Editorial

Citation

Pitt, M. (2006), "Editorial", Journal of Facilities Management, Vol. 4 No. 2. https://doi.org/10.1108/jfm.2006.30804baa.001

Editorial

There is something of a “back to the future” feel about this edition of JFM. We have returned to a format that includes both academic and practice briefing sections within the journal. This original concept had the intention of bringing together industry and academia in a partnership aimed at driving the FM agenda forward. I find it exciting that through JFM we again have a genuine opportunity to engage ourselves in the conceptual and the actual whilst examining the theoretical and the applied.

A university may be described as a breeding ground for high quality graduates and a testing ground for new FM ideas. Unlike some of the hard built environment disciplines, where one may simply purchase some machinery to test physical characteristics, FM must be tested in a business environment. Hence we are drawn to strategic partnering as a means of justifying our research outcomes.

The industrial partners with whom I am closely linked are at the very centre of the FM education and research that I manage at Liverpool John Moores University (JMU). As the Head of Business Development within the School of the Built Environment I find myself talking to many different industrial partners from many different disciplines. What they have in common is that they all appear to value their partnership with the University.

Over the last few years FM has moved from its construction roots to become a fully business focused discipline. We now tend to address FM issues from the perspective of the core business rather than from a narrowly interpreted buildings focus. The distinction between operational and strategic FM has become clear, you can just save money but you can also be creative and innovative. In strategic FM we have an opportunity to add value to businesses and to drive continuous change though managing innovation and the creative process. The principal aim and focus of JFM is to be the knowledge component of this process.

The business focus of FM means that a sound grasp of business related subjects is required for optimum performance. For this reason some universities, including JMU, are now offering Master of Business Administration degrees in FM in place of the old Master of Science courses. One of the aims of JFM is to re-enforce generic business knowledge moving businesses away from the old and into the new in recognition that where FM that has no link to the core business objectives and strategy it is simply a disparate set of unrelated services offered in an incoherent manner serving the buildings.

With this in mind the offerings in this edition are pretty much self explanatory. We have two academic contributions and three practice briefings. The possible exception to this is “Close to the edge: notes from the green zone” by Richard Kupisz. This was an article written in a very short space of time by someone working inside the Green Zone in Baghdad. I simply asked Richard to write about his experiences of working under these difficult circumstances. It is not referenced or tied into any literature and the author is not an experienced writer. I was simply intrigued by his willingness to work in such conditions and amazed at the contents of his regular e-mails telling me of his daily routine. I hope you too will find this of great interest.

Michael Pitt

December 2005