Choosing by Advantages Application Areas in Facilities Management: A Literature Review

Abstract

Choosing by Advantages (CBA) is a new generation decision-making method utilized mainly in lean construction, sustainable design, methods and materials selections for the last two decades. The value-based approach of CBA considers cost as a constraint and uses the advantages of the decision alternatives for preference, choice, and ranking. This approach can benefit facilities management (FM) processes that are challenged with cost and budget dominance in decision-making. This study conducted a comprehensive literature review about CBA revealing the benefits of and areas for improvement in the method while also investigating the possible application areas of CBA in FM practices. The review covered 67 relevant studies in the CBA topic area over the last two decades and identified the research clusters of these articles, focusing on studies that utilized CBA beyond the scope of Lean Construction. Moreover, the review revealed areas for improvement of CBA, such as the lack of structure in the Importance of Advance (IoA) scale, minimizing bias in stakeholder consensus, and considering weights and/or prioritization in decision factors. In addition to increasing awareness of the CBA method, this study identified areas where CBA has the potential to benefit; building maintenance decision-making, capital project planning, prioritization, procurement, buy vs. lease analysis, lease type and site selection, and resource and personnel allocation in FM practices.