A theoretical framework for the strategic planning and management of the shopping centre´s development process

Abstract

The shopping centre´s development is a complex activity that encompasses a range of multidisciplinary activities and involves a specific risk analysis. Therefore, in order to maximize the results and avoid project risks, it is necessary not only to manage the interrelation between the stages of the life cycle of the promotion, but also to have an exhaustive knowledge of the strategic objectives of the promoter. Nevertheless, according to Peiser and Halmilton (2012), usually, many developers do not formally design a strategic plan and their personal experiences tend to drive decision making instead of the prescribed analysis. Thus, this exploratory research proposes to create an organizational and systemic framework that interconnects strategic planning with the shopping centre´s development activities. The proposed conceptual framework covers four main phases: Definition of the business strategy, Pre-development, Business development and Business management. This analysis allows the professionals not only to understand how these activities interact with the business strategy, but also to evidence the future expectations of the stakeholders. In addition, this framework can support future research in the field of strategic development of real estate businesses, project management and feasibility models. Besides, its flexible structure allows professionals to adapt the suggested model to the development process of all types of real estate assets (e.g. offices, hotels, residential). For this, the developer can visualize, according to its field of action, the result of each strategy, in each level of the business (company - investment portfolio - building) separately, as well as jointly the total decisions results. In addition, it provides a full view of the building´s value chain, in which the professional can design the relevant actions for value creation.