Abstract:
The development of an optimal sustainable
facilities management (SFM) strategy for
university-built assets in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA)
is desired. However, this requires an in-depth
understanding of the perspectives of different
stakeholders on the probable success factors.
The elicitation of such perspective is considered
imperative, as it allows Facilities Managers
to engage with effective SFM planning in a
manner that caters to the interest of these
stakeholder groups. This study seeks to identify
and, subsequently, assess these success factors,
according to stakeholders’ perspectives.
A sequential mixed method research design is
utilised wherein 29 semi-structured interviews
were conducted initially, followed by a questionnaire
survey conducted with 113 respondents, in
the second stage. Interviewees were purposively
selected from a university of technology (UT) in
South Africa, whilst respondents were drawn
from universities within SSA. Data from the first
stage was analysed, using qualitative content
analysis, and subsequently applied towards
questionnaire development. The questionnaires
appraised stakeholder perceptions of the
criticality of success factors identified during the
interviews. The Mean Item Score (MIS) was used
to rank the responses.
Results from the analysis indicate that ‘presence
of a well-articulated FM plan for a specified
interval’ and ‘adherence to the tenets of the SD
agenda (supply chain)’ were selected as most
critical of the success factors identified.
