News on 05 December 2000
The UK FM industry has largely failed to initiate or support
research which might advance the understanding and practice of facilities
management. This was the uncompromising message of an address by Phil
Roberts to a meeting of students, teaching staff and others at UCL last
week.
"There is a woeful lack of investment by the FM industry in making
knowledge accessible and relevant," said Roberts, Chairman of the
BIFM's Research Committee and IFMA's Regional Vice President for Europe.
"I'm concerned that we don't have a coherent innovation strategy
in FM," he continued, "the industry may have lost the plot."
Roberts contrasted attitudes in FM with the discipline of design management
and cited the work of the Design
Management Institute in publicising and disseminating research.
"FM suppliers often appear contemptuous of practice-based knowledge,"
said Roberts, "while academic researchers seem wedded to large-scale,
long-term studies." Part of the problem, he suggested, may lie with
facility professionals themselves. Largely 'action' oriented they can
seem hostile to research.
Broadening his argument, Roberts said that FM has adopted all the worst
features of the construction industry in which users interests are often
ignored: "We are seeing the dehumanisation of the workplace, a process
reinforced by the rhetoric of strategic management. We need to put the
user at the centre because if we don't, FM risks being marginalised."
Earlier, Roberts described how IFMA is putting foresight at the top of
its agenda. The Association now monitors federal legislation in Washington
and plans to do likewise in Brussels. "In pursuit of a knowledge-based
approach IFMA will be a broker, facilitator and advocate," he said.
