Definition of Facility Management - Term Paper Example

Facilities Management Facilities management is recognized as one of the core business areas having an impact on the success of any organisation and its business. This success relates to the organisation, its business, its employees, its clients, and an overall ‘health’ of an organisation. Facilities include the space, environment, communications and services that enable the achievement of key business objectives. These play a role in the property with fixed assets that appear on the balance sheet and as an administrative overhead with business expense to be minimized. Many examples of positive impact that effective facilities management have had on success as measured by key business indicators such a s cost/income ratios, product lead time and process improvement have been seen. Facilities management should be viewed as assets of an organisation and must be valued as core business activities to offer quality service to the customers and clients. Initiatives to improve facilities, to sharpen the corporate image, to enhance operational efficiency and increase cost-effectiveness can have a significant impact on a company’s performance. The facilities managers’ perspective of developing facilities in the hospitality sector deals essentially with management of facilities to their best effect, ensuring ultimate customer satisfaction and ability of adaptation according to the changing circumstances. A variety of factors determine the image of facilities, and on broader scale, the image of the organisation. In a hotel industry, these factors can be listed as the building design and structure, location, comfort, furniture, equipment, parking facilities, safety, security, accessibility, additional facilities like gaming zones, park, pool, spa and massage parlours, children’s play area etc. Hence, selection and procurement of these facilities can be the deciding factors of the image of the hotel or organisation. In case of multiple hotels or chain of hotels across various locations, national and cultural influences will have to be kept in mind while designing the facilities. Buildings of highly serviced nature such as hotels have historically been of a single use type-difficult and expensive to alter. As the building or property forms the essential physical component of the hospitality product, altering the facilities or product profile is a major and costly undertaking. The property configuration is critical to achieving a number of key aims, including attracting customers, ease of operations and providing an acceptable return on investment (Ransley, J & Ingram, H 2004 p xxi). The design factors, style and image, often are subjective features of any facility. Personal preferences vary vastly, hence the design must be appropriate for the guests intended to use the services. Design practices are unique and vary with individual tastes and hence an appropriate and comfortable design practice should be made suitable for the facility. The style and image create lasting impressions. Space should be used appropriately according to the desired atmosphere. The present times are more casual and lenient. Hence, to achieve the require tone as per the target market, style adopted should be flexible enough to be changed accordingly. The myriad facets of function cannot be overlooked, which means equipment and lighting should be appropriate as per the occasion. For example, a room night should be well equipped with appropriate lighting and a clean bath/shower. The underlying promise of comfort should be made visible to the customer at once, not requiring them to actually test the facilities provided. Many such elements of comfort such as an easily sliding chair, dressing table, soft cushions and covers, soft coloured drapery, etc set the tone. Electrical and electronic facilities should receive special attention in terms of appearance and location comforts. Maintenance of facilities has a major impact on the investment and often forms a part of the liabilities on balance sheet. Hence, the infrastructure, furnishings, and services provided should be thoroughly studied and should be in appropriation with the budget allocation for its purpose. These provisions depend on the budget allocation on capital investment and on maintenance. For example, a few resorts have been reported to undertake soft refurbishments every year due to low capital investment. On the other hand, some hotels have exceeded the normal acceptable lifetime of room products by more than double the time, due to inappropriate expenditure allocation for refurbishing. Space management is yet another important deciding factors of effective and efficient facilities as it is impacted by the hotel design. The design creates an environment which decides the experience. It becomes the responsibility of the architect to design an effective hotel building with appropriate space and provision for any changes required. It then becomes the responsibility of the facilities manager to use this space and manage the environment well. Such management requires not only physical safety and security but also psychological safety and comfort needs of guests. An equal attention to the emotional and psychological needs of the guests should be given while designing along with the physical requirements. No room for any kind of negative experiences should be left and each and every small detail needs to be addressed. For example, if clear indications are not provided for the guests to find without any assistance, it may create stress and discomfort to the guests. Hotel lobbies have always received major attention as these form the places of maximum activity and require specific designs based on the nature of activities carried out. The lobbies many be the areas of entrance in many hotels, and as they also accommodate the reception area, it would become necessary to ensure no over-crowding takes place. In many hotels, lobbies are provided with bar and lounge facility so that they can be used as a source for gaining more business. In Las Vegas, the lobby areas are filled with gambling machines, games etc thus making them more entertaining and also income generating sources (Jones, P & Lockwood, A. p 35-36). Identification of responsibilities as imposed by the legislation is extremely important in undertaking facilities management as this could directly impact the business of the organisation and its reputation. The legislative policies need to be informed to all the employees regarding the substances, plant, machinery, equipment, risk and safety measures across the entire facility. Policies related to safety and security within the premises is of utmost importance. Risk factors are to be assessed and documented accurately. Management of hotel facilities and operations at multiple locations require exceptional management skills and brands. An important aspect of business growth at international level is portfolio analysis which aids in managing projects at various locations and business units for maximum cash flow. This technique requires two tools for operation i.e., relative market share and market growth rate (Clarke, A & Chen, W. 2007, p 234). Also, in maintaining a portfolio of a property at one or many locations, managers play an important role. They should have clearly defined authority for certain tasks and responsibility for results (p 243). An interesting example of a wide portfolio is that of McDonald’s which has a clear formal approach towards operations and maintenance. The functional lines of operations at McDonald’s have been broadly classified into five categories such as operations (equipment and franchising), Development (property and construction), Finance (supply chain and new product development), marketing, and human resources. A similar pattern of portfolio management can be seen in Starbucks also. International business organisations have realized that the goal of increased profits coupled with efficiency and quality can be achieved only through partnerships with the appropriate brands. Hence partnership working has become increasingly popular and the property expertise needs to examine and explain the effect of conflicting methods to achieve joint objectives while protecting the original company’s assets and goals. This requires a strong asset management plan to record the number and value of assets. A famous example of such type is the Fairmont Hotels and Resorts (FHR) consisting of a portfolio of 83 luxury and first-class properties with more than 32,000 guestrooms in Canada, the United States, Mexico, Bermuda and Barbados (Clarke, A and Chen, W. 2007, p.180). Design and structure of any property portfolio should consider the physical, functional and financial flexibilities in order to be efficient in operations. For instance, when hotel buildings are built, assessments of potential requirements for open space, meeting areas, rooms, enclosed offices etc are mandatory. Another aspect of functional flexibility is the need to have structures and spaces designed in such a way as to minimize loss of time and cost. Various sources determine the flexibility of property, like the construction and design, ability to physically adapt, balances of spaces and its appropriate utilisation, degree of standardisation of equipment etc. Amidst all these, the legal contract involved influences the financial flexibility. For this, the facilities manager should be able to accurately assess the value of assets along financial, functional and physical dimensions. This will help in proper planning and maintenance of the property and facilities (Nutt, B & McLennan, P.2000, p 138). Facilities management with a strategic outlook, as explained by Alexander, K spread over adapting to the changing market, restructuring and investment opportunity choices. The location and building outlook project the identity of the organisation and these first impressions of the organisation formed through the facilities prove very vital to the organisation’s business. The strategic role of organisation is to develop policy, contribute to strategic planning, negotiate service levels and arrange for the delivery of quality facilities (Alexander, K 1996 p 4). Strategic planning involves financial planning, capital investments, shareholders, analysis of financial performance based on the market trends and requirements. The role of facilities in the financial sector of hospitality management extends to reengineering of operations involving facilities, maintaining the competitive edge in the market through the kind of facilities provided, providing value for money to the customers, achieving best practices, benchmarking of activities and optimal utilisation of the resources (Wood, R & Brotherton, B 2008, p 167). According to Wood and Brotherton (2008, p387), another aspect to be considered as a part of the strategic planning is the continuity factor in building management. Hotels invariably require refurbishment, re-conceptualisation, and redesigning, and this has to be kept in mind while planning the project in order to ensure holistic facilities management. Facilities management in hotel industry involves procurement of furniture, fixtures and equipment which are considered as the capital items. Hence, it becomes important for the facilities manager to ensure optimum utilisation of capital funds with good quality. Managers should be able to assess the life time of these items appropriately and ensure quality service is delivered. A major challenge faced in the procurement of these items is flexibility to future needs. Managers should be able to decide the need for present satisfaction over potential future changes. They should keep in mind the future needs and capital required for maintenance of these items. Appropriate capital investment on operating expenses can add value to operational savings in future. The facilities manager or owner is usually involved in the final decision of purchase of these items, setting quality standards, choosing the supplier, and supervising the receiving and installation of these items (Feinstein, A & Stefanelli.J. 2007, p 691) In addition to these, the facilities manager owns the responsibility of building the right team to operate effectively. The manager lays standard operating procedures (SOPs) for operations and ensures all staff members are trained thoroughly on these procedures and policies governing the business. Performance measurement and evaluations of the staff and equipment form an important part of the manager’s responsibilities. Performance evaluation of equipment is critical to the manager’s success and hence the manager can seek user input or feedback on the equipment so that any changes required in the equipment can be looked into. Safety management and risk analysis should form an important integral part of facilities management. Provision of compensation to the victims of crime in the facility forms a part of the legislation, and victims claiming for huge compensation on account of crime cannot be avoided. To prevent this, an intricate risk assessment in entire facility becomes the duty of the facilities manager and the project owner in order to fulfil the civil liability posed on them. To achieve this, the facilities should be equipped with appropriate safety apparatus such as fire extinguishers, safety and fire alarms, security patrols, cameras, alcohol management measures etc. The facilities manager should ensure all employees related to the facilities, including those on contractual basis such as security guards, have to be trained on the legislative rules governing facilities management, safety and security of the facilities and people, usage of safety equipment, etc. Rutherford and O’Fallon (2006, p 221) have emphasized on the fact that litigants look for Crime Prevention through Environmental Design (CPTED) approach in the facilities in great detail. Appropriate first aid measures and equipment are also a must within the facilities. A regular and periodic check of these measures and an appropriate documentation of observations can help in proper risk analysis and bringing improvements in the processes. In addition to this, facilities manager should take account of special problems faced by disabled persons and ensure appropriate measures are in place for their health and safety. In this case specifically, facilities management should seek professional care on compliance with relevant legislation including the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 and other related policies (Atkin, B & Brooks, A 2000, p 93). Globalization consequences have been posing serious challenges in all spheres of business and growth. Thus, making organisations more responsive requires a highly developed and adaptable facilities and systems. The use of latest technology and redesigning the processes and procedures can aid in maintaining the competitive edge in the market. Facilities management should broaden its concerns to cover the new and dynamic challenges and needs of customers. Achieving the best facilities management should include high level of information technology systems, effective support services, basic activity and maintenance services, adaptability and responsiveness enabling use for different functions if required. The hotel industry will have to see their facilities management strategy as the foundation of their accommodation strategy and business. By identifying the kind of accommodation and facilities currently provided and required in the future, hotel management will be able to quantify the gap that has to be covered. The hotel organisation will have to accept the importance of proper facilities management strategy within the context of strategic plan and accommodation strategy and this would require a strategic analysis, new ideas and innovative solutions, change management, build strong interpersonal relationships with the service providers and suppliers, ensure total quality management, and high employee satisfaction and morale. Thus, the significance of facilities management as a means of handling non-core business services directly or indirectly impacts customer satisfaction and value for money. Facilities management addresses one of the most important aspects of business continuity, i.e., safety and security of business and people. References Alexander, K. Facilities Management: Theory and Practice. Published by Taylor & Francis, 1996 http://books.google.co.in/books?id=u5t8VnR3jwoC&pg=PT56&dq=Alexander+K++Facilities+management+1996#PPA1985,M1 Atkin, B and Brooks, A. Total facilities management. Published by Wiley-Blackwell, 2000. http://books.google.co.in/books?id=rXZFQkS3d9sC&pg=PA31&dq=conclusion+facilities+management&lr=#PPA93,M1 Clarke, A and Chen, W. International Hospitality Management: Concepts and Cases. Published by Butterworth-Heinemann, 2007. http://books.google.co.in/books?id=Bpbs0X7csCkC&pg=RA1-PT76&dq=property+portfolio+hotel+management&lr=#PRA1-PT117,M1 Feinstein, A and Stefanelli, J. Purchasing: Selection and Procurement for the Hospitality Industry. 7th Edition. Published by John Wiley and Sons, 2007. http://books.google.co.in/books?id=woyfXKwZmRkC&pg=PT59&dq=project+management+procurement+quality+building+evaluation+facilities+management+hotel&lr=#PPT59,M1 Jones, P and Lockwood, A. The Management of Hotel Operations. Published by C engage Learning EMEA, 2002. http://books.google.co.in/books?id=C22JkdNn-7gC&pg=PA1&dq=space+management+in+hotel+industry#PPA47,M1 Nutt, B and McLennan, P. Facility Management: Risks and Opportunities. Published by Wiley- Blackwell, 2000. http://books.google.co.in/books?id=70Yiu3hj9_wC&pg=PA37&dq=responsibilities+of+facilities+manager+asset+management+portfolio+property&lr=#PPA138,M1 Ransley, J and Ingram, H. Developing hospitality properties and facilities. Published by Butterworth-Heinemann, 2004. http://books.google.co.in/books?id=vHhprVGhpmwC&pg=PT21&dq=property+configuration+is+critical+to+achieving+a+number+of+key+aims,+including+attracting+customers,#PPT33,M1 Rutherford, D and O’Fallon, M. Hotel Management and Operations. 4th Edition. Published by John Wiley and Sons, 2006. http://books.google.co.in/books?id=qrIDjEIXBfoC&pg=PA224&dq=Strategies+in+facilities+management+hotel&lr=#PPA223,M1 Wood, R and Brotherton, B. The SAGE Handbook of Hospitality Management. Published by SAGE Publications Ltd, 2008. http://books.google.co.in/books?id=MF6x6G_i9BkC&pg=PA398&dq=Strategies+in+facilities+management+hotel&lr=#PPA167,M1 Read More