Recent advances in Corporate Real Estate Management: ëEntrepreneurial Cooperationí in restructuring, maintenance and control: an answer to the ëexplosiveí technological growth in building Industry?

The Credit Crunch brings to light a renewed interest in the operational tasks of Corporate Real Estate Management (CREM): a so called ëEntrepreneurial Cooperationí (ëOndernemend Samenwerken) in restructuring, maintenance and control. This so called ëEntrepreneurial Cooperationí implies a renewed approach of the internal customer and also a renewed cooperation with the building contractors for restructuring, maintenance and control. It leads to supply chain optimization and also to new roles for the contractors with more responsibility to the end-users. ëOn routeí to a Demand Management Organization, ëEntrepreneurial Cooperationí could be characterized as a total re-definition of the mutual cooperation role patterns of staff maintenance and control and itís building contractors for restructuring, maintenance and control. ëEntrepreneurial Cooperationí anticipates on the dire necessity and urgency of budget cuts in CREM staff. It is also a highly needed reaction on the recent wide spread diversification of new building methods, new building products and new building materials and of new related ICT-technologies used in operational management and technical design. For most of the CREM organizations it is hard to keep up with these new technologies, especially no there is a necessity to down size their staff. ëEntrepreneurial Cooperationí works with cross functional teams from Board, CREM staff and building contractors. The CREM organization will focus itself on the interpretation and direction of the growing diversity in internal customer preferences inside the company and on the process management of this. The CREM organization will also address their contractors on their growing specialist knowledge and experiences with new methods, products, materials and ICT-technologies and will ask them to invest in sustainable options on their insights in real energy saving measurements. The business case ëEntrepreneurial Cooperationí discussed in this paper, takes place inside the Eindhoven University of Technology ñ the host University of this yearís ERES 2011 Conference ñ where one of the authors is manager of the CREM staff maintenance and control. The business case is monitored by one of the well known Dutch business consultancies, which recent produced a first formal evaluation, with key results: ï a shift in task responsibilities ï a smaller staff ï use of smaller budgets. The paper could be an initial guide for modernization for CREM organizations. But could also provide ëlessons to learní for the whole building industry sector, especially for restructuring, maintenance and control: ï anticipation on innovative technological developments ï anticipation on new market opportunities, trough a broader marketing of new specialist knowledge application