Facilities

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to address a fundamental question that all facility directors and senior managers face. How should facility management support arrangements be positioned and repositioned to meet the needs and expectations of an organisation, its staff and customers, as priorities shift and business circumstances change?

Design/methodology/approach – Case studies were undertaken to investigate the precise nature and reasons for change to FM support arrangements, across a variety of organisational types and sectors. Data were collected through document searches, semi-structured interviews, direct observations and supplementary questionnaires and follow-up discussions. Field trials of this prototype framework were conducted to obtain expert opinions, comments, criticisms and suggestions for improvement, employing a methodology similar to that used in clinical trials for new medical procedures.

Findings – The main findings from the investigations cover the nature and purpose of change in FM and the key factors that were involved. A number of major opportunities for innovative developments in the facility management field were uncovered, together with five key areas for further research, through which to advance the role and remit of facility management generally.

Originality/value – The research here has produced a generic decision framework for positioning and repositioning FM support arrangements. This framework will enable facility managers to adopt a more secure approach for collecting essential information, identifying key issues and options, and should encourage a more rigorous and critical examination of alternative FM arrangements prior to implementation.