CREATING A NETWORK OF SINGAPORE SERVICE OFFICES IN ASEAN

Abstract

Serviced Office as a product of real estate has been in the market, both internationally and regionally, for many years. Despite this, it seems that most serviced offices are localized within a country and do not have a network of partners or branches across countries. The objective of this paper is to examine whether companies, using Singapore as their headquarter and looking to venture into the region, are more attracted to serviced offices with a regional exposure than setting up conventional office spaces in each new market. A survey interview was carried out with 65 Singapore-based companies in an attempt to find out if companies‟ new market expansion strategies fit in line with supporting the formation of serviced offices with a regional presence. The findings from the survey reject all three hypotheses that were set out in the paper. It concludes that serviced offices is a good substitute to traditional office spaces when entering a new market and that a serviced office with a regional presence will help keep their costs lower and operational efficiency higher than a localized one. In light of the results, this paper recommends that serviced office should preferably expand to the region through partnerships to quickly satisfy this current demand. It also notes that to help clients in their expansion plans through lower costs and higher operational efficiency, staff have to be educated and exposed to various countries‟ business culture and practices. Serviced offices will also have to market their new capabilities to current and potential clients. There is demand for serviced offices with a regional presence in the market, but not communicating to them that there is supply will not help facilitate any transaction.