Integrated facilities management practices in Sri Lanka: a preliminary investigation

Abstract

In this era of globalisation and fierce competition amongst businesses, most companies around the world faces relentless pressure to reduce cost, add value and support business goals for sustainability. Hence, innovative ideas, concepts and methodologies are needed to meet these demands. Integrated facilities management is one such concept, which extended beyond the traditional firm boundaries by enforcing external relationships. Few researchers have identified formation of networks, partnerships, or inter-organisational collaborations among neighbouring built environments as successful mechanisms in optimising the performance of facilities management (FM) functions. Although it is commonly agreed that organisations could benefit from integrated FM, a systematic framework for integration of FM functions has yet to be derived. Therefore, there is a need to investigate existing integrated FM practices and the applicability of integrated FM concept to built environments. The aim of this study is therefore is to review the concept of integrated FM and to investigate the existing integrated FM functions in Sri Lanka. The aforementioned research question was approached through a multiple case study including four cases that have integrated building facilities and FM functions with another organisation/s. Data was collected using observations and semi-structured interviews with facilities managers in the respective organisations. The findings revealed that if the firms are in close proximity, although the core businesses are same or not, there is a high potential of sharing physical facilities and FM functions among the firms. There is also a possibility of integrating FM functions among distantly located facilities when,(i) they are under same ownership, (ii) there is a close relationship between organisations or (iii) they obtain the service from outsourced FM service provider. The findings of this study will be useful in integrating FM practices in Sri Lanka.