Stakeholders’ perception of critical success factors for sustainable facilities management practice in universities in sub-Saharan Africa

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 question-naire survey conducted with 113 respondents, in the second stage. Interviewees were purposively selected from a university of technology (UoT) 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. It is expected that the study’s findings will contribute to the development of a viable SFM strategy in SSA universities.