Abstract

As large organisations grow and evolve, they face the challenge of accommodating change in a manner that contains costs while strengthening the firm’s competitive position in the marketplace. Invariably, not only initial capital and long‐term operating costs, but the effect of the real estate decision on the firm’s ability to attract and retain staff, and their ability to work productively, must be considered. To compound an already complex decision, the factors influencing such decisions are often highly uncertain and there are limited data on the impact of such decisions on human resource factors. Yet such decisions must be and are made. This paper describes the Cornell Balanced Real Estate Assessment model (COBRA©), a prototype tool which addresses these issues.