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Diversity and group performance in a real estate project

Liesa Schrand (International Real Estate Business School, University of Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany)
Tobias Just (International Real Estate Business School, University of Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany)

Journal of European Real Estate Research

ISSN: 1753-9269

Article publication date: 19 December 2018

Issue publication date: 23 April 2019

423

Abstract

Purpose

Successful developers need to manage a large number of cooperation partners and find innovative solutions for specific tasks, as each real estate project is somehow unique. Thus, the question arises as to whether intelligent group formation for real estate development calls for more or rather less diverse project groups.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper aims to test the impact of group diversity on overall group performance with a unique data set. The authors collected the results of 150 project assignments from real estate executive education students at the IREBS Real Estate Academy from 2010 until 2016.

Findings

The authors find that group results were impacted positively for groups with disparity in work experience and ability. Differences in sex and age did not yield any measurable impact, neither positive nor negative.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first time that the relationship between work group diversity and group performance was tested for real estate educational projects. The authors believe that the results are highly relevant for all university work, for which teams have to cooperate on complex rather than basic assignments and problems. Moreover, they are the first to develop a framework that combines diversity theories with a clear distinction between three diversity concepts.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to express their sincere appreciation and recognition to their sponsor DWS.

Citation

Schrand, L. and Just, T. (2019), "Diversity and group performance in a real estate project", Journal of European Real Estate Research, Vol. 12 No. 1, pp. 62-78. https://doi.org/10.1108/JERER-04-2018-0018

Publisher

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Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2018, Emerald Publishing Limited

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