ITcon Vol. 11, pg. 673-684, http://www.itcon.org/2006/47

Mapping IT innovation in Facilities Management

submitted:December 2005
revised:March 2006
published:September 2006
editor(s):B. Atkin and R. Leiringer
authors:Paula Cardellino, Research Fellow
School of Construction Management and Engineering, University of Reading, Reading, UK
email: p.cardellino@reading.ac.uk

Dr Edward Finch, Reader in Facilities Management
School of the Built Environment, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, UK
email: e.f.finch@hw.ac.uk
summary:Over the past decade there has been significant growth in the facilities management (FM) sector resulting in a diverse and highly competitive marketplace. This marketplace engages contractors, in-house teams, suppliers, consultants and professional institutions. Many of these organisations have had to innovate to differentiate themselves from competitors. The subject of this paper is facilities management innovation. More specifically, it examines the introduction of information technology (IT) to support such innovations. Our understanding of how such innovations are brought about is scant. The intention of this paper is to examine the motivations and factors which have brought about ‘information system’ innovations in the sector based on an examination of a small but diverse collection of case studies. The study specifically considers the route by which the selected innovations came about and the way in which the innovation has diffused throughout the rest of the organisation. The IT innovations identified in case studies include whole life cost modelling, a content management solution, open book partnering, management information portal (fmNet), RFID technology, and capacity and capability planning. Taken together they characterise a sector that is using IT to codify and standardise information such that useful knowledge becomes widely dispersed.
keywords:facilities management, innovation, innovation diffusion, information technology, CAFM.
full text: (PDF file, 0.096 MB)
citation:Cardellino P and Finch E (2006). Mapping IT innovation in Facilities Management, ITcon Vol. 11, Special issue IT in Facility Management, pg. 673-684, https://www.itcon.org/2006/47