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Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate how an Urban Facilities Management (Urban FM) focused summer school in Norway in 2019 impacted knowledge creation, as well as the host and foreign educators, along with the international student participants. Design/methodology/approach This paper’s data collection is formed as a “post-event study” using interviews and a quantitative survey from both the students and educators to look at the impact of the summer school on the student and the associated educational programs. Findings The outcomes of this study indicate that the impact on educators and their educational programs was substantial with regard to their teaching experiences. The study confirmed that foreign experience allowed not just for greater potential for cross institution cooperation for the future but also allowed for the usage of the summer school case studies in host and guest educational programs. For the students, the added value was in the international experience primarily and a chance to study on a case study project. The study was also successful in the dissemination of Urban FM knowledge. Originality/value This paper also offers added theoretical value in the development of a model in future projects on how to capitalize on the potential impact of the summer school on educators and students. The possibilities for increased dissemination and knowledge creation in Urban FM is also significant.

Purpose: This paper aims to investigate how facilities management (FM) and corporate real estate management (CREM) can add value to organisations by contributing to improved productivity of knowledge workers, and to explore interrelationships between productivity, employee satisfaction and other value parameters. Design/methodology/approach: This is a literature research of possible contributions of FM and CREM to improved labour productivity in relation to five activity areas of FM/CREM (portfolio management, project management, space and workplace management, property management and service management) and a first exploration of interrelationships between productivity and other value parameters. Findings: The findings indicate that FM and CREM most directly can contribute to productivity by space and workplace management that supports different types of work and organisational activities. Portfolio and project management can mostly contribute by providing appropriate locations, adjacency relations between different parts of the organisation and supporting process flow and logistics. Property management can contribute to productivity by ensuring business continuity and comfortable indoor climate. Service management can contribute by relieving staff from trivial tasks by efficient services and by providing exiting experiences. Productivity shows to be mainly positively related to satisfaction; insights into interrelationships with other value parameters are still limited. Practical implications: The results can be used to obtain a deeper understanding of how FM and CREM can add value to organisations by contributing to improved labour productivity. Practitioners can find inspiration on how to contribute to labour productivity and additional benefits within specific activity areas of FM and CREM. The exploration of interrelationships between productivity and other values can be used as input to a future research agenda. Originality/value: The paper adds new insights to the growing body of knowledge about how FM/CREM can contribute to increased labour productivity and how other value parameters may be interrelated with productivity.

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to clarify recent research on knowledge development in Facility Management (FM); identify types of knowledge and its degree of importance in the FM field within the Malaysian environment; and how does it benefit Hospitality Management (HM) in terms of managerial competency.Design/methodology/approach– The nature of this study is quantitative. Data were gathered through questionnaires distributed to various practitioners in the FM field in the private sector and government sector in Malaysia.Findings– The analysis results support that all types of knowledge, which was considered important, are required to develop a conceptual model of training syllabus for an intensive training program. The analysis results will be discussed in the context of hospitality management. In addition, a decision-making tree model was created to facilitate the training program in the future with the aim of developing a competency model.Research limitations/implications– Most of the participants have experience with the FM field. Future research is recommended to include the conceptual model of training syllabus in analysis information relating to managers directly involved with the orientation of HM.Originality/value– This paper presents a quantitative survey regarding the importance of knowledge in the FM industry in Malaysia and generally discusses the link between FM and Hospitality managerial competency. Further, this research delivers useful information for FM and HM managers who intend to further develop the practical training program based on the proposed decision-making tree model.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to present a conceptual framework – the FM Value Map – to understand and explain the different ways in which FM can add value to a core business, and possibly to the surroundings.Design/methodology/approachThe value map has been developed based on inductive reasoning from an analysis of a large number of cases in an explorative empirical study of FM best practice in the Nordic countries of Europe. It has been tested and modified from discussions with practitioners in a Nordic FM project group and aligned with the current European standardisation of taxonomy for FM.FindingsThe FM Value Map was successfully tested in a number of case studies from companies in the five Nordic countries.Research limitations/implicationsThe present version of the FM Value Map is not seen as a final model, but as a result of an initial development. The model should be tested and validated further and also refined.Practical implicationsThe FM Value Map can be used in general to provide a better understanding of the value and contributions of FM, for instance by FM organisations in the dialogue with their customers.Originality/valueThe FM Value Map is a unique conceptual framework, and a comparison with other models shows that it provides the most holistic framework by including the impacts on the surroundings and all relevant stakeholders.

Purpose – The aim of this paper is to find suitable measures that facility managers can use to prove the importance of a building for employee behaviour (and thus organizational performance). The amount of knowledge sharing between colleagues is studied, because it influences innovation, which is one of the most important organizational goals these days.Design/methodology/approach – Knowledge sharing in open plan areas is studied with the help of measures derived from spatial network analysis methods. Data were collected from 138 employees working together in a research building and used to show the effect of co‐presence on the amount of knowledge sharing and the way knowledge is shared.Findings – Co‐presence explains 12 percent of the variability in the number of knowledge‐sharing meetings. Also the way knowledge is shared differs between people working in co‐presence and people who have separate rooms/areas. Spatial network analysis is an adequate way to describe open plan workplaces.Originality/value –...

PurposeThe aim of this paper is to describe the creation process of the model for identifying the added value of corporate real estate management (CREM), implement the developed model in a case organisation and test whether it works in practice.Design/methodology/approach– The study is carried out using a constructive research approach, where the validity of the model built is tested through a single, but in‐depth, case study.Findings– The research presents the model for identifying the added value of CREM, the theoretical connections from the empirical research and practical implications of the developed model. Furthermore, the study presents the main step of a constructive research approach and examines the applicability of this research approach to real estate and facilities management‐related research.Practical implications– The model tested and developed in this research provides corporate real estate and facilities managers with the tools they need to identify their contribution to the wealth of the firm. The model also helps organisations to ensure the match between a company's business and real estate and facilities strategies.Originality/value– Previous research has not tested the model for identifying the value added by corporate real estate and facilities management (FM). The research approach of the paper, a constructive study, is also quite unfamiliar to and untested by real estate and FM researchers.

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...

Despite rhetoric of added value, facilities management suffers a dearth of objectively researched, publicly available information concerning the impact of facilities on businesses at the level of market sectors or individual organisations. This paper aims to correct that situation for UK higher education institutions. A survey of undergraduates starting university in 2001 has confirmed, to high levels of significance, earlier research with the 2000 intake. For many institutions, facilities factors, where provided to a high standard, are perceived as having an important influence on students’ choice of institution. Year‐on‐year comparisons show strong agreement at the global level and, where data could be gathered, at the institutional level. Individual institutions show marked differences, significant at levels of confidence of over 95 per cent. A comparison of “reputational pull” and “facilities pull” is suggested as a means of differentiating the “brand” of different institutions.

There has been immense pressure exerted by healthcare service consumers and other stakeholders for trusts to purchase, manage and deliver care service at the optimum cost. Many are searching for sustainable strategic options which would proactively redesign, revitalise and manage the effectiveness of their clinical and non‐clinical services. This study evaluates how a facilities management partnering arrangement in the National Healthcare Services (NHS) trust could lead to cost savings and improved customer focused service provision in NHS trust hospitals. It investigates how a modern day approach of managing non‐core related services under one umbrella, facilities management, has brought about innovation, competitiveness, and entrepreneurial skills to reduce some of the escalating costs in the Derbyshire Royal Infirmary. Concludes that facilities management partnering arrangements can secure added value to the healthcare sector and therefore enhance service quality and improve the corporate image.

Up to the 1980s the corporate competitive advantage was primarily focused on adapting the corporation to the (changing) environment. In the last decades corporations have become more aware of their resources and capabilities, and of the benefits of managerial attention towards managing the corporate assets. The transition from a passive, reactive attitude towards a proactive service oriented organisation proves to be a difficult task. This paper analyses the transition and describes an effort to identify products and services contributing to the added value of corporate real estate management to the bottom line of the corporation.