Network connectivity and office occupiers' space decision: the case of Suntec City

Purpose - This paper sets out to empirically test the office space choice decision of firms currently occupying offices in Suntec City, Singapore. Design/methodology/approach - Empirical data on office space determinants of occupiers in Suntec City office towers were collected via a mailed questionnaire from March to June 2004. Based on a consolidated sample list of 342 firms, 61 responses from the occupiers, which represent a response rate of 17.8 percent, were received. Findings - Based on the survey results on office space preference of occupiers in Suntec City, the mean score statistics show that image and prestige of an office location and accessibility by public transport are the two most highly ranked factors by the firms. Research limitations/implications - The selection of Suntec City as a sample case study may help to control the heterogeneity of building factor, but it will also limit the generalization of the findings. However, the results provide support to the deliberate strategies by the management to create a pro-business environment and also to connect the space through deliberate network effects. The second limitation is the uneven distribution of sample firms by size in the survey. Originality/value - In many office space choice studies, building and accessibility factors were invariably found to be significant determinants of office location. In this study, non-location and network connectivity factors were included in the empirical tests, and they were found to be significant in influencing office space decision of selected clusters of firms in a building.