Facility management reorganizations: drivers for change in management of facility functions

Facility management departments in the United States and Canada are frequently reorganizing the manner which they direct the functionality of the built environment. What is driving this constant change is the subject of this research. The research approach is an exploratory mixed method design. Through interviews of several facility managers, attributes were discovered that added understanding of the business and personnel activities that occur before department reorganizations. Additional understanding of other potential variables was explored. From this exploratory information a survey was prepared based on themes found. The survey was sent to professional facility managers in the United States and Canada. The survey data were then analyzed with quantitative methods to determine relationships of themes to reorganizations as well as frequency of reorganization types. The survey data built upon, validated, and helped explain the qualitative findings. Drivers found for facility management department reorganizations included (a) Business Change, which include both business growth and business decline; (b) Business Practice, which includes changes in the host organization, the facility management organization, technology, and communications; and (c) Management or Leader changes or preferences. The most common type of reorganization that occurs is adding functions to the responsibility of the facility management departments. In two-thirds of the reorganizations the individual most responsible for initiating the facility management reorganization was a senior manager or executive outside the facility management department. Reorganization of facility management departments was found to occur frequently and on average more than once each year. An increased understanding of relationships among type of organization, change drivers, and management initiators and the types of reorganization help the facility manager to anticipate or respond better to change. Recognizing reorganization drivers for facility department reorganizations will further help managers better anticipate and control the disruptions of reorganizing for the benefit of the organization.

Name thesis:degree_name

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)

Level thesis:degree_level

Doctoral

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Education

Grantor dc:publisher

Colorado State University. Libraries

Year dc:date.issued

2009

Authors dc:creator

• Higgins, Cory Dee, author
• Gloeckner, Gene William, 1950-, advisor
• Gilley, Jerry W., committee member
• Dunbar, Brian H., committee member
• Makela, Carole J., committee member

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright and other restrictions may apply. User is responsible for compliance with all applicable laws. For information about copyright law, please see https://libguides.colostate.edu/copyright.

Language dc:language.iso

eng, English

Identifier URI

https://doi.org/10.25675/3.018328

Identifier

ETDF2009100005EDUC

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:mountainscholar.org:10217/30492