Search Results for: decision making

June 9, 2015

Inquiry launched to explore the links between design and behaviour

by Mark Eltringham • Facilities management, News, Workplace, Workplace design

A parliamentary inquiry into the effects of design on behaviour has been launched by the Design Commission. The eight month process was announced at an event in Parliament yesterday by architect Richard Rogers and will begin with a call for submissions which will end on 3 July. The inquiry will be led by Bartlett dean Alan Penn and Janet Whitaker, vice-chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Design and Innovation Group (APDIG) and who helped to establish the House of Lords on committee on the built environment. The inquiry aims to explore how the design of the built environment can have a positive impact on behaviour, and present a number of case studies of best practice as well as report back to Parliament with recommendations “designed to stimulate new thinking in planning policy across central and local government”.

May 27, 2015

Smart buildings, smart cities and the promise of infinite data

by Paul Doherty • Cities, Comment, Facilities management, Technology

The rapid urbanization of our world and the weaving of existing and new buildings into the urban fabric of Smart City initiatives are some of the great challenges facing our global industry today. Along with the vast amount of definitions and marketing campaigns surrounding the phrase “Smart Cities” comes the challenge of understanding why the movement is important to the Architecture, Engineering, Construction and Facility Management (AEC/FM) industry and how industry stakeholders can profit from, or at the very least, not get run over by the tsunami called Smart Cities. The emergence of Smart Cities as the conduit for ideas, thoughts, policies and strategies for the world’s urban environments is an important milestone for our industry, and it comes at a time of rapid innovation, convergence and redefinitions.

May 24, 2015

Organisations reticent to take the plunge into 4G, claims report

by Mark Eltringham • Flexible working, News, Technology

British businesses run the risk of missing out on the opportunities offered by the latest generation of mobile technology according to a new report from Vodafone. The YouGov study of more than 1,200 decision makers in both the public and private sector found that the majority of UK organisations are yet to introduce 4G. Nearly two thirds (64 percent) of respondents said their business or organisation does not have 4G right now and a perhaps more surprising 41 percent of those have no plans to adopt it. The survey found that cost was not generally seen as a barrier to implementation compared to more prevalent issues including a widespread misunderstanding of what 4G might offer the enterprise. Even a third of those organisations who have introduced 4G confess they don’t believe it offers any additional benefits.

April 30, 2015

Three workplace issues that could help to shape the general election ⁰

by Mark Eltringham • Comment, Flexible working, Legal news, Technology

With only a week to go until the general election, nobody seems clear on what exactly will happen at the polls, least of all the voters. The BBC’s political correspondent has described it as the Vanilla Election, with the major parties paralysed by the closeness of the race into not doing anything bold or imaginative enough to spook an ambivalent and undecided electorate. With little to differentiate the parties and an unprecedented degree of cynicism fuelled by social media and online commentary, it seems likely that voters may be swayed by what may in the past have been peripheral issues. Over the past few days several news items have even hinted that workplace related issues might have a role to play in making up people’s minds. Here are three.

April 15, 2015

Flexible workforce ignoring data risks of BYOD and mobiles ⁰

by Sara Bean • Flexible working, News, Technology

The use of BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) practices by an increasingly flexible workforce is posing huge risks to the data security of employers. Six out of ten employees routinely share their work and personal devices with others, nearly a fifth of employees don’t have passwords on devices, and 22 percent admit they don’t have security measures in place. The “Securing #GenMobile: Is Your Business Running the Risk” security threat study, questioned over 11,500 workers across 23 countries and found that attitudes have moved towards more sharing of devices and an indifferent view to security in the workplace. This high risk attitude to data security, which is more prevalent amongst younger workers is being overlooked by employers with over a third saying they have no mobile security policy in place.

April 14, 2015

The workplace as a strategic resource: a real life CEO’s perspective

by Jim Ware • Facilities management, Furniture, Workplace design

Raise your hand if you agree: “The workplace is obviously a strategic resource.” We facilities management professionals know that to be true. But if you often feel like a voice in the wilderness when speaking to anyone other than a fellow workplace professional, you are not alone. For many if not most senior executives, their facilities are a necessary evil that always cost too much. That reality frustrates me as much as it does you. So my colleague Paul Carder and I conducted two extensive research projects in 2012 and 2013 aimed at making the case (mostly to FM professionals themselves) that facilities and workplaces are incredibly strategic – and very poorly understood. And while we’ve gotten a lot of positive feedback about the work, we haven’t seen much change in mindsets, management practices or outcomes.

March 23, 2015

Property investors favour sustainable buildings, claims report

by Mark Eltringham • Environment, Facilities management, News, Property

Property owners could make a greater return on their investments if they improved the sustainable credentials of their buildings, according to a new report published by CBRE. According to the study of 280 investors published in the Investor Intentions Survey 2015, a growing number are taking into account environmental considerations which they consider have a direct influence on the returns and value of their assets. Nearly three-quarters (70 percent) believe sustainability is either a critical or desirable criterion when making investment decisions with only 15 percent claiming that “sustainability is not a significant consideration in selecting assets to buy”. The report’s authors claim that while the property industry has been seeking evidence of the financial benefits of sustainable buildings for some time, this has been difficult to define given the complex factors that influence transaction prices.

March 11, 2015

How a big, stupid idea can be more attractive than a small, effective one

by Mark Eltringham • Architecture, Comment, Property

We’re going to be hearing a lot of big ideas over the next few weeks. Politicians will be sharing their ‘visions’ with us and letting us know exactly how ‘passionate’ they are about them and anything else Twitter tells them we care about. It’s going to be boring and infuriating, but we only have ourselves to blame. We fret when politicians don’t give us a handy label on which we can rest our hopes or lay the blame, depending on whether we agree with whatever the big idea is or not. Of course, David Cameron’s vision of choice when he became Prime Minister in 2010 was The Big Society. I won’t get into the rights and wrongs of that but I think we can all agree that The Big Society has been kicked unceremoniously into The Long Grass and we won’t be hearing much about it in the build up to this year’s General Election. Nor will we be hearing much about another of David Cameron’s pet projects even though that has actually gone on to be something of a success.

March 3, 2015

Female empowerment within UK workforce on rise but too few in full time jobs

by Sara Bean • Flexible working, News, Workplace

A strengthening economy has helped the UK to rise up to 14^th position out of 27 OECD countries in PwC’s annual Women in Work Index, but it still lags well behind many other countries in overall female economic empowerment. The Nordic countries continue to lead the Index, with Norway maintaining pole position, followed by Denmark and Sweden. These three countries have consistently occupied the top three positions in the Index since 2000 and the reason is that they all have a much fairer balance between genders on managing work and family life. By comparison, although the UK is in the top 10 performing OECD countries on female participation in the labour force, this is negatively impacted due to the low proportion of women in full-time employment; suggesting that flexible working is having a negative impact on many women’s career prospects.

February 13, 2015

Our personal choices can tell us a lot about the state of the economy

by Alison Kitchingman • Comment, Products, Workplace design

The announcement by Pantone that its Colour of the Year for 2014 was a muted reddish brown called Marsala was met with the annual carping about the subjectivity of the whole thing. Yet there are two things we know for sure. One is that Pantone puts a lot of time and effort into making its decision and looks at a range of social and economic factors, fashions and tastes before making its decision. The other is that this idea that you can gauge trends by tracking changes in taste has some high profile adherents. One of them is Alan Greenspan, perhaps the world’s most famous living economist, former Chairman of the Federal Reserve and a great believer in the idea that you can get a good idea of the health of the economy by looking at the length of women’s hemlines and heels and the amount of money men invest in underwear and ties.

February 5, 2015

Buoyant demand for commercial property across Europe, claims report

by Mark Eltringham • Company news, News, Property

Europe’s commercial property market ‘sizzled’ during 2014, according to a new report by Real Capital Analytics (RCA). Europe saw 213.1 billion euros of commercial real estate transactions in 2014, a rise of 13 percent over 2013. Paris led France to a 31 percent rise, although the French capital accounted for three quarters of demand. In contrast, demand in London fell 3 percent as high prices led investors to British regional markets, with the UK market overall up 16 percent. A similar trend emerged in Germany, where volumes in Berlin, Munich and Hamburg fell, while markets in the Ruhr, Cologne and Stuttgart strengthened. Most improved were commercial property markets in Ireland and Spain, where investment volumes soared 89 percent and 134 percent respectively.

February 3, 2015

Development of urban infrastructure held back by city leaders

by Mark Eltringham • Cities, News, Property, Public Sector

The main obstacles to the implementation of urban infrastructure are those raised by the organisations and people who do most to champion them. That is the standout finding of a new report, Urban Infrastructure Insights 2015, published by the Economic Intelligence Unit and FCC Group. The survey of more than 400 business leaders and policy makers worldwide found that a majority believe the greatest impediment to the development of urban infrastructure is a lack of will and skill amongst civic leaders and officials. Lack of political will was cited by 40 percent of respondents, alongside a lack of skills among officials (39 percent), and poor governmental effectiveness (34 percent). Lack of funds was cited by 34 percent. Policy makers were especially scathing about city leaders with more than half citing their lack of skills and knowledge.