Risk and uncertainty are part of the everyday operating environment for all organisations. Occasionally the risks may be sufficient to generate a crisis which, if left unattended, can become a disaster. The key person in an organisation who is often charged with the responsibility of recovering the supporting services that will enable the business to start functioning again is the facility manager, in charge of all property management functions. What should facility managers be aware of in terms of the characteristics of risk and crises and organisational culture that will affect their ability to plan for disaster recovery? Describes some features and characteristics of crises that could become disasters and discusses the features of organisations (such as tight‐coupling and interdependency) that can affect their exposure to risk ‐ crisis‐prone or crisis‐prepared ‐ and suggests some crisis‐mitigating strategies that could be adopted by property managers. Concludes that organisations can become crisis‐prepared, if they adopt a range of strategies, such as providing good feedback on previous incidents, setting up a formal safety organisation, inculcating safety culture norms and beliefs about the importance of safety, devolving decision making but retaining monitoring by experienced staff, training and educating to create an environment of constant awareness and hence reliability. The end product should be that those unpredictable everyday minor crises do not escalate to become disasters.

Hong Kong is a wealthy part of China, home to some of the tallest buildings, on some of the most expensive real estate in the world. Yet the living and working conditions of its residents are a cause for concern following a spate of fires and falling debris from poorly maintained blocks of residential and commercial flats, which have resulted in multiple fatalities. The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Government has set up a number of initiatives to examine fire and building repairs, after the result of its own survey of 27,000 private buildings found the majority to be unsafe with respect to fire safety. Looks at the role of government in reducing the social cost of the real estate management system. Based on a theory of collective action between flat owners, using a transaction cost approach, identifies the formal laws and informal social culture in the management system of high rise property. Develops a framework to show how government intervention would alter the high transaction costs of collective action and reduce social costs.

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This paper discusses the problems for facilities managers in measuring the contribution of property towards the primary task, taking into account the different goals of the various stakeholders within the organisation. It suggests that the types of performance measures used to measure the property resource should reflect the culture of the primary task, rather than reflecting traditional property measures found in investment property management. A case study of a project undertaken for the Estates Management Department of the Mass Transit Railway Corporation of Hong Kong is reviewed, where measures of customer satisfaction were devised to measure property performance, in accordance with the culture of the primary task of the organisation.

Purpose -To examine how the allocation of property rights in multiple-ownership buildings in Hong Kong creates an environment in which the optimization of asset value may be difficult to achieve and in this situation how owners chose to overcome the associated problems of collective action decision making to resolve issues of building management. Design/methodology/approach -An institutional approach, drawn from the literature on common property and collective action, is used to examine the management of multiple-ownership property. The paper uses a hedonic pricing model to empirically test whether, in such circumstances, management is reflected in property price and which mode of governance owners prefer as a mechanism for resolving problems of collective action. Findings -The institutional arrangements for co-ownership and use of multiple-ownership property assets in Hong Kong have resulted in an "anticommons" environment, in which individual owners are in a position to veto action in relation to the property. In the absence of mandatory management the study indicates property prices are increased in those cases where owners have chosen to resolve the difficulties of collective decision making by forming incorporate owners' groups and employing professional management services.Research limitations/implications -The outcome of the empirical work is the result of an initial study carried out in one district in Hong Kong and may not be generalised. In the future, the approach will be extended to other areas. Practical implications -In the absence of a regulatory environment which ensures the management of multiple-ownership property assets, owners may be better advised to formalise arrangements through the formation of incorporate owners' groups and appointment of professional property management agents. Originality/value -The paper assesses the implications of an anticommons environment for the management of multiple-ownership property in Hong Kong. Examines arrangements for collective decision making and demonstrates influence of management on property price.