Benchmarking challenges in facilities management in Nigeria

Abstract

Purpose – The paper aims to examine benchmarking challenges among Nigerian Facilities management (FM) practitioners. Design/methodology/approach – Data collection was through self-administered questionnaires sent to 120 FM organizations in Lagos metropolis, 50 in Abuja and 15 in Port Harcourt. Also, interviews were conducted on six facilities managers to ascertain challenges faced by organizations that use best practice benchmarking. The survey achieved a total response rate of 74 per cent in Lagos, 66 per cent in Abuja and 93 per cent in Port Harcourt, respectively. Grand mean scores and relative importance index were used to ascertain ranking of the challenges. One-way analysis of variance and t-test were used to establish whether organizations’ characteristics bring about significant differences in the types of benchmarking challenges encountered. Findings – Overall, the top four challenges of benchmarking were “unwillingness of employees to change”, “inadequate understanding of the exercise of benchmarking”, “inadequate access to data from other organizations” and “poor execution of-the benchmarking exercise”. Also, FM organization location result in a significant difference in benchmarking challenges. Practical implications – The implication of the study is that it will assist in identifying impediments to benchmarking and barriers faced during benchmarking and, thus, enable recommendations to be made to minimize such challenges. Originality/value – There are limited empirical studies on the problems of benchmarking in developing countries.

Outsourcing of facilities management (FM) services in public hospitals

“…Ever since then, it has witnessed tremendous global transformation, entering Europe in the mid-1980s, first in the UK in 1984, The Netherlands in 1986, the Scandinavian countries in 1992 and Germany in 1995 (Levainen, 1997). As a follow-up to this, a non-profit organisation called the International Facilities Management Association (IFMA) was established in the early 1980s to incorporate associations dedicated to serving the FM profession originally in North America; however, as of today, it has globally represented members from over 60 countries worldwide (Ventovuori, 2007), including Nigeria, where it offers guidance and expertise to its members, as well as carrying out research to substantiate best practice in FM (Adewunmi et al, 2008).…”

Mechanism of Benchmarking and Its Impact on Organizational Performance

“…In a more recent study, Adewunmi, Omirin, and Koleoso (2015) examined the benchmarking challenges in Nigerian Facilities management. They found that implementation of benchmarking faces many obstacles such as, lack of understanding of the exercise of benchmarking, unwillingness to change, weakness of data from other organizations and poor execution of the benchmarking exercise.…”

Attitudes of Nigerian facilities management professionals to the benefits of benchmarking

“…According to Adewunmi et al (2008), the practice of benchmarking is limited in Nigeria because many organizations tend not to link strategic vision with the need to benchmark, inability to appreciate benefits of benchmarking as a result of lack of proper orientation about it. In addition, many FM organizations lack processes for data management, and benchmarking is used to measure performance informally rather than as a distinct process reliant on performance criteria.…”

“…Also, some types of facilities like retail and hotels were excluded from the study. Adewunmi et al (2013) in Nigeria examined the application of benchmarking among Nigerian FM practitioners. Data collection was through self-administered questionnaires sent to 120 FM organisations in Nigeria.…”