Headquarters site selection preferences: occupiers’ perspectives

Abstract

Purpose There are multitudes of sites and buildings offering various services to their occupiers. Studies highlight that companies choose sites and buildings that enable business’ growth and competition. The purpose of this paper is to explore occupiers’ perspectives on headquarters (HQs) site selection preferences with reference to the public listed firms in South Africa’s eight metropolitan municipalities. Design/methodology/approach A literature review was conducted to understand site selection preferences in other countries to inform the current study. Empirical data were collected using a sequential mixed-method approach using interviews and a survey. Semi-structured interviews were conducted first with the executives/management and also personnel who are involved in site selection decisions. Purposive sampling technique was used to select one company per industry to be interviewed. The information gathered from interviews informed the survey that was distributed online using Qualtrics software to all public listed firms located within the eight metropolitan municipalities in South Africa. Thematic analysis was used for analysing the interviews, whereas self-explicated conjoint model was used for the survey. Findings The results reveal that HQs as occupants of space prefer facilities that have good security and security systems, backup generators, air conditioning, parking facilities, energy management, access to the internet, efficient water supply, quality meeting places, cleaning services, the condition of the premises and disabled-friendly facilities. In addition to these preferences, HQs also prefer sites that are accessible. From this study, aspects that are unique to South Africa’s case are around security and security systems. The higher the crime levels, the higher is the demand on HQs to provide security and security systems for not only for their premises but also their employees. The current water and energy outages are also affecting HQs resulting in companies preferring facilities with an efficient water supply and having backup generators. Research limitations/implications The research only focussed on public listed firms located within the eight metropolitan municipalities. The findings may/may not apply to the HQs of non-listed firms and also to those situated outside the metropolitan municipalities. Owing to this, the results cannot be generalised. Further studies are needed to explore preference by industry with larger sample size. Practical implications This study provides insights on HQs site selection preference levels from the context of South Africa as a developing country. The insights would be useful to companies within the South African context to better understand their contextual dynamics and for companies seeking to do business in developing countries. Apart from companies, this study would also be beneficial to policymakers in creating enabling policies for companies, property developers to build facilities that embrace aspects preferred by occupants and investors to understand the preferences of HQs in the selection of sites for their operation. Originality/value In a developing country such as South Africa, there are limited studies on HQs site selection preferences; therefore, this study is one of the few studies bridging the knowledge gap. This study adopts a marketing approach to understand corporate real estate phenomenon.