MST-52806 Evidence-Based Facility Management

Course

Credits 6.00

Language of instruction:

English

Contents:

Managers continually plan, build, change, and control an organisation’s physical surroundings, but frequently the impact of a specific design or design change on ultimate users of the facility is not fully understood. In FM literature, this has been related to the indemonstrable contribution of physical facilities and services and/or the limited understanding of the relationship between this facility design and the objectives of the organisation that uses them. Yet, research suggests that the physical setting can influence, amongst others, employee satisfaction, well-being, productivity, and motivation, but also may influence the customer’s ultimate satisfaction with the core service.
The purpose of this course is to study a new approach to improve the quality and fitness for purpose of facility designs, namely evidence-based design. It’s defined as “using the best information available from research when making design decisions that should - in the end - result in demonstrated improvements in organisation’s user outcomes, economic performance, productivity, customer satisfaction and cultural measures” (Becker & Parsons, 2007).
After elaborating on environment-user relationships and related measurement models, this course continues consecutively with a specific focus on office environments, healthcare environments (i.e. healing environment), education environments (i.e. learning environment), and store environments. By doing so, we equip students with the know how to influence appreciable facility design decisions towards their (expert) view and to be able to translate the potential added value of facility management into board room considerations and metrics.

Learning outcomes:

After successful completion of this course students are expected to be able to:
- describe basic concepts and explain basic theories in environment-user relationships.;
- understand how the service environment can impact user's behavior and outcomes in different sectors (i.e. office, healthcare, education, retail);
- design empirical research for measuring effects that elements of the service environment have on users;
- critically analyze facility design issues in different sectors, using facility management knowledge;
- reflect on facility design decisions to benefit organizational outcomes on both an operational and strategic level.

Activities:

The course consists of 12 (guest) lectures, self-study, an individual assignment, group discussions and student presentations. During the course, students will work individually on an essay in which they reflect on how to improve a current facility design of an organisation and prove the effects of prospected facility design interventions. You actually more or less write a research proposal. Students present their work and receive feedback in 20-minute sessions during the final lecture.

Examination:

- written examination, consisting of open and multiple choice questions (50%);
- individual essay (50%).
Each component requires a minimum of 5.5 to pass.

Literature:

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