Property Management - Case Study Example

FACILITY MANAGEMENT By (Name) Tutor: Course: Institution: City: Date: Facility Management Summary Facility management is an astute profession that deals with multiple disciplines in order to ensure that there is functionality through integration of spaces, people, places, technology, processes, infrastructure and organization. There are various competencies that are involved in facility management and they include communication, emergency preparedness together with business continuity, sustainability and the environmental stewardship, human factors, operations and maintenance, quality, project management, and the relevant technology. The profession represents about five percent of the global gross domestic product. The main objective of the integration institutes the effectiveness of the primary activities with a look into improvement. In the scenario involving the Ministry of Defense (MoD) main building in Whitehall, London, the issues raised in the process affect the catering, security, and the general performance of the above. With the standards of operations at a low and in need of revamping, the consideration of outsourcing by the facility manager provides for an avenue of improvement on the overall basis. Outsourcing for security and catering services is ideal with the necessary risk assessment, legislation on the contracts, and effective performance management. Discussion Outsourcing Outsourcing demands the availability of a specific service by an external company of which it could be available in an in-house arrangement. Wanchoo (2010, p. 10) states that the two main services identified within the premise for office accommodation of several thousand civilian staff and military employees involved in strategic management of defense affairs in the UK and overseas are security and catering. Catering involves providing the hospitality services within the meeting rooms and to run the restaurant of the staff within the on-site dimension. They also involve tending to the requirements of the patrons when the premise is in operation as regards the cleaning and routine checks (Minor 2007, p. 262). On the other hand, security within the facility is also important in terms of the prevention of breaches and unauthorized entry and transactions altogether. The two services determine the state of the facility despite the close monitoring of the budgets allocated. There are different outsourcing types available for the two services of catering and security. For the catering services, the type of outsourcing available is the process- specific. Process-specific is concerned with simplification of a requirement by an organization and tailoring its jurisdiction to suit it. It also generates the industrial requirements according to the client and agreed upon conditions. Rondeau, Brown and Lapides (2005) note that the main advantage with process-specific type of outsourcing is the focus on respective strength of the particular process in order to improve customer service while managing to be cost effective. In the case scenario affecting the facility, process- specific outsourcing matches the criteria required by catering to the meals, cleaning and tending to the members when in procession or out of it (Grundy 2005, p. 111). It places the completion and liability of all the demands under the organization providing the service according to the agreement made. Security, as an important facet of the facility management, requires a detailed outsourcing type in order to manage the requirements and demands made by the organization. The available outsourcing type is the professional one. It poses a potential cost saving aspect of the operations and specificity in the arrangement made (Aguinis 2007). The organization has access to high quality resources while only managing the demands of the security services provided within the facility. The outsourcing type is also generous with overhead costs associated with the provision company and the overall terms of agreement. Harris (2011, p. 4) notes that the outsourcing type is common within the service industry as it measured according to the quality and performance of the provision company. Security concerns of the company include entry or access into the premise, conduct of the processes and overall surveillance on a day-to-day basis as determined by the facility manager. Legislation on Contracts Contractual agreement between the involved parties in service provision and outsourcing arrangement determines the offer and acceptance of terms and conditions. From the point of offer given in the process of mutual consent, acceptance, certainty and conditions are then ironed out in detail with the legal implications to follow (Weeramantry 2007). The offer presents the initiation to deal between two or more parties in the process of agreement. The intention is on the affirmative as the respective parties are tasked with creating the rejection or revocation terms in the process. Hoecht and Trott (2006, p. 672) states that acceptance is then determined after the offers has been received and shows the need to be compliant with the terms and conditions set. The certainty and conditions spelled in the contractual agreement are the most important aspect of the process. They state the implications made in failure to honor the contractual agreement by either of the parties. Legislation on the service level is imperative to the contractual agreements to the organization in terms of the services provided through catering and security. When the provisions within the agreement have an implication that is contrary, penalties can be involved in the process (Haugen and Musser 2009, p. 4). The inclusion is key for the outsourcing vendor company as it translates to the financial aspect. Much of the proceedings will be made on the requirements as per the contract. Disputes can then arise and the logical step is usually to follow the legislative route where the court is involved in solving the matter (Vorhies and Harker 2008, p.146). Without the comprehension of the service legal agreements, the financial cost is usually higher as well as the scaled down operation time in effecting the services. The losing side will carry on the negative trend and image of the other according to the dispute proceedings. Another legal implication is the determination of the warranty and liability. According to the terms of outsourcing, the service legal agreement dictates the measures of performance and success or failure of the process. Lando (2007, p. 20) is of the idea that if the service vendor breaches a clause of the contractual conditions, the customer is allowed to sue for the damages caused. The legal implication on the proceedings generates jurisdiction for the arrangement. Litigation for the occurred damages also makes the time and resource consumption a key factor in the process of payment (Troy 2008). There is a level of uncertainty in the consumption of the express warranty and liability used in the process. The changes can be witnessed from temporary indemnification to permanent terms as it reflects on the service vendor’s resume. All the losses and costs have to be included in the developments without forgetting the opportunity pricing. Legal implication that has one of the most disastrous effects on any breach of the contractual agreements is the revocation of the service provision and its respective licensing. Revocation includes the total dismissal of any transactions and business operations due to a violation by the law. Revocation depends on the extent of contractual breach as determined by the court case or judicial matters that have been followed. Of the two companies, the terms and service conditions spell out the obligation as required for any matters of dependence when the contract was made. According to Axelrod (2006), the court proceedings can judge on the violation caused as it was an agreement as consented after the offer and acceptance made. Due to the severity of the damages caused and negative drawback encountered by the second party, the service vendor can expect a varied degree of punishment by law, which includes the outright stripping of its mandate to propagate the services even in future. Risks in Outsourcing There are various risks associated with the approach of outsourcing for the organization in terms of the catering and security services required. Vitasek and Manrodt (2012, p. 6) argue that the first risk associated with the procedure is lack of customer focus in terms of the quality and management of the performance. Acquiring the external services of catering and security is achieved from a vendor in business with the possibility of serving multiple clients at the same time. In this regard, the vendor service provider might not be astute in terms of the specific requirements needed by the defense organization as a single customer. Despite the level of professionalism associated with the outsourcing demands, the complete focus on multitasked changes might not be equally met and achieved to the selected standards. In addition, the clientele satisfaction will be risked as not all procedures might be accepted throughout. Synchronizing of the deliverables is an added risk when the approach of outsourcing is used in the processes for the organization. The above requires avoidance on the need to address particular common issues like the quality of the service provided, stretched delivery time of the whole processes and frames, as well as the categorization of respective responsibilities (Rost 2006). The associated risk is made worse with the dependence on regulating an outside partner in terms of the outsourced vendor in comparison to an in-house delivery of the tasks. Since majority of the companies have a limited capability in terms of delivering the services on their own, they have to face the above risk in order to attain the timeliness of their efforts while addressing the needs of the partners. Proper consultation is thus required in order to reduce the need of the above measures. On the matter of outsourcing, there is a potential risk in the manner of addressing the hidden costs associated with the service agreement according to the law. The process of enabling the contractual agreement and tendering to the different companies that can provide the services is both tedious and costly (Becker 2007, p. 108). The threat posed by nullification of the contractual processing is also a long-term risk to the defense organization and premise as it affects the image and relationship with the company’s partners. Hidden costs can also be extracted in the due process of services delivery according to the company’s objectives. Issues that arise from the time allocated for enacting the contract can increase uncertainty and affect the whole process (Leavy 2007, 20). In turn, defense organization will be left to shoulder the burden that comes with it, depending on the urgency of the requirements. Solutions to the Risks In order to avert the issues surrounding the risk of lacking customer-focus, the defense organization has to undertake the bold step in delivering a contractual agreement to the vendor service provider in detail. The organization has to present all of its objectives and goals within the terms and conditions in order to entail a more-specified avenue for its use. It will require the collective bargaining chip between the two parties in order to realize the allowed mechanism of operation. Brown and Rosa (2012, p. 23) are of the idea that the defense organization has to make sure that the customer satisfaction is of the uttermost importance in the process of service delivery. It has to ensure that there is flexibility between the two services of catering and security as they will require cooperation between the two companies in service delivery (Jeyarathnam 2008). In addition, the quality is performance will also be handled in the same forum. In order for the defense organization in the premise to deal with the risk of synchronizing of the deliverables, the responsibilities fall on the facility manager to ensure that the due process is achieved easily. Since it is an added risk, the initial briefing should be used as the contact point between the two parties for synchrony of all the desired deliverables. Proper consultation and communication is essential in making sure that the deliverables have to be quantified before they are included in the matters of business. According to Caldwell (2006), issues like timeliness of the services within the facility, instruction changes over the customer satisfaction and orders are all imperative to the terms of service delivery. The vendor of the services has to institute the synchrony of the deliverables as the main objective of operation in order to minimize any risks. Potentially, others can be unavoidable and should be discusses all the same. The risk of hidden costs presents the logical action of contract scrutiny within the organization’s mandate. The required service law agreement subjects all involved parties in a contractual basis to present the various terms, conditions and offers available before the initiation. The facility manager should be inclusive in the contractual discussions to the letter as the instance required are sensitive before the implications to follow on financial and legislative basis are instituted (Carter 2008, p. 132). Included in the terms of operations and offered deliverables, the defense organization should be able to determine the agreement terms between the two companies before deciding on the financial implication. In addition, the reliance on past records of the achievements and responsibilities can also provide the background basis when determining the right partner for the services to be offered. The level agreement has to account for the needed costs as well as any emerging issues when the process of delivery is ongoing. Performance Management of Services In order for the MoD to implement better returns on the outsourced services, management is important in the whole process. The first step is to initiate the rule of the service delivery according to the contractual agreement (Mitchell 2007). As the facility manager it will require the absolute communication means of the expected standards and jurisdictions to the involved personnel. After debrief on the expectations, the management in conjunction with the service company will conduct the reconnaissance study of the facility in order for the latter to acclimatize with the respective premise. Through the guidelines created in the process of communication, a written memorandum will form the basis of adjudication for the different roles in the service delivery. The contractual agreement and level of service will also be the backbone of the performance management expectation and fulfillment of the responsibilities. Evaluation on a constant basis will be the prime target of the facility management in terms of the services delivered by both the security and catering companies. Evaluation is the regular determination of the order and organizational delivery of various services as per the demands set on an initial basis. According to (D'Urso 2011, p. 49) the facility manager will set out a specific mode of evaluation in a constant manner for the needs of the MoD through the security checks and catering avenues. The aim of the evaluation is to coordinate the synchrony of all deliverables in the premise and obtain success in customer satisfaction. It can be written or maintained with the premise of the performance management in order to ascertain the readiness and distinction of the providing companies. The latter increases the awareness and preparedness of the service providers at all times of the process. The final performance management criteria that MoD can use in order to ensure that there is consistency and standard delivery of the services is through appraisal, on a daily basis. Greaver (2006, 56) states that the requirement is to obtain the services with the highest quality, on time, with the effective resources, achieve customer satisfaction and care, whilst meeting the organizational objectives. The dictated terms and conditions of the contract will only manage to achieve part of the required services as the provider might not fulfill the total expectations. Therefore, through appraisal the facility manager can ensure that all functions are achieved without failure (Jeffs 2008). During the process of performance management, key pointers can be used to write down and record the delivery whilst indicators can be used to show the areas for improvement. After the close of business for the day, the facility manager will then provide the results and demand for improvement. Recommendations on Outsourcing Outsourcing is a critical part of MoD’s jurisdiction in ensuring that the services are delivered through professional standards, timeliness and ideal to the client satisfaction at all times. In order for the organization to affect an effective approach, the outsourcing type to be used is the professional and specific. The professional type is distinct with the level and standards expected in the whole process of service delivery (Cotts 2007). It is embedded in the contractual agreement between the two organizations for reliability and accountability. The service level agreement ensures that there is transparency on all the dimensions involved in the offers, acceptance and monetary value attached to the contract. All other factors should be made constant. It also ensures that there is communication of the possible penalties when one or both of the parties default from their jurisdiction. The MoD should determine the effectiveness of each applicant company in service provision through cross-examination of their records and evaluation in the industry. Each of the companies providing the services at a fee should have the experience levels and this should be indicated through their portfolio (Montgomery and Heikes 2005). Previous accounts of the clientele that they have served should accompany their application for the contracts in order to increase reliability and accountability at all levels. Through the background checks, MoD should also rely on the preferential responses offered from the previous clients according to their evaluation of the quality and timeliness of the services offered. The responses obtained from previous clients according to the mandate observed and the general recommendations, the organization can then make informed choices concerning the company to outsource (Godet 2009). The overall decision will then be held responsible for the eventualities. 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