Theory building in facilities management performance measurement: Application of some core performance measurement and management principles

This thesis contributes to the area of performance measurement in facilities management (FM). The context of the study is FM organisations. Interest in performance measurement increased dramatically during the 1990's in both management and academic literature. Performance measurement systems developed as a means of monitoring and maintaining organisational control, which is the process of ensuring that an organisation pursues strategies that lead to the achievement of overall goals and objectives. A performance measure can also be defmed as a metric used to quantify the efficiency and/or effectiveness of an action. The role of FM in promoting organisational performance, and thereby in providing competitive advantage is widely acknowledged. Although performance measurement concepts are referred to in the FM literature, they have not been applied with the same rigour as with other academic areas, such as production and manufacturing. Institutions will want support services that offer the best possible standards to meet the users' needs. Better coordination between core activities and support services means that institutions can respond faster and more effectively to those demands for services. Herein lies the general theoretical gap, which forms the point of departure for this research. This thesis aims to outline the many different perspectives of performance measurement in FM organisations. A grounded theory approach has been adopted with the aim of building theory as opposed to testing theory. Case studies were conducted at several FM intensive organisations. The identification of performance measurement tools or mechanisms was one of the aims of the case study phase, as well as providing descriptive accounts of the process. These tools and mechanisms were incorporated into a performance measurement questionnaire and were evaluated against the FM organisations in UK. The research uncovered performance measurement constructs in FM which could be categorised under the following four broad perspectives: customer, FM internal processes, FM learning and growth and financial FM. At each level, the FM organisation should strive to make performance measurement visible with the aim of creating new performance measurement constructs. Developed theory was further validated against a panel of experts in the field of FM and in a real life case study. The findings from both the qualitative and quantitative data points to an FM organisational performance measurement process which depends on the existing knowledge base of the FM organisation. The contribution to knowledge in the field may be viewed in terms of a critical examination of the role of performance measurement and the implications these have for the core organisation as the contribution made by FM will ultimately be judged by the organisation's stakeholders over a wide range of performance criteria including both financial and non-financial. FM is seen to be able to contribute to performance in many ways: strategy, control of resources, service efficiency, supply chain management and perhaps, most importantly, providing value for money. Furthermore, the constructs and concepts developed in this thesis provide both a point of departure for further research and a practical tool with which to assess performance measurement and management with the FM organisation.