Essay Sample on the Changing Context in Provision of Facility Management Services

It is a management initiative tasked to integrate and run an organization or a project so as to maintain and develop the stated organizational goals and strategies. The field is geared towards the provision of quality services to the target group more efficiently at a reduced cost. The primary and core mandate of the organization seeking the facility management services should be observed and adhered to. The organization should provide a state of the heart services while observing the expected codes and work ethics for the organization. The facility management service is on the increase in the recent past due to its excellent benefits in the long run (Fitzsimmons & Fitzsimmons, 2013). Professional facility management is a function in the modern business world aimed at coordinating the demand and supply functions of an organization so as to maximize profitability while keeping the operational costs low (Atkin & Brooks, 2015).

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The facility management organization work according to some agreed terms of service that should be followed before getting into the contractual terms (Lai & Yik, 2011). Most of the organizations in the contemporary world are using the facility management service to run their daily business processes. Governments are using the facility management service to acquire new infrastructure like hospitals, schools, roads and transport systems because the private organizations can run and manage the public utilities more efficiently thus saving the taxpayers some considerable amount of revenue.

The facility management strategy is being used in public, private, not for profit organizations and the multinational institutions and has proven to be a viable idea for running these organizations and increasing the efficiency of service delivery. Facilities Management provision in organizations has gone a notch higher as a contract to get things done by professionals and specialists thus cutting on the operational costs (McLennan, 2004). The facility management service providers are keen on the corporate social responsibility so as to increase their demand and command a bigger market share. They are environmental conservation conscious a part of the corporate social responsibility.

The facility management provide in-house and are outsourced for services where they offer both short and long term contracts. The TFM is now being overtaken by bundled contracts and partnering where public and private organization are coming together to provide service to the citizens. The private services are more effective as compared to the public sectors due to the strategic measures adopted. The public sector receives private funding, and payment is made later thus providing quality service without raising the taxes (Fitzsimmons & Fitzsimmons, 2013). The services are paid in part implying that the taxpayers may not feel the tax burden. The public-private partnership model is taking over from the private finance initiative to provide services to the people involved. The PPP work best when the government funding is inadequate or missing completely. The facilities like schools are built and managed privately thus offering quality services and improved standards. The PFI is a fast and effective strategy of getting facilities built (Lai & Yik, 2011). The disadvantage of PPP is the taxpayers eventually end up paying the bill which may be exaggerated so that the organization maximizes profits. The quality of the structure built by the PPP may be poor because of scaling the materials to minimize the construction costs.

The partnership in the public and the private sectors leads to flexible working conditions and efficient use of resources in the organizations. The responsibility of the facility management is widening day by day due to its noble role of managing the organizations and facilities (Atkin & Brooks, 2015).

1.2 The relationship between FM and other businesses

The relationship between the facilities management function and other business functions is changing in the modern business world because the FM operates autonomously but provides the expected quality service (Fitzsimmons & Fitzsimmons, 2013). The facility management are geared towards the provision of core services to the organizations which lowers the organizational management costs. The FM is becoming more strategic regarding its involvement in business continuity, supply chain effectiveness, compliance, and risk management. Facility management has all the expertise required to run the human resource, finance, procurement of an organization which may be inadequate or lacking in some organizations.

2.1 Importance of innovation and change

Innovation and change in delivering services within facilities management is essential as it leads to provision of differentiated service and products. Innovations will result in the identification of the market gaps and work to fill the gaps for the benefits of the consumers and the service providers (McLennan, 2004). Changes in the legislation of the facility management service have been affected in the recent past resulting in improved quality of services. The legislation is an important part of any organization and should be aligned to the existing state dictated regulations and the culture. The organizations should give back to the communities they operate from. Benchmarking and good work practice is a common phenomenon for the facility management business to market the organizations and improve on quality (McLennan, 2004). Recent research and application of the facility management service has increased over the last decades and has enabled the provision of superb services. Risk management carried out by the facility management service providers helps to enhance business sustainability.

3.1 FM Roles and Responsibilities

The facilities management roles and responsibilities are changing across different organizations from the full-time running of the organization to short time engagement. The roles depend on the organizational mission and goals as well as the agreed terms of the whole process. The functions of the facility management service have changed over the last few decades from caretakers to professional service providers fully mandated to run and carry out the daily functions of an organization (Fitzsimmons & Fitzsimmons, 2013). The FM provides project manager, procurement specialist, human resource management teams for the organization that runs the organizations efficiently.

3.2 Key change in management functions

FM is an industry that should offer both technically and professional expertise to the area different organizations require them. FM works to increase productivity, revenue & image of the organization they work for. The organizational, operational cost will decrease as well as the time and risk. The organizations achieve greater compliance with the set standards and regulations. They move to greater sustainability and business continuity. There is an increase in contract management over staff management as a result of facility management intervention (McLennan, 2004). The core management function of the organization adopting the facility managements are changing and growing over time. The organizational productivity and quality of products and service increases as well.

2.3 Principles of corporate Responsibility

The facility management embraces the principles of corporate responsibility to the communities where they operate by taking care of the environment around and within the organization. They also participate in charitable activities like visiting the physically challenged in the society. They provide scholarship and schooling opportunities to the underprivileged in the community. Corporate social responsibility for the facility management service providers enhances the peaceful coexistence between the organization and the community living around. The community feels as part of the organization and will offer the necessary assistance to the organization (Lai & Yik, 2011). They will feel appreciated and involved in the running of the establishment which positively impacts the organizational outcome and returns.

3.1 Taylor's ideas of scientific management

Taylor's ideas of scientific management are regarded as the foundation for the discipline of operations management (McLennan, 2004). The essential components of scientific management include analysis, elimination of waste synthesis, work ethics logic, efficiency, rationality, empiricism, and standardized best practices. The parts focus on the efficiency of the employee and not on any predetermined behavioral characteristic or variations among the employees. In the contemporary world, an example of scientific management would be determining the amount of time required by an employee to complete a specific task and formulating ways of decreasing this amount of time by eliminating any substantial waste in the employees' process (Fitzsimmons & Fitzsimmons, 2013). Taylor was concerned with minimizing the process time and worked with factory managers on scientific time research. Time studies is all about breaking down each job into different parts, timing each element and then redesigning the parts into the most efficient method of working. Taylor sought to transform management into a set of calculated and written techniques though counting and calculating. The idea of Taylor can be used in facility management to allocate the maximum and the minimum time required to complete a certain task. The time needed to produce a finished commodity should be minimized so as to increase the efficiency of the manufacturing process.

3.1 Operation management

Operation management is a business management strategy aimed at designing and controlling the production process through redesigning of the production process. The production of good and service is reshaped into the most suitable way that minimizes the production cost while stilling maintaining the quality of the products. Operation management should be employed in the service provision industry so that the shortest time possible is allocated to start and finish the given tasks (McLennan, 2004). The optimal time is assigned to various services and processes. The transformation process is required to change or improve the existing culture and procedure of providing the various services in the modern world. Managers are faced with the challenges of supervising and running the daily chores of an organization therefore a need for innovation and ability to transform the daily operations for the organization. An operation system should be put in place in a service delivery situation so as to deliver what is required in the shortest time possible.

3.2 Inventory; Asset or Liability

Keeping a close watch of the inventory is vital for any business survival and sustainability. Different levels of organizational leadership will perceive the inventory differently either as a liability or as an asset. The production department will take the inventory as an asset when what is contained in the record is used for the production process. The marketing department will consider the inventory to be an asset when the record shows what has been sold and profit made but a liability when it indicates some loss (McLennan, 2004). The accounting section will report the inventory on a balance sheet either a liability or an asset depending on what is contained in the records. On the balance sheet, the inventory is reported as part of current assets showing the assets the organization owns but their value is subject to changes. The current assets are listed in order of liquidity, or how quickly they convert to simple cash and the lit will include cash being the first.

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