MST-31806 Facility Management Innovation

Course

Credits 6.00

Language of instruction:

English

Assumed knowledge on:

MST-52806 Evidence-Based Facility Management.

Continuation courses:

MST-70424 MSc Internship Management Studies; MST-80433 MSc Thesis Management Studies

Contents:

Nowadays, the workplace that employees occupy is more than just the functional physical place where work is performed within organisations. We see changing workstyles, from hierarchical structure and linear processes of the 20th century to highly connected, multi layered responsibilities, and self-directed cross functional teams. Also, the experience economy leaves its traces in the facility management (FM) domain, meaning the challenge to create memorable experiences at the workplace to inspire and keep employees engaged and happy. Moreover, there is abundant scientific evidence of different aspects of workplace design influencing the user’s emotional and physical condition and consequently their performance. That work environment is increasingly anytime and anywhere people want to meet and work. These, and other developments, impact contemporary workplace design and drive the need for FM to come with innovative workplace solutions.
The purpose of this course is to apply various approaches to FM innovation to create work environments that meet users’ needs and organisational goals. The course sets out with a historical overview of FM and nowadays developments. Then we explore customer experience design, following the customer journey as a means to innovate and create new workplace experiences. We follow up on this by discussing the what, why (i.e. drivers and barriers) and how of innovation in FM, and exploring the concept of participatory design. The course continues with topics like personas and living lab that bring specific approaches to create new workplace experiences. We end up unfolding technology driven innovations in FM.

Learning outcomes:

After successful completion of this course students are expected to be able to:
- explain the origin and evolving of facility management as a management discipline from both a client and provider perspective;
- understand the need for and benefits of innovation in FM and how innovations can be shaped;
- discuss and apply facility design innovation for experience-centric services from a customer journey perspective;
- understand and apply various approaches to facility management innovation to create work environments that meet users’ needs.

Activities:

The course consists of 10 (guest) lectures, self-study, an individual assignment, group discussions and student presentations.

Examination:

- written exam consisting of open questions and multiple choice questions (40%);
- individual report (Powerpoint presentation) (50%);
- interim and final presentation of the assignment (10%).
Both the written exam and the assignment need to be marked with at least 5.5 to pass the course.

Literature:

Relevant articles will be provided. Furthermore, before each lecture a PowerPoint presentation on the subject will be posted on Blackboard.