FACILITY MANAGEMENT--A COMPLEX TOOL FOR BOLSTERING FIRMS' COMPETITION CAPACITY.

• Author: Negescu, Mihaela Diana Oancea
• Position: Report

1. Introduction

   In today's time, when firm management can not restrict itself to only materialize its traditional functions, respectively to only reach its traditional goals--this being achieved through using its no less traditional levers, tools and procedures--, competition, especially in times of economic recession (or almost) imposes on firms a heavy burden, in any market economy, this being the need to use a unitary management system for coordinating and supervising all activities which take place inside a firm.

   From this point of view, firm's facilities, until present time, seemed to be almost a non-component of firm management, or at most: 1. a component whose management is accomplished, if not automatically or at least implicitly, with reasonable effectiveness from point of view of firm's owners interests and desires; 2. an extremely unimportant component of management, in regard to whom the mere question of how important is its management--and, all the more so, its quality of all concerns--would seem almost redundant.

   Classical theories and approaches of management notwithstanding, managing firm's facilities, or, in other words, Facilities Management (FM) is seen as a key component of (overall) firm management--and firm's management -, designed for: (1) planning, designing and managing the tridimensional dimension of the firm (i.e. its spaces & c.)--in short-term; (2) boosting ability of firm to successfully compete on market--in long-term.

2. Discussion

   In order to understand past approaches of management of firm's facilities, regarded, back then, as a mere component, in the same time indispensable and of next to no importance (e.g. non-upgradable firm component), it is important to distinguish structure and content proper of this entity--firm's facilities--, if we are to reach two--among others--important goals of the analysis of facility management: A) on one hand, materialization of analysis of the best methods of applying (firm's) facilities management; B) on the other hand, distinct specifications of conditions whose accomplishment will allow management system to act effectively in what activities carried out in the realm of firm's facilities are concerned.

   Facilities of a firm consists of three main components--or areas--whose main denominator is the fact they are used by firm for it achieving its goals insofar as they are part of economic activities carried out by firm's employees and constitute the physical, human, informational, moral, etc. framework...