Real Estate Services Research Articles

Family Capitalism and the Small Business Insurrection

Family Capitalism and the Small Business Insurrection Melinda Cooper (bio) Click for larger view View full resolution Donald Trump delivers remarks at a meeting with small businesspeople at the White House on January 30, 2017. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) [End Page 96] For much of the 2016 presidential campaign, progressive commentators struggled to comprehend the foundations of Trump's popular support. Many assumed that the strident right-wing populism he unleashed was a long overdue reaction to the decades of wage stagnation endured by the industrial working class. True enough, Trump assiduously targeted this demographic during his campaign. Guided by Steve Bannon, he selectively presented himself as an advocate for a blue-collar welfarism of the kind briefly entertained by Richard Nixon—;erstwhile friend of the hard-hat worker—;and later embodied by Nixon adviser Pat Buchanan. It was this incarnation (one of several personae Trump adopted in 2016) that explains much of the early confusion regarding his political intentions. But while Trump's pandering to Rust Belt Democrats won him critical margins in Ohio and Pennsylvania, the few hundred thousand industrial workers who voted for him were hardly sufficient to constitute a long-term advantage. Nor were they representative of Trump's crusaders as a whole, the most passionate of whom were first politicized by the Tea Party movement. Arising in the aftermath of the housing crash of 2007, the Tea Party targeted a perplexing range of enemies, from subprime mortgage holders, unemployed workers, and public-sector unions to investment banks and corporate giants. In the eyes of Tea Partiers, who saw themselves as quintessential producers and taxpayers, these heterogeneous enemies were united in their dependence on government welfare, be it in the form of public assistance, state-funded wages, or corporate bailouts. As with Trumpian populism, the eclecticism of Tea Party animosity confounded progressive critique. If Tea Partiers were so enraged by the bailouts of AIG and General Motors, could they not be reeducated as leftists? The specificity of Tea Party grievances makes more sense if we understand it as a movement of small business owners, many of whom saw the values of their housing and business assets depreciate overnight as a result of the subprime crisis. The Trump diehards who cut their teeth in the Tea Party were not wage workers, nor even misclassified independent [End Page 97] contractors, but small businesspeople concentrated in the blue-collar residential construction sector and its white-collar satellite professions of homeware retail, real-estate services, mortgage brokerage, and accounting. It was the meteoric rise and fall of the small business sector—;not the long saga of deindustrialization—;that gave birth to the current cycle of far-right populism. When the first wave of Tea Party Republicans swept into Congress in the 2010 midterm elections, some of the most prescient observers pointed to the growing rift between the small and big business wings of the Republican Party and pondered its implications for the future of American capitalism. Writing for Bloomberg BusinessWeek, the journalists Lisa Lerer and John McCormick observed that established trade associations such as the Business Roundtable were distancing themselves from Tea Party candidates, fearing that their willingness to sabotage the basic workings of government risked destabilizing the entire American economy. A group of leading corporations including General Electric, DuPont, Alcoa, and Duke Energy expressed their support for an emissions reduction bill in 2009, only to be faced with a barrage of invective from congressional Republicans accusing them of colluding with big government. Tea Party candidates saw big government and big business as acting in unison to suppress the freedoms of the small business owner. In the words of Dick Armey, chair of the Koch-funded organization FreedomWorks, "Big Business is sitting there on fat, pushy duffs looking for government to keep them in business." Only "incompetent companies need bailouts. People who run corporations are basically taking care of themselves. They're not very reliable people and they're very comfortable with Big Government that greases the skids for them." This same cleavage between small and big business can be seen in Republicans' current war against "woke capitalism"—;the stakeholder-driven expression of political preferences on the part of large...

Zatrudnienie w województwach Polski w 2020 roku – pierwszy rok pandemii

Objective: The aim of the paper is to evaluate the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic on the employment level, gender-wise, in Poland’s provinces. Research Design & Methods: The “triple 2’s” method is used to estimate the tendencies in the employment level observed until 2019, which are compared with the real values in 2020. Forecasts are calculated with trend function, autoregression models and simple dynamic indices. Forecasting errors are standardised by standard error of estimation. Findings: The dynamics of the total employment in Poland’s provinces as well as employment dynamics in groups of sections are analysed. The following groups of economic activity are considered: 1) agriculture, forestry, hunting, fishery, 2) industry and construction, 3) trade; automotive services; transport, warehouse management; accommodation, gastronomy; information and communication, 4) finance, insurance; real estate, 5) and other services. The number of employees is expressed per population in productive age (18–64 for men, and 18–59 for women). Changes observed in 2020 are compared to forecasts from trends estimated for 2013–2019 period. Implications / Recommendations: The “triple 2’s” method makes it possible to identify interventions in employment time series. The labour market’s reaction to the pandemic differed by province and group of economic activity sections. In half of provinces, employment varied among both men and women. In three provinces (Lubelskie, Podlaskie, Zachodniopomorskie) the women’s rates varied significantly less while in two (Mazowieckie, Pomorskie), no impact was revealed. Interestingly, in some cases the interventions were positive. Contribution: First analysis in such design plus modification of “triple 2’s” rule. Identification of changes in the dynamics of the total employment rate, by gender, and by section group in the first year of the pandemic.

INFLUENCE OF INTELLECTUAL CAPITAL ON COMPANY PERFORMANCE

Insights into the intellectual capital (IC) on financial performance is relatively a modern phenomenon, attracts the interest of global researchers. Though famous in the banking and communication sectors, little evidence finds in Real Estate and the Consumer Service Sectors. This study focuses to assess the relationship between IC and financial performance (FP) of 46 Real Estate and Consumer Service PLCs listed in Colombo Stock Exchange, Sri Lanka, during 2015 - 2018. The Value-Added Intellectual Capital (VAIC) model with its three primary components is represented by secondary data from annual reports of companies on IC. The FP was represented by Return on Assets and Return on Equity. The findings indicated that VAIC has a positive relationship with FP of the above 46 PLCs, indicating that CEE and FP have a significant positive effect. Recommends, more investments in IC associated activities, ensuring better performance where moderate and weak relationships exist.

Challenges and Opportunities of Real Estate Service Enterprises in the Epidemic Era

Challenges and Opportunities of Real Estate Service Enterprises in the Epidemic Era

ANALISIS DAN PERBANDINGAN SEKTOR UNGGULAN DI KOTA MAKASSAR DAN KOTA PAREPARE DAN PERANNYA DALAM MENUNJANG PEREKONOMIAN PADA PROVINSI SULAWESI SELATAN

Economic activity is an activity carried out by humans to obtain certain goods or services according to their needs. This activity is expected to be able to achieve prosperity in life. The aims of conducting this research are; 1) To know the leading sectors in Makassar and Parepare; 2) To find out the comparison of leading sectors in Makassar and Parepare, and 3) To find out and analyze the role of the leading sector in supporting the economy in their respective regions. The data used in this research was secondary, namely, data on the gross regional domestic product, distribution, and growth rate according to business fields in Makassar and Parepare for the period 2011-2020, Location Quotient, Dynamic Location Quotient, and Growth Ratio Models combined in the Analysis table Overlays. The results of the research indicated that there were 2 sectors based on the analysis overlays scored more than 1 on each indicator in Makassar, namely construction and health services, while in Parepare there were 5 sectors namely electricity and gas procurement, accommodation, and food and drink provision, financial and insurance services, real estate, and health services. Based on the results, these sectors are the main development priorities that are superior and prospective sectors and have good growth in their region and province.

The Application of Digital Intelligence to Real Estate Technology Service Quality: A Conceptual Model

The occurrence of this present global pandemic has further heightenedthe need for the full adoption and maximisation of digital technologies service-related activities within the built environment. For instance, the disruption in real estate transactions has since demanded digital technologies in its service delivery. Withthe adoption of real estate technologies (such as artificial intelligence, lease extraction technologies, Internet of Things, property passports, machine learning, automated valuation model, blockchain, and smart contracts, among others) for the global best practice, digital competencies, skills and attitudes are needed by real estate service providers to sustain the future of real estate transaction in the service industry. The new concept of digital intelligence is a set of skills needed by real estate service providers to meet digital technologies' demand in real estate transactions and the digital world's challenges. Incorporating this concept in real estate technology service quality would help fulfil customers’ satisfaction, commitment, and retention in the service delivery. Therefore, this article is pertinent to review service quality models relevant to real estate service and develop a useful service quality model using digital intelligence in service delivery.

Identifikasi Sektor Unggulan pada Perekonomian Kota Banjarmasin: Analisis Input – Output

Muhammad Ervan Ghani (2020). Identification of Leading Sektors in the Economy of Banjarmasin City: Analysis of Input Output. Advisor Prof. M. Handry Imansyah, MAM, Ph.D. This study aims to determine the leading sektors and their role in the economy in the city of BanjarmasinThis study uses analysis tools to determine the leading sektors through the calculation of Location quotient, Input - Output Analysis. By using secondary data in the form of gross regional domestic product according to employment and Expenditures on Current prices, Banjarmasin city labor, and BPS IO Table.The results showed that the leading sektors in the city of Banjarmasin were dominated by the secondary sektor, namely (1) community services and others (2) financial institutions, real estate and company services, and (3) the manufacturing industry.There are limitations in this research, namely, some data does not reach 17 sektors, so the analysis data is completely converted into 9 sektors and this research uses non-survey, so that the data used is only the result of documentation by the relevant agencies.

Identifikasi Sektor Potensial pada Perekonomian Kabupaten Banjar: Analisis Input-Output

This study aims to determine the potential sectors in improving the economy of Banjar Regency. This study uses input-output analysis to identify potential sectors through the calculation of Forward & Backward Linkage, and Multiplier effects. Input-output table was constructed by deriving Kalimantan Selatan Input-Output Table with an adjustment using Quotient Location. An adjustment using secondary data such as Gross Regional Domestic Product by sectors and by Expenditure, including employment data by sectors in Kabupaten BanjarThe results showed that (1) the processing industry; (2) Transportation, Warehousing and Communication; (3) Finance, Real Estate and Company Services; (4) Electricity, Gas and Water, (5) Construction is a potential sector in Banjar Regency. This sector needs to be developed because expanding this sector is expected to encourage other sectors.The limitations of this research are the limited data obtained and the data used are only the results of documentation by the related agencies.

Pengaruh Ukuran Perusahaan, Ukuran Kap, Komite Audit, Resiko Perusahaan, Dan Profitabilitas Terhadap Audit Fee Pada Perusahaan Jasa Sektor Property, Real Estate, And Building Construction Yang Terdaftar Di Bursa Efek Indonesia (BEI)

This study aims to find out the influence of company size, accounting firm size, audit committee, company risk, and profitability on audit fee in the property, real estate, and building construction service companies that listed on Indonesian Stock Exchange (IDX). There are 24 companies as sample with total of 72 data. Variables of company size, accounting firm size, audit committee, company risk, and profitability tested by using multiple linier regression, classic assumption test, and hypothesis testing. According to simultaneous test company size, accounting firm size, audit committee, company risk, and profitability have significant effect towards audit fee. Coefficient of determination test shown 0,592 can be interpreted that influence of company size, accounting firm size, audit committee, company risk, and profitability towards audit fee is 59,2%. The another 40,8% were influenced of other variables that were not mentioned. 
 Keywords : Company Size, Accounting Firm Size, Audit Committee, Company Risk, Profitability, Audit Fee

BANK LENDING OF COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE

Background. Banks’ proposals of loans for commercial real estate services have some differences in standard and non-standard terms of their provision. Instead, most clients focus only on standard loan terms and only some of them on non-standard ones. A comprehensive approach to the simultaneous consideration of standard and non-standard conditions for obtaining a loan for commercial real estate has not been developed in modern theory and practice of banking, which should be the basic basis for the borrower’s decision in choosing of the lending bank. The aim of the article is to identify current trends in the development of bank lending for commercial real estate in Ukraine, as well as the economic justification of the borrower’s choice of bank in the process of making a decision to obtain a loan. Materials and methods. Method of generalization and historical method were applied in the study of trends in lending for the acquisition, construction, repair, reconstruction of commercial real estate; methods of analysis and synthesis were used in the diagnosis of standard and non-standard conditions of credit servicing of commercial real estate. The authors provide an analysis ofthe choice of the bank to obtain a loan based on an integrated assessment of its attractiveness to the client using system approach. Results. A methodical approach to the integrated assessment of the economic attracttiveness of a bank loan for commercial real estate services has been developed. It is based on the Pareto principle, according to which standard lending conditions are taken into account in 80% and 20% is non-standard. This methodological approach allows the borrower to make an informed management decision on the correct choice of the lending bank. Conclusion. Loans for commercial real estate services, except the warehouse real estate sector, have decreased due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Demand for construction loans and repair of warehouses remained relatively stable. The practical approbation of the offered methodical approach of a complex estimation of credit offers of the most active Ukrainian banks on an example of the enterprise which planned to receive the credit for repair of the warehouse real estate is carried out. The choice of the creditor bank is substantiated according to the calculations results. Keywords: pandemic, banks, commercial real estate, lending, grant element, Pareto principle, standard and non-standard lending conditions, integrated assessment.

Assessment of Real Estate Outsourcing Practice of Banks and Telecommunication Companies in Lagos, Nigeria

The purpose of this paper is to examine real estate services that are outsourced in the banking and telecommunication sectors and the procedures adopted in outsourcing in Nigeria with a view to providing information that could help in enhancing corporate real estate practice. Primary data were collected with the aid of questionnaires from the 27 banks and 6 telecommunication operators (totalling 33) who were assessed through their corporate real estate officers. Total enumeration of the 33 selected business organisations was purposively adopted and the data were analysed using frequency and percentage. The study found that 96.3% and 83.3% of banks and Telecommunication companies respectively insourced real estate strategic planning services A total of (69.7%) in-sourced client relationship management. Also, the most frequently outsourced services by banking and telecommunication companies were property valuation (72.7%), space planning (54.5%), facility management (54.5%), feasibility studies (33.3%), site selection and property leases (55.5%) among others. The result also showed that two (6.05%) categories of organizations adopted the World Bank procedures for selecting outsourced real estate consultants. Professional Estate Surveyors must be up and doing when services are outsourced to them so as prevent usurpation of responsibility and functions from professionals in the built environment and others competing for works in the estate surveying valuation business domain

Marketable Values: Inventing the Property Market in Modern Britain, by Desmond Fitz-Gibbon

Reviewed by: Marketable Values: Inventing the Property Market in Modern Britain by Desmond Fitz-Gibbon Katrina Navickas (bio) Marketable Values: Inventing the Property Market in Modern Britain, by Desmond Fitz-Gibbon; pp. v + 240. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 2018, $105.00, $35.00 paper. “House Hunting,” a cartoon in the July 1867 issue of London Society (1862–98), depicts a middle-class couple visiting a house agent’s office. Some of the features satirized are familiar to us today, not least the sharp-suited agent confidently giving a no doubt elaborate spiel about the properties for sale and to let, as advertised on his wall. This image appears in Desmond Fitz-Gibbon’s study, Marketable Values: Inventing the Property Market in Modern Britain, to exemplify change. Such a scene of house hunting, coordinated by agents and mediated by a specialist press, had been rare in the eighteenth century but was commonplace by the mid-Victorian era. Marketable Values is a well-written and thoroughly researched study that tells the story of a definitive transformation in the economic and cultural aspects of the property market. The rapid growth of urban Britain, fueled by industrialization and imperial expansion, pushed the sale of property in new directions. The property market was also shaped by changing practices, organizations, and representations created by what became a national web of agents, economic institutions, and media. Land had long been bought and sold in Britain, but Fitz-Gibbon specifies changes specific to the Victorian period. Particular factors resulted in a more abstract idea of a property market that was as much a cultural phenomenon as it was an economic structure. This convincing argument is supported by a wealth of evidence from trade journals, auction catalogs, and case studies, positioned within recent “histories of capitalism” and with an emphasis on the contingent and everyday practices of real estate marketization (7). A cultural rather than an economic study, there is no analysis of property market data. It focuses on England and Wales, with the proviso that the Scottish and Irish land markets operated differently, notably in terms of long-existing processes of title registration. The first four chapters carefully construct a picture of an emerging national land market through four factors. The first involves the shift from private property transactions toward a more widespread and highly visible market orchestrated by auctions; London Auction Mart and the Tollerhouse Yard provide the case studies. The second studies the development of real estate services that made house agents into central figures, manipulating inside knowledge of an increasingly national market. The middle classes moved from rented properties to an aspirational world involving advertisements, particulars of sale, property registers, and orders to view houses issued by the agents. Third, this cultural imagining of marketability was shaped further in the later nineteenth century by the growth of the property trade press, with specialist publications such as the Estates Gazette (1858–present). The fourth factor was the growing campaign for title registration, the foremost political and legal implication emerging from the developing market. Debates over whether or not land titles should be registered nationally revealed tensions created by the new marketability of land as saleable property. Fitz-Gibbon highlights the colonial context of title registration as another important corrective to traditional accounts of the history of English landownership. He shows that, through the peripatetic imperial career of such land registration agents as Robert Torrens, who operated in South Australia before returning to Britain, ideas and practices flowed back and [End Page 449] forth between England and the colonies. Given this emphasis on reciprocal exchange, it would have been enlightening to know more about the re-exportation of such methods back to empire, or how settler-colonial domination was more deeply embedded through these processes. The final chapter explores the limits of property marketability. Fitz-Gibbon revisits the history of the Victorian commons preservation movement that fought against the parliamentary and private enclosure of common land, and against impediments to rights of way and customary rights such as pasturage of animals on commons. The popularity of the preservationist campaigns from the 1860s onward reflected wider shifts in liberal opinion away from earlier calls for free...

ASSESSMENT OF ICT USAGE IN ESTATE SURVEYING AND VALUATION PRACTICE IN NIGERIA

To operate in a dynamic environment, the success of real estate companies’ hinges, to a large extent, on their ability to deliver innovative, user-accepted products and services in a timely, seamless manner. The need for Information and Communication Technology (ICT) for secure, safe, and adequately serviced estate surveying and valuation practice is very pertinent to the profession. Therefore, this study assessed the level of usage of ICT in estate surveying and valuation practice in the study area with the view of improving real estate service delivery in Lagos Island, Nigeria. Data were gathered through a survey conducted with registered estate firms in Lagos Island, Nigeria. The data from the responses that were gathered were analysed using descriptive statistics and Relative Importance Index (RII) ranking. Findings revealed that the majority of the respondents are adopting ICT in carrying out their estate surveying and valuation practice. In addition, the results of the study established a positive correlation between improving estate surveying practice and the adoption of ICT. Furthermore, the findings also revealed the level of conversant with the use of real estate software has the highest RII while Artificial Intelligence software has the lowest RII. The study concluded that it is without a doubt that the degree of application of ICT in real estate has been very significant, but there are still barriers that limit its application within the sector. The study recommends that the estate surveyors & valuers in academia who are responsible for coaching core departmental courses include ICT into several aspects of the curriculum.

Foreclosures and House Prices

This paper studies the impact of foreclosures on house prices in Italy using a large dataset of online listings provided by Immobiliare.it, the most popular online portal for real estate services in Italy. We estimate that the foreclosure discount is considerable, and this would suggest a high degree of market segmentation and limited spillovers from foreclosures to the market for non-foreclosed homes. However, by exploiting the exogeneity of the market entry of foreclosures, we find that new foreclosures increase home sellers’ propensity to adjust their list price. Moreover, following the methodology in Campbell et al. (Am Econ Rev 101(5):2108–2131, 2011), we show that foreclosure listings have a significant negative impact on the prices of non-foreclosed nearby homes. Our evidence is quantitatively consistent with the recent literature on the impact of foreclosures on the US housing market.

Acting Agentically at Work: Developing a Short Measure of Professional Agency

Although professional agency has become an increasingly crucial issue in work organizations, investigators lack a brief instrument to measure it. This paper introduces a short measure to explore professional agency at work. Our aim was to shorten the original 17-item Professional Agency Measure, while also exploring its usability for cross-validating questionnaire datasets, and investigating the relationship between professional agency and work engagement. Three dimensions of professional agency emerged, with three items per dimension, across the domains of healthcare, real estate services, and information technology (all within Finland). All the dimensions (Influencing at work, Participation at work, and Negotiating professional identity) showed good reliability. The results further revealed that these dimensions of agency are distinct from, but closely and positively linked to work engagement. In particular, our research offers a reliable, short measure of professional agency that is relevant across professional domains in the Nordic context.

A Study of Consumers’ Complaints against Real Estate Agents in Lagos Metropolis, Nigeria

The study examined consumers’ complaints against real estate agents in Lagos Metropolis, Nigeria with a view to providing information that could ensure effective service orientation and high consumers’ satisfaction. Data were elicited from real estate agents and consumers in the study area through self-administered questionnaire and analyzed with the use of frequency distribution, percentages and mean rating. The study found some level of dissatisfaction as 35.3% representing 61 of the real estate agency consumers were dissatisfied with real estate agency related services. 30.1% of the respondents objected to the possibility of repeat business with their real estate agent while 33% rejected the possibility of recommending their agents to others. The most common complaint against real estate agents was ‘fee levels too high’ as reported by 81 respondents representing 31% of the study population. The study also revealed that real estate agency consumers complained about communication problems, over pricing of property, agents providing wrong information, agents not delivering what was required, agents pressurizing customers, delays, deadlines not met, galumphing, agents providing wrong information, mismanagement of the property in their care etc. Therefore real estate service consumers’ complaints must be thoroughly attended to as these may lead to consumers’ dissatisfaction. Real estate agents must ensure that customer service remains high so as to experience consumers’ satisfaction, retention and successful businesses. Keywords : Consumers’ Complaints, Real Estate Agents, Nigeria DOI: 10.7176/CER/13-4-05 Publication date: July 30 th 2021

부동산 유형에 따른 중개사무소 입지분석 연구 - 부동산 실거래가격을 중심으로 -

This study aims to promote real estate brokerage business in accordance with the government's first basic plan for real estate service industry promotion. And it was implemented as part of an effort to lay the academic foundation for the promotion of the real estate service industry in Korea. In this study, a research model was prepared by using statistics by towns and villages using previous studies, real estate real estate transaction price information in 2019, and address information of brokerage offices nationwide in December 2019. And sets up three hypotheses, and hedonic model was prepared and implemented for each eup, myeon and dong agency office. As a result of the verification, the first hypothesis that the number of brokerage offices will be affected by the real estate transaction volume was adopted. And the second hypothesis was also adopted that the number of brokerage offices would be affected differently depending on the type of real estate traded. However, the third hypothesis that the influence of real estate transaction volume on brokerage offices will vary depending on region was partially adopted. In addition, the results were derived by synthesizing and analyzing the contents of the analysis in the hypothesis verification process and the actual transaction price statistics for each town, town, and village. In order to foster the real estate brokerage business in Korea, the government's policy direction was suggested to induce brokerage offices distributed in the single-family housing market or the multi-family housing market with a potential fee of only 10 million won to a large land market with a potential fee of 90 million won.

"A Study on Satisfaction, Continuous Transaction and Recommendation Intention of Private Banking Use"

In this study, in order to identify the satisfaction factors of private banking users, to induce sustainable transactions in the future, and to contribute to the activation of private banking through recommendations by others, important variables among tasks undertaken at the private banking center were accumulated through prior research and targeted for K Bank. As a result of the overall situation, it can be seen that over 3 billion of wealthy people have a relatively high education level of college graduates or higher, the proportion of men in their 40s, metropolitan areas, and men, and it is judged that they are using private banking in selected occupational groups. As a result of the structural equation, first, the factors affecting user satisfaction were 0.193 for real estate service characteristics, 0.037 for indirect investment service characteristics, 0.133 for legal and tax service characteristics, and 0.262 for additional service characteristics, showing a significant level at P<0.05. Second, factors influencing continued private banking transactions were real estate service characteristics of 0.149, indirect investment services characteristics of 0.019, and legal and tax services characteristics of 0.129, showing significant results at P<0.05. Third, the influence of user satisfaction on continuous transactions was 0.625, and the influence of user satisfaction on recommendation intention was 0.708, which had a positive effect. Fourth, the influence relationship on the recommendation intention of sustained transaction price is 0.763. As a result of this study, meaningful results were derived by measuring the satisfaction of private banking users, but there is a limit to the spatial scope of Seoul and the metropolitan area. In addition, there is a limit to representing all private banking users targeting a customer of one of the commercial banks. Therefore, future studies will propose a study targeting private banking users for all banks, and a study on strategic plans for profitability of private banking centers will also be needed.

Audiosfera środowiska pracy w przestrzeni biurowej na planie otwartym. Wyniki zwiadu badawczego

Organizations differ in terms of the soundscapes they shape. The workplace soundscape, i.e., the sound environment of the employee, is not only an element of organizational culture, but above all, insufficiently recognized by organizational and management researchers, a tool for stimulating or inhibiting the activity of employees. In the light of the issues outlined in this way, the article deals with the characteristics of the soundscape in an open-plan office space, which is specific due to the potential number of various sound sources spreading in the work environment without clear acoustic barriers. The aim of the article is to discuss examples of the functioning of employees in a specific sound environment and to indicate the proposed research directions on the soundscape of the workplace in an open plan office. The article is theoretical and empirical. The research interview included an analysis of the literature on the soundscape of various workspaces, an analysis of the content obtained from employees' statements on social media about the sounds that accompany their work, and an analysis of interviews with employees of the real estate service department of one of Polish corporations about the soundscape of the office space they manage. The survey shows that the workplace soundscape is not the only a matter of the employees' sense of aesthetics. Studying the sounds of work can be both an impulse for in-depth research on the organizational climate and a starting point for creating workspace management programs.

Is the real estate profession under threat? Assessing the effect of the involvement of non-professionals in Nigeria real estate agency service provision

PurposeThis paper examines the effects of non-professionals' involvements in real estate service provision on real estate agency practice in Ibadan Nigeria, in order to provide information that could enhance real estate agency practice in the country.Design/methodology/approachData were gathered through questionnaire administration on a total sample of 232 respondents comprising 82 estate surveyors and valuers, 100 non-professional estate agents and 25 real estate agency service consumers each from the respective clients of the two groups. A respondent-driven sampling (RDS) technique was adopted for data collection and was particularly useful in accessing non-professionals with characteristically less identifiable organizational structure. Data were analysed using mean scores on a Likert type scale while Spearman rank correlation was used to compare and establish if significant differences exist between the perceptions of clients of professionals and non-professionals on the services provided.FindingsThis study revealed that while the involvement of non-professionals in real estate agency practice deprives professionals of opportunities for legitimate earnings and is attributed to incidences of fraudulent transactions in the market, non-professionals often also serve as facilitators of transactions for the professionals. Hence, there seems to be a symbiotic relationship between the two groups and also a tacit validation of the involvement of the former by the latter.Originality/valueThis work contributes to and extends the body of knowledge on non-professionals' involvement in real estate professional practice by providing insights into the effects of activities of individuals who are not members of the real estate profession on real estate agency professional practice, particularly in the context of an emergent and less transparent market.