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While facilities management (FM) in Kosovo is a constantly growing discipline, the studies so far in Kosovo have been scarce and too general. The purpose of the paper is to discuss the current situation of FM in Kosovo, identify challenges and recommend new future development directions of the sector with regard to capabilities of facility managers, integration of technology in FM and FM standardization.

The present study uses qualitative method by using semi-structured interviews with purposive sample of 20 FM professionals with experience of more than 15 years that cover public, private sector and international organizations.

The present study finds that FM in Kosovo is in its infancy stage, and it is mainly perceived as maintenance and cleaning with the low level of outsourcing. Generally, it was agreed that FM industry in Kosovo faces several challenges such as lack of budget, resources and staff; inappropriate FM planning; absence of uniform KPIs and low sensitivity of FM to sustainability. The study finally finds that FM in Kosovo can be enhanced only through integration of novel technologies, development of adaptive capability of facility managers and adequate FM standardization.

The present study helps researchers and practitioners to understand the current situation of FM in Kosovo in terms of planning, outsourcing and primary purpose of FM in Kosovo. The study also provides an overview of challenges of FM in Kosovo, which can be used by researchers and practitioners to identify future development directions for the sector and profession.

The study contributes to the current knowledge about the state of development of FM in transitional countries such as Kosovo. The findings will identify future development areas of FM in Kosovo especially with regard to capability and skills of FM professionals and integration of technology in FM, which can be used by other countries facing the same perceptional and developmental challenges in FM.

The paper aims to give an introduction to radio frequency identification (RFID) technology with near field communication (NFC) to enable users to access content and services with hand‐held devices. It also aims to give a general overview on RFID utilization, its obstacles, diffusion and expected benefits. Some pilot applications are already being used commercially. Finally, it seeks to summarize applications of the technology in the facilties management (FM) industry.

The paper uses literary research and also interdisciplinary specialist analyses to find out the usage of IT‐based services in the FM field and supply of service providers. Some real pilots have been made and analysed in cooperation with service providers (FM and IT), building owners and building users (customers).

Mobile phones are heavily used in the FM industry for speech and text messaging (SMS) communications, but usage of other mobile phone services has not been established as a part of operation processes. The exploitation of RFID in FM as well as construction industry seems to be rather low, in fact in an infant stage. Accordingly pilot FM service using RFID technology proved to be very usable.

IT‐based mobile services are common in many countries and in various industries but using a mobile phone as a RFID reader is familiar mostly in Finland (Nokia phone).

The use of RFID/NFC technology in FM and also in the construction industry seems to be very prominent with high potential technology adoption for improving services.

This paper brings forward a quite novel technology application for the FM industry and presents the experiences of real pilot projects.

The purpose of this paper is to identify the critical strategic issues for the integration of facilities management (FM) into the development process (DP). It explains the factors that limit the integration and recognises the best practices applied in the property development industry in the UK.

The study employs a qualitative research approach through semi-structured interviews from the FM and property development industry in the UK.

The study discovered that the recognition of FM in the property development industry is encouraging. However, FM has been given a low priority in the property development industry, resulting in facilities managers being inadequately integrated into the DP.

The paper suggests that it is imperative to understand these strategic issues to promote best practice in the industry that improve the position of FM in the property development industry.

The purpose of this paper is to justify the need to integrate facilities management (FM) into the development process (DP) and establish a framework that potentially serves as a guide to optimise the value of FM in the property development industry.

This study looks at the relevant literature to identify the factors that are hindering FM to effectively integrate in the DP. Subsequently, the authors intend to carry out interviews with various professionals in the property development industry in the UK to identify the best practices. This research uses qualitative and quantitative methods in order to establish an FM-DP integration framework.

The literature suggested that contribution of FM towards the property development industry is unquestionable. Surprisingly, in a real world FM has been given a low priority in the property development industry, resulting in Facilities Managers being inadequately integrated into the DP. There is currently no suitable generic mechanism that is practical in all stages of the DP to guide Facilities Managers and/or other professionals to integrate FM into the DP.

This study is to provide evidence that the property development industry needs a framework that potentially serves as a guide to optimise the value of FM in the DP.

The purpose of this paper is to address the knowledge gap on the use of benchmarking techniques as utilized by facilities management (FM) professionals for the purpose of identifying means to improve industry benchmarking practices and guide the direction of future FM benchmarking research.

Data were collected through surveying 585 FM practitioners representing various countries, organization sizes, types, industries. The data were summarized and analyzed through creating frequency tables, charts, and cross-tabulations. The survey results were compared to a previously published study on benchmarking use to identify the similarities and differences between benchmarking for FM functions vs core business functions.

The findings indicate that while FM-oriented benchmarking has been adopted at similar levels as other industries, FM-oriented benchmarking tends to be simplistic, lacks a strategic position in the company, often relies upon self-report survey data, is often performed by an individual with no formal benchmarking team and does not utilize process benchmarking or benchmarking networks. These findings emphasize the need for benchmarking education, advocacy for FM as a strategic business partner, the development of verified data sources and networks specifically for the unique greater facilities management field functions.

These findings provide needed data on the state of FM practitioner use of benchmarking specifically for FM functions in North America. The results can be used as an assessment for the industry, to improve practitioner use and knowledge, and to identify further avenues for academic study.

The value of this study lies in filling in identified knowledge gaps on how FM practitioners are using benchmarking in practice. These data are absent from the research literature and offer the potential to help bridge the academic-practitioner divide to ensure that future research will focus on addressing practitioner needs for the industry.

To discern patterns of property and facilities management (FM) evolution of the offices of growth firms.

Statistical analysis with ten variables which are analysed through four perspectives (clusters, industrial sectors, age and size).

The result consists of characteristic features of three clusters labelled as “low”, “high” and “moderate” FM firms with a ubiquity from all major industry sectors. The studied population reveals that various industry sectors expose more significant differences of FM variables than age and size. However, age is a background factor for discerning the three clusters and it reveals to be the youngest cluster that has the most intense FM activities, which argues for linkage between rapid growth and FM.

Relevant study for predefined Swedish growth firms.

Reveals linkage between faster growth and FM.

Survey empery is collected in a primary database of FM variables and analysed.

In today's business world customers of all industry sectors are becoming more informed as to the level of choice and competition for their custom. This has led to the requirement for businesses to develop and maintain marketing strategies that will increase their competitiveness within their respective sector. Relationship marketing (RM) is a marketing theory, which has benefited businesses in many other sectors, though the concepts may be fairly new in the facilities management (FM) sector. This study is concerned with the review of the fundamental principles of RM, and its benefits for the FM sector. The purpose of this paper is to test whether the FM sector in the UK is aware of the RM theory, and is implementing this theory in its day‐to‐day practices. Research aims are to: investigate the level of understanding present in the FM industry with regards to RM; and to ascertain the benefits that could be available for the industry if an RM orientation is to be employed.

Following the literature review, a questionnaire is distributed to the members of the British Institute of Facilities Management in the North of England.

The survey identifies the FM industry's capability of using many RM strategies, however, the industry does not classify its customers at present, in order to deliver more targeted services.

The study reveals that the FM sector understands RM and that RM is a concept that the industry would benefit from.

The purpose of this paper is to provide facilities management (FM) practitioners and researchers with a better understanding of the FM industry sector by analyzing the trend of its development.

Semi-structured interview is adopted in this research as the main methodology. In total, 30 FM professionals in the UK were interviewed to explore the past, present and future of FM. The analysis of interview results helps to identify the key areas in which FM has changed, is changing and will change. It also helps to explain the implications of FM development in each key area.

FM evolves and matures continuously. It is important for FM organizations and practitioners to recognize the dynamic nature of this industry sector, based on which they can develop appropriate strategies to adapt to changing circumstances. This is probably the only way for them to keep pace with the times.

Both backward looking and forward looking are crucial to the development of an industry sector. However, existing studies on FM development are conducted through either review or outlook. On the other hand, most of these studies focus on one particular management area or one particular industry sector. Based on 30 expert interviews, this research attempts to bridge the knowledge gap and analyze the trend of FM development in a systematic way. A better understanding of the trend provides a possibility and a guide for FM organizations and practitioners to pursue best practice.

Facilities management (FM) activities affect citizens’ health and safety, long-term urban environmental sustainability and the relationships between the built and natural environments of cities. This study aims to comprehend the status of smart FM tools application, how they are used to improve the delivery of FM services and the barriers to their implementation.

To investigate the current smart solutions that leverage the quality of FM service, a case study based on the FM practice in Hong Kong was carried out. The case study was conducted in two phases of data acquisition based on a qualitative research methodology. After conducting in-depth interviews to determine the application of smart FM tools in different types of properties and to identify the initiatives and barriers to smart FM tool application, three workshops were conducted to validate the findings and further investigate the influence of FM professionals on smart FM tools application in Hong Kong.

The findings of the case study revealed, firstly, that four types of smart FM tools – user-centric, safety and hygiene, maintenance and sustainability-oriented – are used to assist the delivery of FM services. Secondly, smart FM tools are shown to be useful in assisting FM activities. Thirdly, the existing barriers to smart FM tool application manifest differently in shopping malls, office buildings and residential buildings. Fourthly, smart FM tools are used to address the four attributes of user needs: comfort, health and wellbeing, convenience and information to occupants.

The value of this study lies in its focus on the industry level (FM industry) and the application process of smart FM tools in different types of property, revealing the benefits, initiatives and barriers to their future application. This study provides a comprehensive picture of the current status and elaborates the barriers to smart FM tool application, which will help FM practitioners to make strategic decisions on selecting and developing smart FM tools. Also, this study will facilitate smart FM tool application policy development.

Building information modelling (BIM) is a novel technological advancement in the built environment. Despite the potentials of BIM, its adoption and implementation are undermined in facility management (FM) operations. This might be because of limited information on the critical success factors (CSFs) that can enhance its adoption. The study aims to integrate building information modelling to improve facility management operation by adopting fuzzy synthetic approach for evaluating the critical success factors.

Data for the study were sourced from practising and registered facility managers within Lagos metropolis, Nigeria. The data collected were analysed using a combination of methods which include mean item score, factor analysis and fuzzy synthetic evaluation (FSE).

The factor analysis results showed that six underlying groups of CSFs would enhance the effective adoption of BIM in facility operations. The FSE results showed that out of the six groups, the three topmost important CSF grouping (CSFG) in the decision rule would enhance the effectiveness of BIM adoption for FM operations.

The result of this study provides a credible road map for facility managers, policymakers and other stakeholders in FM operations on the CSFs and CSFG required for the adoption of BIM.

Previous studies that aimed at integrating BIM into FM are limited. Hence, this study provides a broad perspective on the CSF required for BIM adoption and implementation in FM operations using the FSE approach.