Executive Summary

<< previous page

Green Paper A2 outlines a number of methodologies which translate the ideas presented in Green Paper A1 into the practical tools described in Green Paper A3.  Its findings are presented for discussion; when agreed, they will mark a critical step towards the development of an industry framework for managing property assets.

The Introduction sets out the major challenge for property asset management – how to combine the technical, operational aspects of property management with an approach which maximises the strategic potential of business accommodation, and which is fully integrated with other business resources, such as people, finance and ITC systems.  Integrated approaches are complex in comparison to individual approaches, so that new ways of thinking are recommended to manage this change.

The first section (pp 3-5) introduces business management systems in general terms: it describes the familiar Plan, Do, Check (Study), Act cycle in terms of a deliberate, top-down sequence of analysis, planning, implementation and control; it explains why this methodology often works alongside a very different process of bottom-up, small-scale initiatives and ad-hoc adjustments; it identifies the need for a set of overall principles that avoid the conflict and ambiguity between the two approaches.

The next section (pp 6-8) examines the links between organisational structure and management systems: it describes the main social and technical aspects of a typical organisational structure and identifies the position of business management systems within this arrangement; it introduces a simple rule for calculating the effectiveness of any management system; it links this rule to the design of organisational structure and the development of methodologies for managing complex situations.

The following section (pp 9-11) picks up the challenge in the first section to resolve the ambiguity between top-down and emergent planning; it compares the design and function of management systems in different types of organisation; it identifies the dilemma for managers between central and decentralised methodologies; it proposes a design for a business management system which is based upon the invariant patterns of information flows and control mechanisms found in living systems.

The final section (pp 12 -14) explains the assumptions behind formal methods of planning and controlling business activities which are found in most text books and management system standards; it describes the limitations of these methods, particularly in the role of strategy formulation; it suggests alternative methodologies based upon an understanding of how the system operates as a whole; it redefines the Plan, Do, Study, Act cycle as a learning system and recommends the use of models.

In conclusion, the paper restates the goal of this project: to enable managers to integrate property and the rest of the business.  Individual organisations will need to develop bespoke management systems - Green Paper A2 will guide the future development of a generic framework that can be used to achieve this goal.

next page >>