Purpose: To summarize recent research findings and reflections on The Added Value of Facilities Management and to outline perspectives for future research and development of the added value of FM. Methodology - The article is based on reflections on contributions to the recently published book “The Added Value of Facilities Management” and related future studies as well as further exploration of five main themes. Findings - Added value is expected to be central in the future development of FM, which is confirmed by recent foresight studies. There is a need for a better understanding of alignment between FM and core business, performance measurement methods and how models such as the FM Value Map can be of value to the involved stakeholders. CSR, Sustainability and Branding have great potential to add value and to elevate FM to become a strategic partner with corporate top management. Management of stakeholders’ perception of value and relationships are essential aspects as well and need further attention. Research limitations - The article is based on the conclusions of several studies that aimed to explore items for further research, on the ideas of all co-authors of “The Added Value of Facilities Management” anthology and on further exploration of five main themes, and not on an extensive review of recommendations for further research to be found in a huge number of research reports. Practical implications - The findings and ideas for further research on the added value of FM deliver input to further professionalization of FM. Originality/value - This paper provides important input to the future research agenda on the added value of FM and sheds new light on five particular research topics.@en

The last decade shows a growing attention into the concept of added value of Facilities Management and Corporate Real Estate Management and how to attain and measure added value. A variety of different types of added value came to the fore such as user value, customer value, financial value, environmental value and relationship value. Furthermore a huge variety of different definitions can be found in publications from different authors, partly depending on their disciplinary background and partly because some authors do not build on former research. In discussions with researchers and practitioners, the concept of added value is definitely recognized. However, people have many different topics in mind. In a workshop at EFMC 2013 all attendants used different terms and mentioned only a few concrete measures how to add value, mostly in rather abstract terms. Further research is needed to harmonize the concept of added value i.e. definitions, dimensions and types, and to be able to operationalize this concept into practical guidelines for implementation and measurement by Key Performance Indicators. This paper relates theoretical reflections on the added value of FM to the findings of ten interviews with practitioners from the Netherlands and Denmark. It aims to explore how practitioners cope with terms and definitions, which concrete FM measures are applied to add value, what value, and if/how managers measure whether the aimed added values have been attained. The paper ends with some reflections and suggestions for follow-up research, both from a theoretical and practical perspective.@en

Purpose – This article aims to present and compare research perspectives and theoretical reflections from a variety of academic fields on the concept of added value of facilities management. Design/methodology/approach – The starting point is the so‐called FM Value Map, which was presented in a recent article in Facilities by Per Anker Jensen in 2010. The article is a first result of the work in the EuroFM research collaboration group and is based on literature reviews of the most influential journals within the academic fields of facilities management (FM), corporate real estate management and business‐to‐business marketing. Findings – Good relationship management and building on trust is shown to be equally important as delivering the agreed services. Originality/value – Usually the concept of added value is discussed from a monodisciplinary point‐of‐view. The different backgrounds of the authors add value to an increased understanding of the added value of FM by comparing and testing different ways of conceptualising this issue. This is of great importance to FM research and evidence‐based FM as a sound basis for the long‐term recognition of FM.@en

Purpose: This chapter presents research perspectives and theoretical reflections on the concept of added value of FM from a variety of academic fields. Methodology: A literature review of the most influential journals within the academic fields of Facilities Management (FM), Corporate Real Estate Management (CREM) and Business to Business Marketing (B2B Marketing). Findings: The research shows different definitions and focus points, dependent on the academic field and the area of application. The different research perspectives explored a holistic view on the added value of FM by the integration of an external market based view (with a focus on the aimed output) and the internal resource based view (with a focus on the input from FM and real estate). Good relationship management and building on trust shows to be equally important as delivering the agreed services. Practical implications: A clear conceptualization of the concept of added value of FM is of utmost importance for further research into the added value of FM and well-considered, evidence-based Value Adding Management in practice. Research limitations: Due to limited time not all FM-related journals could be included in the literature review. The included journals were analysed over a time period of ten years, with a focus on interesting topics and less on a thematic cross-paper analysis in-depth. Originality/value: Usually the concept of added value is discussed from a mono-disciplinary point of view. The different backgrounds of the authors add value to an increased understanding of the added value of FM by comparing and testing different ways of conceptualising this issue.@en

Purpose: To create an overview and evaluation of the achievements of the contributions in this book by identifying, summarising and discussing cross-cutting themes and essential learning points across the former chapters. Methodology: Based on a purposeful reading of all chapters comparisons are made of the essential theoretical perspectives, conceptual models and findings from empirical research. The most important novel aspects of the contributions are pinpointed. Findings: The three basic perspectives of FM, CREM and B2B marketing show to provide both overlapping and complementary focus areas. Comparisons of the added value parameters of four conceptual models from FM and CREM show many similarities and a trend towards convergence, but the basic structure of the models are different. This can be related to CREM being oriented on development and management of new and existing buildings, while FM is more service and process oriented. Empirical research regarding the added value of FM is seen to utilise a broad range of both qualitative and quantitative methods in various combinations. The contributions provide important new focus and insights on different types of added value, its dimensions and KPIs, and on areas like value adding management, performance management and performance measurement, stakeholder relationships and relationship management, green FM and sustainability. Furthermore various ideas came up for further improvement of the FM Value Map. Practical implications: The advancement in new knowledge and understanding that this book provides offers a new state of the art which can give inspiration and guidance for cutting edge FM organisations and professionals as well as for advanced teaching and future research. Research limitations: The chapter is based on the contributions to this book and does not provide new empirical evidence. Originality/value: The chapter provides an important overview and evaluation of the contributions in all the former chapters.@en

Purpose: To outline perspectives for further work on the added value of FM and identify relevant ideas and topics for further research and development. Methodology: The chapter is based on a screening of all the former chapters in the book, input from various workshops with the authors, information from recent literature and exchange of ideas among the authors of this chapter. Findings: Added value is expected to be central in the future development of FM, which is confirmed by two recent foresight studies and the recent work on developing a EuroFM research agenda. There is a need for increased focus on the governance structures for FM to secure the necessary alignment between FM and core business - not only at strategic level, but also at tactical and operational levels. Corporate Social Responsibility, Sustainability and Branding are important areas of FM with great potential to add value and to elevate FM to become a strategic partner with corporate top management. Adding value is closely related to innovation and performance improvements. Methods to measure both hard and soft aspects of performance will continue to be an important focus area. Management of stakeholders’ perception of value and relationships are essential aspects of adding value in FM and need much further attention. Close collaboration with users is needed and requires new methods to analyse and visualise processes and added value. Research methodology will continue to include a broad range of both qualitative and quantitative methods in many combinations, but soft methods based on close interaction between researchers and practice like action research, participants observations and narratives are expected to achieve increased attention. Practical implications: The findings include ideas for further research and development on the added value of FM and expectations of the topics that will be important for the FM profession in the future. Research limitations: The chapter does not present new original research results, but is based on the research presented in the earlier chapters in this book and other recent research activities. Originality/value: The chapter provides important input to the future research agenda on the added value of FM and gives directions for the future development in FM research and practice.@en