(left to right) Warrick Hobart, Mike Holland, Dr. Bob Hoekstra, Peter Andrew

This session explored the changing nature of the campus workplace. Moderator Warrick Hobart, Manager Corporate Real Estate, Caltex Australia, began the session by introducing its three presenters: Peter Andrew, Director Strategic Briefing, DEGW; Dr. Bob Hoekstra, CEO, Philips Innovation Centre; and Mike Holland, Director Corporate Services APAC, Microsoft Corp.

Typical corporate campuses require large amounts of land, large amounts of parking, and large, flexible floor plates, Andrew stated. The traditional campus features low density, a park setting and disconnected buildings.

But other types of campuses are emerging, including the virtual campus (e.g., connecting people in different geographic locations). "In a global economy, we work in a virtual sense," Andrew said. Indeed, more and more knowledge workers are working outside the traditional workplace environment. "What does it mean for the workplace when 40 percent of your people work a day or two per week from home?" he asked.

Philips is currently creating a unique, compact campus for up to 3,500 people in Bangalore, India. The concept has been "designed from the inside out," responding to the workplace needs of 12 different job roles. Scalability and sub-divisibility ensure future flexibility for a rapidly changing organization.

"DEGW interviewed 500 of our existing employees and got feedback as to what they wanted from their new workspace," Hoekstra said. "Three key principles emerged: to create a sense of innovation, to create a highly productive environment, and to create the ability to differentiate – accommodate teams within the whole."

Both physical and virtual work styles should be supported in today’s workspace, he urged. "The shift now is toward mostly collaborative work processes, with the need for mobility," Hoekstra said.

Microsoft’s philosophy is that a campus should be easy to access and use, Holland said. "And it should strengthen a sense of corporate community and integration."

An interesting aspect of Microsoft’s use of space is its evolving thinking about hard-wall offices vs. open plan. Fully 98 percent of the company’s 9 million-sq.-ft. (836,000-sq.-m.) Puget Sound headquarters is "enclosed cabins," or fixed offices, Holland revealed. But its UK base, in the Thames Valley Park, is completely open plan.

"How do we take that concept from the UK and make it work here in Asia?" Holland asked. "Is Asia really different? We’re having a very interesting global debate on this subject right now."

Education Program 7 addressed experimentation and change management in the field of workplace design – design that adapts to people, place and dynamic business needs – using a case study from Cisco Systems. The session was moderated by Richard Ho, Senior Partner, Deloitte & Touche.

(left to right) Richard Ho, Mike Zamora, Dolly Woo

Cisco’s Workplace Resources (WR) team engaged other corporate support functions, such as Human Resources and Information Technology, to create a global strategy that addresses the needs of employees and functions across the company.

"The way people work is changing," said Mike Zamora, AsiaPacific Japan Planning Manager, Cisco Systems. "But our physical environment formerly was not taking advantage of how technology was changing in the workplace. Today our Workplace Effectiveness program is integrating space, people and the work itself."

• A willing/ready client
• Economic opportunity (e.g., an upcoming relocation or lease renewal)
• Desire to participate in a test project
• Ability to replicate in other locations

Dolly Woo, Workplace Strategist, Cisco Systems, described how Workplace Effectiveness was employed at Building 14 on the company’s San Jose, Calif., campus. "We did it to support mobility as well as collaboration," she said.

Some 76 percent of employees surveyed reported that their productivity either increased or remained the same after the workplace changes. "Employees said that collaboration happens more readily and more often," she said. "And the new space helps foster teamwork."

The Summit concluded with Wednesday’s General Session IV, keynoted by Chin-Ning Chu. She is regarded as the world’s foremost authority on the practical application of Sun Tzu’s Art of War – the ancient Chinese treatise on strategy – to contemporary business and government. Introducing Chu was David Green-Morgan, International Property Manager, The Welsh Development Agency.

• "The marketplace is a battlefield. In a battle, there are allies, and there are opponents."
• "A great oak tree, 500 years old, will break in high winds if it doesn’t yield. Yielding is not the same as being defeated. In fact, through yielding, you overcome. We can use this in business and in everything we do."
• "You must utilize the resources you have. Sometimes your liabilities are really your assets. It depends on how you use them."
• On leadership: "You must be wise, benevolent, and trustworthy. And you must have courage."
• "Remember that someone will always oppose your brilliant, original idea – precisely because it is original."
• "You cannot wage war without a good reason. Nobody will die for you. But they will die for a righteous cause."
• "You can never get a long-term gain based on unethical practices."
• And, last of all:
• "You don’t want people to read you like a book. Often you have to have a veil."