Collaboration in property and facilities management

Results from condition assessments can provide facility managers with key insights and knowledge to facilitate strategic planning of an organization's portfolio of facilities. The purpose of this paper is to identify what research has been conducted on the topic of Facility Condition Assessments (FCA) with an emphasis on impact to the facility management profession. This paper provides a structured literature review of assessments performed in the areas of facility, building, and property management. An emphasis of this study was to investigate how previous research supports the decision to pursue an FCA. This study maps condition assessment terminology, analyzes purpose of an FCA through previous research efforts, and proposes to identify future research opportunities that contribute to FCA decision making support for facility managers.

This study examines the effects of adopting technological innovations on the social well-being of facilities management professionals. The paper takes the form of an in-depth literature review of peer-reviewed publications focused on the primary constructs of the study, namely: technological innovations in facilities management; the role of facilities management professionals; and, social sustainability in facilities management. The study found that the adoption of innovative technology has significant positive outcomes in the facilities management profession, but negatively affects the social well-being of the facilities management professionals. This paper provides the basis for the development of a social sustainability framework for the analysis of the impact of technological innovation on facilities management professionals. Further empirical study is needed to verify the findings. This review will sensitise facilities managers as it illustrates the impact of technological innovation beyond improved efficiency and service delivery by considering the facilities management profession as a whole.

This research examines the progress made by the public sector in Scotland from risk assessment to adaptation planning and implementation. We highlight some key challenges faced by the public sector in Scotland that are leading to a lack of progress in the adaptation space as noted in a recent UK Climate Change Committee report, “Is Scotland climate ready? – 2022 Report to Scottish Parliament”. This report highlighted the lack of analysis of the adaptation section of public bodies duties reports in Scotland and our research is the first in-depth analysis of this section at time of writing supplemented by interviews with a range of public sector bodies. The key research questions we consider are: “What tools, frameworks, data and knowledge are currently being used to conduct risk assessments for adaptation?”; “What kind of tools, frameworks, knowledge and data may be helpful for decision makers in this space?” and “What challenges and barriers exist for public sector bodies throughout their adaptation journeys?” By first setting out the key challenges currently facing the public sector in Scotland, we then present a range of potential solutions that could be implemented in Scotland to increase adaptation action. This study can help bridge the gap between climate science and decision makers by making it clearer what the requirements are for future tools, models and data to help accelerate adaptation action and how it is reported on and evaluated.

Purpose Outsourcing architectural and engineering services is a trend for public-sector construction projects. This study aims to examine what tender selection criteria should be considered when assessing the performance outcomes of consultants in relation to sustainable design, construction and management of buildings within the context of property and facilities management of existing building portfolios. Design/methodology/approach Combined qualitative-quantitative methods are adopted to examine the causal relationship between sustainable performance outcomes and influencing factors, using primary data collected from the estate offices of the UK universities, which form a unique public sector. The performance factors identified form the basis of selection criteria. Findings The qualitative multiple-case interviews identify economic, environmental, social and functional sustainability measures as the attributes of performance outcome. The quantitative hierarchical regression analysis generalises that sustainable performance outcomes can be significantly influenced by task and contextual performance factors. Research limitations/implications The scope of the study is limited to university estates. Further research should be conducted on other property and facilities management and construction-related organisations so that the sustainable procurement approach developed by this research can become more robust and applicable to the wider public sector. Practical implications At the tender stage, estate managers should adopt a sustainable procurement approach for selection of construction consultants: focussing on the significant task performance (project staff and execution approach) and contextual performance (collaborative consultant frameworks) influencing factors to optimise the project sustainability outcomes in relation to economic, environmental, social and functional values. Originality/value The sustainable procurement approach developed by this research benefits property and facilities management, as well as construction disciplines within the wider public sector, thus contributing to the government construction policy on promoting sustainability to the built environment.

Silo organization and professional tensions have undermined attempts to share knowledge across the public sector. The failure to share knowledge and information has been the cause of serious public sector service failures. While reorganization, partnerships, performance management and strong regulation each play an important role in public service improvement, none on its own will bring about sufficiently enhanced knowledge management practices. High-quality public sector leadership, which demands and rewards a culture of knowledge sharing within the organization and with other public sector bodies, is the key to good knowledge management. This, in turn, is necessary to achieve the scale of public service improvement demanded by the government.

This paper discusses the strategies which might be adopted by port authorities, given that modern port technologies have considerably limited the scope for competition. It therefore analyses the several forms of competition relevant to ports, any or all of which may apply in any given instance. It describes the 'minimalist strategy, which consists of recognizing that public sector bodies have many faults, may make many mistakes and that well-intentioned attempts to rectify faults in the private sector may make matters worse. Second, it describes the 'pragmatic' strategy, which involves establishing committees to examine problems and to recommend actions, if they can reach a consensus. Third, it describes the 'public sector' strategy, which involves the port authority taking over all port functions. Finally, it describes the 'competitive' strategy, which involves a careful reproduction of the circumstances of competition, even though there may be room for only one efficiently-sized operator at a time. Franchising, or short-term leasing on any of a variety of competitive bases, so as to produce serial competition is described. Each of these strategies is presented as having its own advantages and disadvantages, and each may be suitable to particular circumstances.

Facilities managers in the National Department of Public Works (NDPW) have to manage one of the biggest property portfolios in South Africa. This requires a systematic approach to ensure that taxpayers’ monies are not wasted. Research was conducted to determine whether the required policies and expertise are in place or whether there is a need for a transformation strategy in the public sector relating to facilities management. Primary data was collected by means of questionnaires to regional, property and facilities managers in the NDPW. Secondary data was obtained from the literature reviewed in relevant publications. The main findings were that more than half of facilities managers are inexperienced, information management systems are not used extensively and that there is a need for the appointment of properly trained facilities managers in the NDPW.

Purpose – The purpose of the study described in this paper was to explore with property and facilities managers to what degree they are able to achieve a good return for their organisations on PFM, and what might facilitate or inhibit that.Design/methodology/approach – Semi‐structured interviews were held with 12 managers with significant experience of property and facilities management (PFM). A variety of industry sectors, and the public sector, were represented in the sample. Within these interviews, the researchers were able to explore the opinions of respondents and the qualitative data gathered provided interesting insight on the research topic.Findings – This research identifies that in practice it is extremely difficult for companies to achieve a wide spectrum of added value from property and facilities. Property management may have a lower profile in organisations than it deserves, with a concentration on cost rather than opportunity. A sense of resignation may be created by long leases, which are...

The Connected University: Ireland's Higher Education Institutions and Their Knowledge Exchange Activities

In the bureau‐shaping model of bureaucracy rationally self‐interested officials are primarily concerned to maximize their agencies' core budgets, equivalent to their running costs. They are much less interested in those parts of their overall budget which are allocated as transfer payments to the private sector or passed on to other public sector bodies. The varying importance of core budgets and other spending yields a typology of public sector organizations into delivery, transfer, contracts, regulatory and control agencies. In addition, the bureau‐shaping model is developed in this article to provide an exhaustive classification of government agencies, and to refine the analysis of spending over and above core budgets.The methodological issues involved in applying this typology empirically to the central state apparatus in Britain are explored. Previous attempts at ‘bureaumetrics’ have failed to mesh with ‘ordinary knowledge’ views of Whitehall. By contrast, the bureau‐shaping model provides a framework which is theoretically sophisticated, easily operationalizable, and intuitively understandable. The scale of prospective hiving off from the UK civil service organization over the next decade indicates the value of adopting a framework which can respond methodologically to such changes, and offers a powerful theoretical account of their dynamic. Part II of the paper [next issue] presents the empirical data demonstrating that the bureau‐shaping model is highly effective in systematizing and extending our knowledge of how Whitehall and its attached agencies are structured.

Market-based methods of spectrum management can be applied both at the primary stage of issuing spectrum licences, via auctions, and by introducing a regime of secondary trading of spectrum licences, thereby permitting both change in ownership of the licence and a choice on the part of the licensee over what technology to employ (technological neutrality) and what to produce (service neutrality). Moreover, the use of market methods need not be confined to spectrum used for commercial purposes. Government and public sector bodies can participate in spectrum markets, just as they do in other input markets. Both the European Union and individual member states are increasingly interested in applying market methods of spectrum management. The European Commission has put forward legislative proposals, which, if adopted, would create bands that were subject to trading and flexibility of use over the 27 member states. In one member state, the United Kingdom, a new regime of spectrum management has been designed and is being implemented involving predominant reliance on spectrum markets, an extensive programme of spectrum awards, the development of a new method of specifying spectrum user rights to permit change of use and the integration of commercial and public sector spectrum markets. The effects of these innovations are not yet clear.

Click to increase image sizeClick to decrease image size Additional informationNotes on contributorsSara BoasSara Boas is a leadership coach, organisational consultant, dance movement therapist, anthropologist and performance artist. She is the founding director and principal coach of boas, an international consultancy committed to transforming leadership in business, the public sector, research, NGOs and the arts. She coaches the senior leadership of international businesses and public sector bodies and is a regular speaker at international conferences and member of the associate faculty at the London Business School and the Center for Creative Leadership. boas provides training in leadership coaching for experienced coaches, therapists, consultants and educators. email Sara at sara.boas@boastl.com or call 020 75 86 49 86. www.boastl.com.

The Advanced Performance Institute’s (API) research report: “Strategic Performance Management in Government and Public Sector Organizations,”1 found that “align other organizational activities with the strategic aims outlined in the performance management system,” was one of the ten principles of good performance management, as exhibited by those public sector bodies that demonstrated superior performance (see Chapter 1 for an overview of the principles and findings).

BackgroundSignal functions for emergency obstetric and newborn care (EmONC) are the major interventions for averting maternal and neonatal mortalities. Readiness of the facilities is essential to provide all the basic and comprehensive signal functions for EmONC to ensure emergency services from the designated facilities. The study assessed population coverage and availability of EmONC services in public and private facilities in Bangladesh.MethodsAn assessment was conducted in all the public and private facilities providing obstetric care in to in-patients 24 districts. Data were collected on the performance of signal functions for EmONC from the study facilities in the last three months prior to the date of assessment. Trained data-collectors interviewed the facility managers and key service providers, along with review of records, using contextualized tools. Population coverage of signal functions was assessed by estimating the number of facilities providing the signal functions for EmONC compared to the United Nations requirements. Availability was assessed in terms of the proportion of facilities providing the services by type of facilities and by district.ResultsCaesarean section (CS) delivery and blood transfusion (BT) services (the two major components of comprehensive EmONC) were respectively available in 6.4 (0.9 public and 5.5 private) and 5.6 (1.3 public and 4.3 private) facilities per 500,000 population. The signal functions for basic EmONC, except two (parental anticonvulsants and assisted vaginal delivery), were available in a minimum of 5 facilities (public and private sectors combined) per 500,000 population. A major inter-district variation in the availability of signal functions was observed in each public- and private-sector facility. Among the various types of facilities, only the public medical college hospitals had all the signal functions. The situation was poor in other public facilities at the district and sub-district levels as well as in private facilities.ConclusionsIn the public sector, CS delivery and BT services were available in the minimum required number of facilities. However, to ensure basic EmONC services, participation of the private sector is necessary. Public-private partnership should be promoted for nationwide coverage of signal functions for EmONC in Bangladesh.

The persistent deterioration of public primary school infrastructure in Nigeria, especially in Ondo State, highlights the critical need for effective facilities management (FM) practices driven by competent personnel. Despite the growing recognition of the role of FM in educational outcomes, limited research exists on how facilities management competencies influence FM practices in public basic education. This study, therefore, assessed the effects of FM competencies on FM practices in public primary school buildings in Ondo State. A quantitative research design was employed, and Ondo State was chosen as the study area due to its socio-economic diversity and educational relevance. Structured questionnaires were distributed to 500 respondents, comprising end-users (teachers and school administrators) and professionals (facilities managers, architects, engineers, builders, and quantity surveyors). A total of 484 valid responses were retrieved, representing a 96.8% response rate. Data were analysed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) to determine the effect of FM competencies on FM practices. The findings indicated a statistically significant and positive relationship, facility management competencies and practices in the study area. influencing FM practices. The Human Resource Management (bHRM) construct emerged as the most impactful factor influencing the various dimensions of facilities management practices (β = 0.372; T = 6.087; p < 0.05). Indicator bHRM 2, which focuses on ensuring adequate staffing for effective facilities management, was found to be the most influential in improving practices such as asset management (eAM), budget allocation (eBA), maintenance practices (eMP), and space planning (eSP). The study concludes that strengthening FM competencies, especially in human resource and stakeholder engagement, is essential for improving FM implementation in public primary schools. It recommends the government and relevant education authorities prioritize the recruitment, training, and retention of qualified FM personnel. Establishing comprehensive training programs and clear career pathways for FM staff will ensure that schools have the human capacity needed to implement effective FM practices. The study contributes to knowledge by offering empirical evidence on the role of FM competencies in shaping FM practices in Nigeria’s public primary education sector and adapting global FM frameworks to localised, resource constrained environments.