Facilities Management Services Research Articles

Outsourced Facility Management (OFM) Services to Creating Global Competitiveness

In a time of increasing globalization and fierce competition in the market, being competitive has become essential for companies in a variety of sectors. Providers of Outsourced Facilities Management (OFM) services, which include everything from space management to security and maintenance, are essential in helping businesses streamline their operations and concentrate on their core business. The strategic value of outsourcing Facilities Management services is gaining more attention and adaption as the business landscape gets complicated and complex. This increased adoption of the OFM services creates opportunities thus resulting in the presence of both local and global players in this industry. Local outsourced facilities management service providers are encountering a progressively competitive market in today’s business scene. To assess and improve the competitiveness of local OFM service providers fighting to gain market shares against global industry giants, this study explores the idea of critical success factors (CSFs). CSFs stand for those critical areas in which a company must succeed to meet its objectives and beat out rivals. CSFs are essential for comprehending the unique factors that allow local OFM service providers to not only endure but also prosper in a complex network of markets. Additionally, local outsourced facilities management services providers must evaluate their abilities, performance, and competitiveness in comparison to well-established global facilities management leaders that are present in the country. By comparing with these industry giants, local suppliers can establish a baseline and initiate research to gain useful insights, direction, and positioning. This will help them improve their global competitiveness and survival at least at the local industry level. This study examines the rationale for comparing a local supplier against the industry’s critical success factors (CSF) with global companies and emphasizes the potential advantages gained from conducting such a comparison. Keywords: competitiveness, outsourced facility management, property management, critical success factors, integrated facility management

Sourcing approach for facilities management services in social housing within the semi-arid climate of Nigeria

PurposeThe provision of facilities management (FM) services, facilitated by a well-suited sourcing strategy, significantly influences the optimization of dwelling unit performance, augmentation of occupants’ living experiences and the establishment of a secure and comfortable environment. Consequently, this study aims to examine the sourcing approach used for delivering FM services in social housing within Nigeria’s semi-arid climate and to assess the effectiveness of the chosen sourcing approach in the provision of FM services.Design/methodology/approachData collection involved one-on-one interviews conducted with five principal/senior staff members of the Borno State Housing Corporation in Maiduguri, Northern Nigeria. For data analysis, the NVivo R1 software package and Stata 13.0 were used. Thematic analysis was applied to the data, and the findings were presented through narrations and direct quotes from participants. Logistic regression analysis was subsequently used to assess the effectiveness of the adopted in-house approach in providing FM services in the context of social housing.FindingsAdministrators of social housing in the semi-arid climate of Nigeria exclusively adopted an in-house sourcing approach for providing FM services. Nevertheless, the in-house approach was conclusively determined to be ineffective in delivering FM services within the specific context of social housing in the semi-arid climate of Nigeria.Originality/valueThis investigation centred on examining the sourcing strategy used by social housing administrators for delivering FM services in social housing within a semi-arid climate of Nigeria. Additionally, the study delved into evaluating the efficacy of the chosen sourcing approach in the actual provision of FM services.

Assessing the influence of technological innovations and community-based facilities management on the safety and security of universities. A case study of an open campus

PurposeSafety and security (S&S) are critical concerns in South Africa, especially in Cape Town, one of the country’s most crime-ridden cities. The University of Cape Town (UCT), situated on a large, open campus, has experienced increased malefaction. Facilities management (FM) services at universities bear the primary responsibility for providing S&S to their communities. To comprehensively understand and address the community’s demands regarding S&S, the current study was conducted to investigate the challenges specific to open universities. This study aims to determine whether implementing community-based FM (CbFM) principles and using technological innovations could offer a more effective and sustainable solution.Design/methodology/approachThe study adopted interpretivist overarching case study methodology, which is ontologically based. A mixed-method approach was used to incorporate the strengths and limitations of the weaknesses of both methods. The data collection took the form of an online survey of the university community and semi-structured interviews with university executive management to obtain data from the single case study of UCT. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the quantitative data, and thematic analysis was used to identify emergent themes from the qualitative data.FindingsThe study presents an overall view of the provision of S&S at UCT, the unique challenges faced by management and the main S&S issues affecting the community. Moreover, the study reveals that UCT has implemented community participation processes in the past with limited success. This is because the strategies implemented constitute a narrow perspective of community participation. Therefore, a much smarter and more inclusive perspective using technological innovation is required for successful community participation to occur and to be successfully used in providing S&S toward achieving future-proofing facilities.Originality/valueThis research has demonstrated the influence of CbFM and innovative technologies on the S&S of the open campus. Hence, future-proof facilities can be achieved when FM actively engages university communities in managing campuses through technological innovation.

가업상속공제와 공동주택관리업 적용에 관한 연구

In order to support the stable life of the heirs and their families even after the death of the decedent, the Inheritance Tax and Gift Tax Act provides for deductions of a certain amount of money in consideration of the personal situation of the heirs and the material situation of the inherited property, and stipulates the family business inheritance deduction system.
 Accordingly, the Korea Housing Management Association announced that 2023. 9. Through an inquiry to the competent authority, the condominium management business was inquired whether the condominium management business is eligible for the deduction of the family business inheritance company, and the competent authority replied that the condominium management business is not a company eligible for the deduction of the family business inheritance business.
 However, it is necessary to re-examine whether the condominium management business is included in the family business inheritance deduction related to Article 15, Paragraphs 1 and 2 of the Enforcement Decree of the Inheritance Tax and Gift Tax Act.
 First, since the Special Act on the Safety and Maintenance of Facilities defines apartment houses as buildings and classifies them as facilities, it should be interpreted to include the business facility management and business resource service businesses among the business facility management and business resource service businesses that are subject to the family business inheritance deduction according to the Korean Standard Industrial Classification for small and medium-sized enterprises eligible for family business inheritance deduction.
 Second, the same article [Annex] of the same Act defines the types of business under the provisions of individual laws and includes the housing rental management business under the “Special Act on Private Rental Housing”, but the Private Rental Housing Act applies to matters not stipulated in this Act with respect to the construction, supply and management of housing, etc., and thus applies to the “Housing Act”, “Building Act”, “Apartment Housing Management Act”, and “Housing Lease Protection Act”.
 In the same way that the housing rental management business under the Special Act on Private Rental Housing is defined as a company subject to the family business inheritance deduction under the individual law, the condominium management business under the Apartment Housing Management Act, which has the same content, should be included as a company subject to the family business inheritance deduction under the individual law.

An Investigation of Toilet Cleanliness Assessment and People Monitoring at Rest and Service Area (R&R) X and Y

Facility management services are essential for maintaining the effective functioning and safety of buildings. Soft facility management services aim to enhance the work environment by improving efficiency and safety. Poor toilet hygiene due to inadequate care poses a threat to human health and safety. The objectives are to measure the effect of public toilet cleanliness based on the number of people and to analyse the relationship between the level of toilet cleanliness and the number of people. Observation methods were employed to monitor the number of people and evaluate toilet cleanliness from 9:00 a.m. to 17:30 p.m. at R&R X and Y. Linear regression analysis were conducted to determine R2 values for each location and using a one-way ANOVA. The R2 values represent the relationship between the star rating and the number of people. The result shows the R2 valuesfor men’s and women’s toilets at R&R X on weekdays and weekends are R2 = 0.7643, R2 = 0.7784, R2 = 0.2479, and R2 = 0.2245. For men’s and women’s toilets at R&R Y on weekdays and weekends, R2 = 0.1733, R2 = 0.2583, R2 = 0.5591, and R2 = 0.6939. In conclusion, it was found that the R2 values on the men’s toilets at R&R X and the women’s toilets at R&R Y had a strong and moderate relationship to the number of people and star rating. Meanwhile, women’s toilets at R&R X and men’s toilets at R&R Y have a weak relationship between the number of people and the star rating. It important to maintain the cleanliness, user comfort and safety, as well as the overall satisfaction of use, to maintain 5-star rating to ensure thatusers who use public toilets feel comfortable.

The Relevance of Automation in the Facility Management of Selected High-Rise Buildings in Lagos, Nigeria

Operators (owners/facility managers) of high-rise buildings are continuously faced with the challenge of finding innovative means of controlling and managing the facilities of high-rise buildings. This is due to consistent change in the nature and functions of building systems. Meanwhile, the use of computerized systems affords building operators the tools and methods that will enhance facility management activities. This study examined the importance of automation to the facility management of high-rise buildings in developing countries, using the case of Nigeria. The study adopted a survey research approach, administering a structured questionnaire to 53 facility managers of identified commercial high-rise buildings in Ikoyi, Lagos Island, and Victoria Island in Nigeria. It also applied regression analysis in determining the significance of automation on facility management activities. The findings of the study revealed that security services are the most automated facility management activity. Results also showed that automation had a positive effect on facility management practice, with R square of 0.66. The study concluded that although automation is seldom used in carrying out facility management activities, it has a positive impact on facility management services, with 66% significance level on facility management activities. It then recommended that steps should be taken by all stakeholders to develop the practice of facility management and research, as well as facility management education.

USING DATA WAREHOUSE TO MANAGE HEALTH FACILITY DATA

Managing a complete master list of public health facility data is deemed important in coordinating and planning of health services and achieving better service delivery. The master lists allow stakeholders to share a uniform operational health services data and ensuring availability and reliable data. This will able to support and manage patients clinical data and other health management services such as disease monitoring, facility management and monitoring service performance. However, most health facilities do not have accurate and informed data, this can affect monitoring of infrastructure and services provided. Various facilities have multiple and redundant lists of health data, the lists differ not only in the information they contain but also in the way they are named and identified. Existing studies state that the development of health facility registries store information mostly using conventional two-dimensional table methods or relational databases as in the case at the Health Informatics Center (HIC), Ministry of Health Malaysia. Hence, they faces the challenges in managing the data since it contains diverse data sources, the absence of uniform data standards and the dependence on manual processes and human intervention. To overcome the current problems, a dimensional modeling technique has been developed in an effort to design a Health Facility Data Warehouse. The proposed design of the data warehouse has been verified by the expert and they agrees that it is suitable for HIC to manage information related to health facilities due to its ability to deal with data sources, able to generate strategic information, as well as the ability to obtain a historical view of facility data. This study shows dimensional modeling techniques are effective in analyzing and designing data warehouse and can be a possible method in managing the master list of health facilities in Malaysia as well as other countries.

The perceptions of food service staff in a nursing home on an upcoming transition towards a healthy and sustainable food environment: a qualitative study.

Healthy and sustainable food environments are urgently needed, also in nursing and residential care homes. Malnutrition in care homes is becoming an increasing problem as populations worldwide are ageing and many older people do not consume sufficient protein, fibre, fruit, and vegetables. Nursing homes also often experience a lot of food waste. A transition in the food environment like a nursing home, involves the participation of facility management and food service staff members. This study aims to map out their perceived barriers and facilitators for this transition. A qualitative study using semi-structured interviews was conducted with food service staff members (n = 16), comprising of kitchen staff (n = 4), wait staff (n = 10), and facility management (n = 2) of two nursing homes in the Netherlands. Thematic analysis was used to derive content and meaning from transcribed interviews. Four main themes were identified. Theme 1: 'Communication, transparency and accountability in the chain', highlighting the lack of effective communication flows and a fragmented overview of the food service chain as a whole. Theme 2: 'Understanding, knowledge and ability of the concepts healthy and sustainable', revealing the gap in staff's understanding of these abstract concepts, despite perceiving themselves as having sufficient knowledge and ability. Theme 3: 'The pampering service mind-set', highlighting the contradiction in the staff's shared goal of proving the highest quality of life for residents while also pampering them in ways that may not align with promoting healthy and sustainable food choices. Theme 4: 'Transition is important but hard to realize', describing the barriers such as existing routines and a lack of resources as challenges to implementing changes in the food service. Facilitators to transitioning nursing homes towards a healthy and sustainable food environment as perceived by staff members included transparent communication, accountability in the food supply chain, staff's perceived ability and shared goal, while barriers included lack of understanding of the concepts healthy and sustainable, the current pampering mindset, and top-down decision-making. These findings provide valuable insights for nursing homes seeking to transition towards a healthier and more sustainable food environment.

The Validity and Reliability of the Theory Behind BIM Adoption in The Facility Management Using PLS-SEM

The usage of Building Information Modelling (BIM) in the Facility Management (FM) sector will significantly speed up the design and construction phases. However, most facility managers continue to use the traditional paper-based approach to manage facility maintenance and operations, which includes designs and spreadsheets. The goal of this research is to pinpoint the factors that affect BIM's acceptability in the FM sector. Six factors, including organisational culture, individual competency, perceived usability, perceived ease of use, individual intention, and organisational aim in the context of facilities management services, were found. Prior to that, it is necessary to determine whether the theory supporting the adoption of BIM in facility management is valid and reliable. This study used an abductive methodology that blends qualitative and quantitative techniques. 30 respondents completed a set of questionnaires as part of the study's pilot test. Based on the findings of the pilot study, it can be demonstrated that the high degree of Cronbach's Alpha values is accepted, demonstrating the validity and reliability of the theory supporting the adoption of BIM in facility management and its high degree of internal consistency. This study demonstrates that there are important factors that affect how well BIM is received in the facilities management sector. All the six factors have a significant impact indicating that the theory underlying the adoption of BIM in facility management is valid and reliable and has a high degree of internal consistency.

Agency problems in facility management (FM) outsourcing in the Ghanaian retail sector

Purpose The aim of this study is to examine the agency problems that arise between retail property owners and outsourced facility management (FM) service vendors in Ghana. Design/methodology/approach This study was carried out using telephone and face-to-face interviews. Nine facility managers (n =9) and six retail property owners (n = 6) purposively selected participated in the interviews. The responses from the interviews were analysed using content analysis. To begin with the analysis, the recorded audio for each respondent during the interviews was transcribed to augment what was written during the interviews. The next step was the development of a coding framework where each of the agency problems was assigned unique codes and grouped under themes. Each response was assigned a predefined code based on the agency problems identified in the literature. The research team discussed the consistency of the thematic codes assigned to each of the responses to ensure that each response was captured under the appropriate agency problem theme it best represents. Findings The results showed that agency problems in FM outsourcing in the Ghanaian retail sector are related to disagreement on expenditure associated with maintenance and repairs and improper tenant information sharing and use by FM service providers. Based on the findings, it is recommended that property owners explore the mixed approach to FM to mitigate the risks of complete outsourcing of FM services. It is also recommended that a clear path on how tenant information can be shared be pre-agreed in FM contracts. Originality/value This study provides new literature relating to agency problems in outsourcing and may be the first of its kind for FM in the Ghanaian retail industry. The findings could serve as a starting point for service providers and their principals to find common grounds to understand each other and mitigate the agency problems that could arise and their overall impact on performance.

Framework for PPP partner selection in K-12 educational facility procurement

Procurement procedures to select a private partner are of immense importance to the success of public-private partnerships in the K-12 education sector. The current approaches to private-partner selection mainly rely on generic evaluations of a limited number of criteria, which do not adequately address partnership risks during construction and operation or guarantee the quality of furnished educational services during the facility lifecycle. There is a crucial necessity to develop a customized method for the selection of the private partner in educational private-partnership projects. Guided by the principal author's firsthand experience as the chair of the evaluation committee, a private-partner selection framework is developed to reduce partnership risks and evaluate the quality of proposed educational public-private partnerships. To check for risk attributes and exclude high-risk partners, an early risk-reduction stage is proposed. In addition, to account for the specific nature of educational facility procurements, a technical evaluation phase that assesses design quality, functionality and facility management services is integrated into the proposal evaluation stage. The viability and effectiveness of the developed framework are validated by an application example which illustrates that the proposed risk reduction stage and the technical evaluation phase enable the selection process to be more effective, while pursuing value for money and guaranteeing the transparency of the partnership.

The Influence Of Sports Facility Management And Teacher Services On The Effectiveness Of Physical Education

This study aimed to assess the level of management of sports facilities and teacher services in relation to the effectiveness of physical education in high schools. In this study, the researchers employed a descriptive survey research method. The participants of this study consisted of physical education instructors and eleventh-grade students from public high schools in Banyuwangi Regency, comprising a total of 3500 students. A random sampling procedure was employed, resulting in a sample size of 95 pupils. Two commonly used methods for collecting data are questionnaires and documentation. The author conducted data analysis using various statistical tests, including the correlation coefficient test, the coefficient of determination, the t test, and the F test. Based on the findings of the study, it has been determined that: 1) The school's facility management is deemed adequate; 2) The services rendered by teachers are deemed satisfactory. There is sufficient quality in both facility management and instructor services.

Smart tools to facilitate digitalisation of facilities management service delivery: stakeholders’ perspectives

PurposeFacilities management (FM) activities affect citizens’ health and safety, long-term urban environmental sustainability and the relationships between the built and natural environments of cities. This study aims to comprehend the status of smart FM tools application, how they are used to improve the delivery of FM services and the barriers to their implementation.Design/methodology/approachTo investigate the current smart solutions that leverage the quality of FM service, a case study based on the FM practice in Hong Kong was carried out. The case study was conducted in two phases of data acquisition based on a qualitative research methodology. After conducting in-depth interviews to determine the application of smart FM tools in different types of properties and to identify the initiatives and barriers to smart FM tool application, three workshops were conducted to validate the findings and further investigate the influence of FM professionals on smart FM tools application in Hong Kong.FindingsThe findings of the case study revealed, firstly, that four types of smart FM tools – user-centric, safety and hygiene, maintenance and sustainability-oriented – are used to assist the delivery of FM services. Secondly, smart FM tools are shown to be useful in assisting FM activities. Thirdly, the existing barriers to smart FM tool application manifest differently in shopping malls, office buildings and residential buildings. Fourthly, smart FM tools are used to address the four attributes of user needs: comfort, health and wellbeing, convenience and information to occupants.Originality/valueThe value of this study lies in its focus on the industry level (FM industry) and the application process of smart FM tools in different types of property, revealing the benefits, initiatives and barriers to their future application. This study provides a comprehensive picture of the current status and elaborates the barriers to smart FM tool application, which will help FM practitioners to make strategic decisions on selecting and developing smart FM tools. Also, this study will facilitate smart FM tool application policy development.

Facilities management and clients satisfaction nexus in hotels in secondary cities in Ghana: A study of selected hotels in Wa

PurposeThis study aims to assess how the provision of facilities management (FM) services influences customer satisfaction in hotels in secondary cities. This study focussed on customer satisfaction in relation to specific FM services such as cleaning, maintenance, security, internet/information technology and air conditioner servicing.Design/methodology/approachThe study used a case study design. Simple random and purposive sampling methods were used to select the hotels and the respondents. The study used a survey based on the SERVQUAL model to collect data from 136 respondents. Six hotel managers were also interviewed.FindingsThere were disparities in customer satisfaction across the various hotel categories based on the assessment indicators used. Thus, customer satisfaction with FM services was not influenced by hotel ratings. On the calibre of staff handling FM activities, none of the hotels had a professional facilities manager. The hotel managers were in charge of FM activities, which affected the provision of FM services. Generally, customers in all the selected hotels were not satisfied with the quality of FM services. Specifically, the overall mean gap score was very low (−3.20), which meant that customers’ expectations far exceeded their perceptions, hence, their dissatisfaction. Tangible(s) of services were customers’ least appreciated (−1.04) dimension. This meant that hotels did not pay much attention to the physical (place) aspect of their FM activities. This should engage the attention of hospitality industry regulators and policymakers, given the current global health crisis caused by Covid-19 and its variance.Originality/valueThe study demonstrates customer satisfaction with FM services in hotels in secondary cities. Practically, hotels can become very competitive if they consider the findings of the study to provide effective customer-oriented FM services.

The intervening influence of the quality of health-care administrative process on the relationship between facilities management service quality and patients’ health-care experience in Ghana

PurposePatient-centred strategies should be applied in health-care facilities management (HcFM) to guarantee service quality to meet patients’ needs and ensure quality patient health-care experience. This paper aims to examine the intervening influence of the quality of health-care administrative process (QAP) on the association between health-care facilities service quality and patients’ experiences with medical care.Design/methodology/approachA quantitative technique was used for this cross-sectional study in three Ghanaian teaching hospitals. A total of 622 relevant questionnaires were used for the analysis of the study using SEM-PLS.FindingsThe intervening influence of the QAP on the relationship between HcFM service quality (empathy and tangibility) and patients’ health-care experience (PHcE) were reinforced whilst that of reliability, responsiveness and assurance were not reinforced. The association between the QAP and PHcE was also established.Research limitations/implicationsA high-quality health-care workforce (both core and supporting) and quality work environment provided by the FM department and QAP are essential during quality-of-care delivery, to reduce threats to patient safety to achieve exceptional PHcE. The constraint on the study is that information was gathered from only Ghana. Hence, the generalisation of the findings will be a challenge. Thus, in future, it is proposed that a comparative study across a developed country and a developing country can be conducted. Future research can assess the influence of the health-care internal appearance on patients’ satisfaction.Practical implicationsPractically, the administrative system can be improved by reducing patients overall waiting time. Steps must also be taken to reduce the problem of needless administrative tasks and practices to simplify administrative practices and improve patients’ total health-care experience (core health-care delivery and HcFM), as this influence patients’ total health-care experience.Originality/valueTo the best of the authors’ knowledge, this empirical validation is one of the initial studies in service quality and FM to examine how health-care administrative process quality affects the relationship between FM service quality and patients’ experiences with medical care. This framework can be adapted for research in different countries to extend knowledge.

FACTORS AFFECTING OUTSOURCING DECISIONS FOR FACILITY MANAGEMENT SERVICES

This research aimed to explore factors that affect outsourcing decisions for Facility Management (FM) services in Thailand. It was based on the result of 290 respondents authorized to make decisions on outsourcing Facility Management services. Due to differences in each business field, factors that affect outsourcing decisions were also dissimilar. The goal of decisions, in general, was to choose outsourcing services instead of using in-house resources which reflected business needs in terms of management, strategy, economics, or others to help facilitate and increase the competition level. The results of decision makers' perceptions showed that important factors in different industries considerably varied. The most important factors were management and quality factors which were strongly supported by the Core Competency theory. Meanwhile, the Transaction Cost Economics theory was still significant but not regarded as a top priority for business concerns in the present uncertain period.

Competencies for managing green buildings: aligned components from malaysia's facilities management service provider

The increased development of green buildings in Malaysia has necessitated the need for facility management businesses to upgrade their competencies. However, as evidenced by past studies, a shortage of competences among practitioners has emerged as an uncertainty about firms' capacity for managing green buildings. Therefore, the purpose of the research is to acquire insight into the competency features of FM service providers in Malaysia for managing green buildings and to make recommendations for competency improvement. The qualitative approach was adopted, and interview was used to achieve the goals, the data was examined using content analysis. Based on the experiences of seven (7) managers who have managed green buildings, the five (5) core strengths of facilities management service providers in managing green buildings are sustainable procurement, operations, resource management, repair and maintenance, and environmental health. This study demonstrated common themes between facilities management and green building management competencies.

Assessment of Dynamic Object Information Utilization Service in a Control Center for Each Urban Scale via Fuzzy AHP

Recently, the demand for citizen-sensible service solutions such as traffic, crime prevention, and disasters in smart cities is increasing. In order to provide technology-based smart city services, local government control centers could be utilized. Accordingly, this paper presented a method for selecting a control center-based dynamic object information utilization service model through in-depth interviews with 26 related local government control center operation personnel. A comparative analysis according to the size of the local government to which the evaluator belongs was also performed. As a methodology, Fuzzy AHP was used, which can support rational decision-making by mathematically expressing ambiguous phenomena such as subjective and uncertain judgments. The summary of the research results is as follows. Services related to recent incidents in South Korea (e.g., school zone traffic accidents and lowland inundation) were identified as very important. These social issues are significant factors in policy decisions. In comparing the results for each urban scale, the importance of pedestrian safety services on backside roads and main road traffic services was found to be important in the metropolitan area and regional, medium, and small cities, respectively. This was attributed to metropolitan cities with high population density, and medium and small cities experiencing alienated traffic information. In metropolitan areas, new services are highly important owing to the demand for a more scientific control service and future mobility based on a sound control infrastructure. In medium and small cities, facility management services were assessed relatively highly owing to the poor conditions of regional cities with a lack of supervising personnel in the field and a lack of surveillance system infrastructure. This paper was able to confirm the difference in service preference by city size, and it is necessary to select the optimal service model considering these results.

Determining Why Facilities Management has been Conservative in Adopting Data Analytics

The necessity for data analytics in facilities management is increasing due to the complexity of modern-days organisational requirements in the 21st century. Despite the emergence of data analytics that has benefited various businesses and industrial sectors, the facilities management sector has been conservative in adopting the technology. This would lead to severe challenges for FM to achieve continuous improvement and revolutionise the management of the facilities through the implementation of IR4.0. Thus, this paper aims to determine why facilities management service providers seem to be struggling to adopt data analytics in their operations. A literature review was carried out on existing literature on the topic. The selected articles were then critically evaluated for their quality and relevance to the subject matter and the findings were synthesised and summarised. The result suggests that facilities management service providers faced three challenges that contribute to their conservative adoption of data analytics in facilities management which are technology integration, organisational inefficiency, and financial constraints. The findings of this study could help to better understand why the facilities management sector has been conservative in adopting data analytics which could pave a path to identifying ways for facilities management service providers to adopt data analytics in their operations.

A post-occupancy evaluation of in-house facilities management service quality and user satisfaction in multi-tenanted office buildings in Ghana

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to explore user satisfaction with in-house facility management (FM) services in multi-tenanted office buildings in Accra, Ghana using a post-occupancy evaluation (POE) approach.Design/methodology/approachThe study assessed user satisfaction with FM service quality by using a POE of their perceptions about the attitude and courtesy of the FM personnel, the reliability of the FM services they provide, the responsiveness and the competence of the service providers. The study used walk-throughs and questionnaire surveys as the POE methods. One hundred and twenty-one users from 22 multi-tenanted office buildings, who have actively used the FM services for at least a year, were purposively sampled. The data was collected via a survey using a structured questionnaire. The data was analysed using descriptive statistics and principal component analysis in version 25 of statistical package for the social sciences.FindingsThe study revealed that users were dissatisfied with the quality of in-house FM services across all 15 services The results also showed that users’ satisfaction with the services is not affected by the differences in their age, gender, educational level, job role and number of years in the buildings. The results further demonstrated that the most critical factors that resulted in users’ dissatisfaction were electric facilities, building fabric maintenance, emergency coordination, waste management and the decoration of the buildings during festive seasons.Originality/valueTo the best of the authors’ knowledge, the present study based on POE to assess user satisfaction with FM services for multi-tenant office buildings has, presumably, not been tackled before in Ghana. The results of the study are very essential to the owners of the buildings and facility managers in decision-making concerning the delivery of FM services. Building industry-wise, the results demonstrate the need for in-house FM managers in multi-tenanted office buildings in Ghana to adopt FM service delivery methods that increase user satisfaction. The results also call for further research into user satisfaction with outsourced FM services in multi-tenanted office buildings and further research on the use of the in-house strategy on other types of buildings to ascertain whether the dissatisfaction with FM is due to other factors such as the choice of FM strategy, the property type etc.