One of the first things you notice when approaching Cushman & Wakefield’s New York City headquarters is the red neon sign of Radio City Music Hall across the street. It’s an appropriate image. Icon facing Icon.
And the similarities run deeper than that. Just as Radio City’s venerable exterior houses the recognition of its audience’s changing tastes and needs, the 94-year-old C&W must constantly reinvent itself to address the changing, increasingly global, and yet very local needs of a diverse clientele.
That reinvention is reflected in many ways, not the least of which is newly appointed president and CEO Glenn Rufrano’s frequent flyer mileage. Rufrano has hit the ground running, traveling throughout the Americas, Asia and Europe and establishing a five-year business plan, which is still largely under wraps. But Rufrano breaks down the goals into four general elements—global alignment and management, providing a consistent service mix throughout C&W’s worldwide offices, client prioritization and efficient operations.
The firm hopes to better manage its service mix by investing capital in certain offices around the globe to enhance its business. “We may want more capital markets people in Chicago,” explains Rufrano. “Or we might want a bigger retail presence in certain markets. We actually have a book that goes through each of the offices to determine how we should invest over a five-year period so our business lines have a more consistent balance.” C&W is also looking at methods of client prioritization by service line that will be implemented over the next several years...
...To read the rest of the story, go to the April 2011 issue of Real Estate Forum.
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