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The focus of study is to determine the relationships between clients and FM service providers by developing a yardstick for measuring and appraising the relationships in main FM outsourcing contracts in the higher education sector of Hong Kong. In this study, “outsourcing relationships” are defined as “the extent to which an FM outsourcing contract facilitates effective ownership or control of FM assets, and enhances the competitive positioning and long-term strategies of the outsourced FM portfolio whilst the client’s requirements are met”. The most practical and successful approach for improving FM outsourcing relationships reported in the literature is a model based on quantitative assessment. A review of the literature suggests that the Four Outsourcing Relationship Types (FORT) model, used in the information technology industry, can be adapted for use in FM outsourcing. The data from two Delphi surveys and two questionnaire surveys, administered to 38 clients and 34 FM service providers, were used to build the proposed Contingency Outsourcing Relationships (CORE) model. The data analyses included the Kruskal-Wallis test, the Mann-Whitney U test and a Multi-nominal logistic regression. The Analytical Hierarchy Process and two focus group meetings were also used to develop the model. The CORE model can be used to assess the four categories of outsourcing relationships by focusing on the four main FM outsourcing service contracts in Hong Kong’s higher education sector: (i) building maintenance; (ii) security; (iii) cleaning; and (iv) catering. Other FM outsourcing service contracts are not covered by the CORE model. In the model, the combination of two different outsourcing relationship components or dimensions contributes to an outsourcing relationship type. In conclusion, the empirical investigation reveals a significant relationship between FM outsourcing relationship types and services in the context of Hong Kong’s higher education sector. Clients and service providers have indicated that applying the FM outsourcing relationship types improves the quality of the services. The findings indicate a match in the preference for the extent of outsourcing relationship dimensions on the ownership and control of service provider involvement on current outsourcing contracts for building maintenance, cleaning and catering in Hong Kong’s higher education FM industry. This study also discusses that the importance of matching demand and supply of FM services plays a major role in the FM outsourcing success.

The level of achieved accuracy in design cost estimating is generally accepted by researchers as being less than desirable. Low accuracy has been attributed to the nature of historical cost data, estimating method and the expertise of the estimator. Previous researchers have suggested that the adoption of resource based estimating by designers could eliminate data and method-related problems. The work in this thesis has shown that this will not solve the problem of inaccuracy in estimating. A major problem in assessing accuracy in design cost estimating has been the absence of a generally agreed definition of the'true cost' of a construction project. Hitherto, studies of accuracy in design cost estimating have relied solely on the assessment of errors using the low bid as a datum. Design cost estimators do not always focus on predicting the low bid. Rather, they may focus on the lowest, second lowest, third lowest or any other bid, mean/median of bids, or sometimes, on just being'within the collection'. This has resulted in designers and researchers having different views on the level of achieved accuracy in estimating. To resolve this problem, an analysis package, ACCEST (ACCuracy in ESTimating), was developed to facilitate 'fair' assessment of accuracy in design cost estimates. Tests - using cost data from 7 offices, the ACCEST package and the OPEN ACCESS II package on an IBM PS/2 - have shown that error in design cost estimating (averaging 3.6% higher than the predicted parameter) is much lower than portrayed in construction literature (averagel3% higher than the low bid). Also, false associations between project environment factors (such as geographical location, market conditions, number of bidders, etc.) and the level of achieved accuracy has been developed by researchers through using the low bid as a datum. Previous researches have also demonstrated that design estimators do not learn sufficiently from experience on past projects. A controlled experiment on design cost estimating information selection was designed to explain this occurrence. Failure to learn, and the persistent use of information on one project for estimating, has been shown to result from the method of information storage in design offices, the illusion of validity of inaccurate rules and over-confidence resulting from inaccurate assessment of individual expertise. A procedure for aiding learning from experience in design cost estimating has been suggested. Finally, the work has shown that by distinguishing between different trades, and selectively applying different estimating strategies, based on the objective evaluation of the uncertainty associated with cost prediction for ear h trade, error in design cost estimating could be further reduced. Two formulae for predicting tender prices using data generated from historical cost estimating experience are represented.

This thesis contributes to the area of performance measurement in facilities management (FM). The context of the study is FM organisations. Interest in performance measurement increased dramatically during the 1990's in both management and academic literature. Performance measurement systems developed as a means of monitoring and maintaining organisational control, which is the process of ensuring that an organisation pursues strategies that lead to the achievement of overall goals and objectives. A performance measure can also be defmed as a metric used to quantify the efficiency and/or effectiveness of an action. The role of FM in promoting organisational performance, and thereby in providing competitive advantage is widely acknowledged. Although performance measurement concepts are referred to in the FM literature, they have not been applied with the same rigour as with other academic areas, such as production and manufacturing. Institutions will want support services that offer the best possible standards to meet the users' needs. Better coordination between core activities and support services means that institutions can respond faster and more effectively to those demands for services. Herein lies the general theoretical gap, which forms the point of departure for this research. This thesis aims to outline the many different perspectives of performance measurement in FM organisations. A grounded theory approach has been adopted with the aim of building theory as opposed to testing theory. Case studies were conducted at several FM intensive organisations. The identification of performance measurement tools or mechanisms was one of the aims of the case study phase, as well as providing descriptive accounts of the process. These tools and mechanisms were incorporated into a performance measurement questionnaire and were evaluated against the FM organisations in UK. The research uncovered performance measurement constructs in FM which could be categorised under the following four broad perspectives: customer, FM internal processes, FM learning and growth and financial FM. At each level, the FM organisation should strive to make performance measurement visible with the aim of creating new performance measurement constructs. Developed theory was further validated against a panel of experts in the field of FM and in a real life case study. The findings from both the qualitative and quantitative data points to an FM organisational performance measurement process which depends on the existing knowledge base of the FM organisation. The contribution to knowledge in the field may be viewed in terms of a critical examination of the role of performance measurement and the implications these have for the core organisation as the contribution made by FM will ultimately be judged by the organisation's stakeholders over a wide range of performance criteria including both fmancial and non-financial. FM is seen to be able to contribute to performance in many ways: strategy, control of resources, service efficiency, supply chain management and perhaps, most importantly, providing value for money. Furthermore, the constructs and concepts developed in this thesis provide both a point of departure for further research and a practical tool with which to assess performance measurement and management with the FM organisation.

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This research investigates financial, technical and attitudinal factors affectine the selection of coai as a space heating fuel in Local Authorities' non-domestic premises. Financial factors are explored by incorporating statistics of a sample of The City of Bradford Metropolitan Council's sites into a computer model that takes into account: the spread of capital costs of installing coal or other fuels. delivered fuel costs. maintenance and operating costs. and seasonal boiler efficiencies. The sensitivity of the mooei to changes in costs. boiler efficiencies. and financial selection criteria are investigated. Assuming a five year payback criterion and prices as found at the end of 1966, three percent of the space-heating ruel use or the Local Authority's premises is found to be viable for coal. The model is sensitive principally to changes in capital costs. and the availability of gas if a high cost for oit is assumed. Technical tactors are investigated by describing the properties or coal ana available comoustion equipment. Attitudes to the use of coal are researched by interviewing a sample of otticers and members in six Local Authorities in Yorksnire ana Humberside. Interviewees were particularly encouraged to describe their impressions and beliels. The scope of the study is expanded by the use of a postal survey of all United Kingdom Local Authorities. A variety or different topics are considered in the survey. These include the presence and content of fuel selection policies. the use and cost of fuels. financial criteria adopted in assessing projects, availability fr as supplies, and attitudes to the use of coal. The response rate to the questionnaire was over 40%. The study concludes with recommendations to The City or Braotora Metropolitan Council and British Coal.

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Product design decisions can have a significant impact on the financial and operation performance of manufacturing companies. Therefore good analysis of the financial impact of design decisions is required if the profitability of the business is to be maximised. The product design process can be viewed as a chain of decisions which links decisions about the concept to decisions about the detail. The idea of decision chains can be extended to include the design and operation of the 'downstream' business processes which manufacture and support the product. These chains of decisions are not independent but are interrelated in a complex manner. To deal with the interdependencies requires a modelling approach which represents all the chains of decisions, to a level of detail not normally considered in the analysis of product design. The operational, control and financial elements of a manufacturing business constitute a dynamic system. These elements interact with each other and with external elements (i.e. customers and suppliers). Analysing the chain of decisions for such an environment requires the application of simulation techniques, not just to any one area of interest, but to the whole business i.e. an enterprise simulation. To investigate the capability and viability of enterprise simulation an experimental 'Whole Business Simulation' system has been developed. This system combines specialist simulation elements and standard operational applications software packages, to create a model that incorporates all the key elements of a manufacturing business, including its customers and suppliers. By means of a series of experiments, the performance of this system was compared with a range of existing analysis tools (i.e. DFX, capacity calculation, shop floor simulator, and business planner driven by a shop floor simulator).

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