EL PROCESO CONTABLE EN LA EMPRESA INDUMÁRMOL

The formulation of the questions was informed by prior research in different types of commercial buildings (Hassanain 2008, Proulx 2009). The specific questions for enclosed shopping centres was undertaken with the assistance of enclosed shopping centre senior operations personnel. The operations personnel had a large number of enclosed shopping centres under their control. Prior to the questionnaires being distributed to the enclosed shopping centre manager‟s, pilot testing of the questionnaires were carried out with a number of managers. They gave feedback on the questions and recommend changes that would enhance the questionnaires. (Veal 2005) states the purpose of pilot testing is wording, sequence, and layout .The concept of questionnaires is that they seek to open new ideas and issues, and as such they tend to be new formulations.

Major owners and managers of regional and sub-regional enclosed shopping centres

There are a number of public companies owning and managing regional and sub-regional shopping centres in Australia. The following companies were chosen due to their high profile and geographical spread in all states. There are a number of the companies, such as Stocklands, involved in land development and other commercial buildings. However, this research is solely in respect of their interests in regional and sub-regional enclosed shopping centres. The following seven companies are involved in the research: AMP Capital, Centro Properties Group, Colonial First State (CFS), Lend Lease, Mirvac, Stockland and Westfield and the information was

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obtained from each website (for example www.westfield.com.au). The centres each group owns/manages is as follows:

Table 5.2 of enclosed shopping centres by ownership and geographical location

Owner/manager Total NSW Vic Qld WA SA Tas

AMP Capital 29 17 4 5 3 - -

Centro Properties Group 119 25 28 27 20 12 7

Colonial First State (CFS) 25 3 11 6 1 3 1

Lend Lease 9 3 2 4 - - -

Mirvac 26 15 5 5 1 - -

Stockland 29 15 4 7 3 - -

Westfield 34 16 6 6 3 3 -

Total 271 94 60 60 31 18 8

Table 5.2 shows that there is no consistency with ownership across the geographical areas. AMP Capital is centred in NSW, for example. Centro Properties has the largest number of centres. However, Westfield enclosed shopping centres and others are individually larger in total square metres. The study includes enclosed shopping centres in all states so as to give as wide a review as possible. The population and total number of centres in each state are taken into account. The Northern Territory and Australian Capital Territory enclosed shopping centres are not part of this study because coverage in the states is deemed adequate. It is important that the centres selected are from a number of managers/owners to give a wide sample of the structures in place. The information is to be gathered by questionnaire. This is the basis of the research as it is centred on information generated from each centre. There are state legal requirements that could affect fire and emergency evacuation training. This has been taken into consideration when the sample was chosen. The above information, current at June 2009, was obtained from the companies‟ websites. The ownership and management tend to be conducted by different sections of the same company. This allows the senior management to use Key Performance Indicators in the various sections of the company such as funds management for the ownership issues, while the centre operations is by property management.

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Research sample of major owners and managers of regional and sub-regional enclosed shopping centres

There are a large number of both regional and sub-regional centres. They are owned and managed by a diverse number of public companies. The purpose is to get as wide a sample as possible in both geographical terms and management. It is more common for ownership and management to be part of the same company in the larger centres. The research is targeted at enclosed shopping centres owned by the companies in Table 5.2. There are a large number of enclosed shopping centres as shown in Appendice 1.5. The total targeted enclosed shopping centres and locations are as in Figure 5.3. There were states in which no samples were taken (NST).

Table 5.3 Samples for research of enclosed shopping centres by ownership and geographical location

The above figure 5.3 represents 18% of the 271 centres in Table 5.2 and varies between 15 and 21% over the six geographical areas. The aim of the research is to target a sample of regional and sub-regional shopping centres across the major geographical locations in Australia. This is then to be related back to the owner/management of the centres as listed in Figure 5.2.

Questionnaire to owners/managers

The purpose of the questionnaire is to gain insight into how the enclosed shopping centres deal with the risk of fire. (Refer to Appendix 1.2 with details of the questions). This is important as it provide an indication of what the model should include. The questionnaire includes 10 questions that can be analysed and from which statistical information can be drawn. This involves a sample of 50 enclosed shopping centres across Australia to gauge the current processes and procedures in risk management. The data collection involved all areas stated in the conceptual model. There are in excess of 1,338 enclosed shopping centres in Australia that include supermarket/neighbourhood centres (www.scca.org.au). The research is centred on regional and sub-regional centres due to their size and

Owner/manager Total NSW Vic Qld WA SA Tas

AMP Capital 6 3 1 1 1 NST NST

Centro Properties Group 22 6 5 4 4 2 1

Colonial First State (CFS) 4 1 1 1 NST 1 NST

Lend Lease 2 1 1 NST NST NST NST

Mirvac 5 3 1 1 NST NST NST

Stockland 5 3 1 1 NST NST NST

Westfield 6 3 1 1 1 NST NST

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location. Permission was required before any data was collected. It required some level of statistics in analysing the data such as the number of fires, damage, type of building, etc. It involved statistical analysis of risk management and how it has been applied. The actual analysis of the data varies on the information available and what can be extracted. The questionnaires were sent to owners/managers of enclosed shopping centres as in Appendix 1.2.

The questionnaires are in three parts. The first deals with centre statistical information that relates directly to the fire risks in each centre including number of entry and exit points. The second part of the questionnaire deals with areas such as emergency control organisations and appointment of wardens. The second section requires a yes or no answer. The third section deals with the further opinions regarding the manager‟s attitude to fire risk issues. The questionnaires were sent to 50 owners/managers of enclosed shopping centres across Australia. The criteria in the choice of owner/manager were as follows:

1. Number of centres in Australia owned or managed in proportion to the total in the sample. 2. The spread across all states.

3. The enclosed shopping centres represent both regional and sub-regional centres.

The operations/facilities managers are responsible for the fire evacuation and training. They were invited to complete a questionnaire on behalf of the owners/managers. The persons holding such a position have a detailed knowledge of the centre, including entry and exit points. The person has direct access to the service providers. They are the first point of contact. The above information can be analysed and a rating for each section obtained. This was analysed by use of Excel spreadsheets. From this information, any trends or outcomes in the data were obtained. There is a need for a confidential analysis so that no individual enclosed shopping centre can be identified. The sole purpose of the analysis is to see what the majority of the selected centres are doing. The above information is not in the public domain and permission was required and it was subsequently obtained. Also, this was not an issue because individual centres are not identifiable in this thesis. From the above information it is expected that a majority result will emerge on how the fire risks are treated and whether there are any common elements to fire risk management in enclosed shopping centres.

97 Primary data – questionnaires

The formulation of the questionnaires and the research process was completed in the following manner. The questionnaires were tested on a number of managers in the enclosed shopping centre industry and a number of changes were recommended. The following flow chart shows how the research questionnaire was completed.

Figure 5.1 Questionnaire process Process of questionnaire distribution

The first action was to set up a database of the enclosed shopping centres from the various websites of the owners/managers and select a sample from the organisations‟ websites. From this information, 50 centres were chosen at random from information available on the organisations‟ websites. The next action was to decide in which states the sample centres were to come from. The majority of the centres are based in the three major states of New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland. Thus, the majority of the samples came from those three states. The next question involved the ownership and management of the centres. There are owners and managers that have larger centres, but smaller in total numbers. Conversely, there are owners and managers owning large numbers of smaller centres

Formulation of questionnaires

Testing of questionnaire with selected owners/managers

Make any suggested changes to questionnaires

Send questionnaire to selected owners/managers

Set up database ready for analysis using Microsoft Excel and analysis results

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such as Centro Properties Group. The objective of the sample was to have bias in the selection process.

The operations management of the shopping centres tends to be at the centre level for a number of reasons including being at the „coal face‟ with day-to-day operating issues. Contact was made with the centre management to ascertain the head of operations in each centre. The questionnaire was sent with a covering letter requesting involvement with the research. The letter included the clause that all information is kept confidential. Permission was also given by senior management to conduct the research. The questionnaires were distributed to the 50 centres chosen via the above process. The recipients were asked whether they wanted to be part of the research and if not to return the questionnaires direct to the Victoria University.

5.3.2 Primary data – interviews