FACILITIES MANAGEMENT

IN ORPHANAGES:
CHALLENGES,
IMPLICATIONS AND
SOLUTIONS

HAZIM BIN ABDUL AZIZ

2018
 FACILITIES MANAGEMENT IN ORPHANAGES:
CHALLENGES, IMPLICATIONS AND SOLUTIONS

HAZIM BIN ABDUL AZIZ

A dissertation submitted in the fulfilment of the requirements

for award of the Bachelor of Quantity Surveying (Honours)
degree

School of Architecture, Building and Design

Taylor’s University

JULY 2018
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DECLARATION

I declare that this dissertation entitled “Facilities Management in Orphanages:

Challenges, Implications and Soltutions “is the result of my own research except as
cited in the references. The dissertation has not been accepted for any degree and is
not concurrently submitted in candidature of any other degree.

Signature : …………………………….

Name : …………………………….

Date : …………………………….
 III

SUPERVISOR’S DECLARATION

“I hereby declare that I have read this dissertation and in my opinion this dissertation
is sufficient in terms of scope and quality for the award of the degree of Bachelor of
Quantity Surveying (Honours)

Signature :……………………………………

Name of Supervisor :……………………………………

Date :…………………………………...
 IV

DEDICATION

To Mak & Bapak

Love You Always
 V

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Firstly, I am grateful to God for the good health and wellbeing that were necessary to
complete this dissertation.

I wish to express my sincere thanks to Dr Myzatul Aishah Kamarazaly, for providing

me with all the necessary guidance and encouragement given to me for the research.

I place on record, my sincere thank you to the respondents involved in this

dissertation, for providing me with sufficient details with regards to this dissertation.

I express my sincere thanks and gratitude to my mother and father, for their never-
ending encouragement, support and attention, which had highly contributed to the
completion of this dissertation.

I also place on record, my thanks and sense of gratitude to one and all, who have
directly or indirectly, lent their hand in this venture.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS

TITLE PAGE I
DECLARATION II
SUPERVISOR’S DECLARATION III
DEDICATION IV
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT V
TABLE OF CONTENTS VI
LIST OF FIGURES VIII
LIST OF TABLES IX
LIST OF APPENDICES X

1.0 INTRODUCTION 1
1.1 BACKGROUND 1
1.2 PROBLEM STATEMENT 5
1.3 PREVIOUS SIMILAR STUDIES 6
1.4 RESEARCH AIM 6
1.5 RESEARCH QUESTIONS AND OBJECTIVES 7
1.6 SCOPE AND LIMITATIONS OF STUDY 7
1.7 IMPORTANCE OF CONTRIBUTION AND STUDY 7
1.8 RESEARCH DESIGN 8
2.0 LITERATURE REVIEW 10
2.1 INTRODUCTION 10
2.1.1 DEFINITION OF FACILITIES MANAGEMENT 10
2.1.2 THE SCOPE OF FM 12
2.1.3 THE LEVELS OF FM 13
2.2 PURPOSE OF IMPLEMENTATION OF FM IN ORPHANAGES 14
2.2.1 PURPOSE OF FM IN ORPHANAGES 15
2.2.2 IMPLEMENTATION OF FM IN ORPHANAGES 16
2.3 COMMON CHALLENGES FACED IN MANAGING FACILITIES OF
ORPHANAGES 16
2.3.1 COST MANAGEMENT 17
2.3.2 OPERATIONS AND TIME MANAGEMENT 17
2.3.3 VENDOR AND INVERTORY PAYMENT 18
 VII

2.3.4 RESOURCES MANAGEMENT 19

2.3.5 SAFETY AND SECURITY MANAGEMENT 19
2.4 IMPLICATIONS OF THE CHALLENGES AND ITS POSSIBLE
SOLUTIONS TOWARDS FM IN ORPHANAGES 21
2.4.1 COST MANAGEMENT 21
2.4.2 OPERATIONS AND TIME MANAGEMENT 22
2.4.3 VENDOR AND INVERTORY PAYMENT 23
2.4.4 RESOURCES MANAGEMENT 24
2.4.5 SAFETY AND SECURITY MANAGEMENT 25
2.5 SUMMARY OF LITERATURE REVIEW 26

3.0 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 28

3.1 RESEARCH DESIGN 28
3.2 TARGET POPULATION 30
3.3 DATA GATHERING 30
3.4 DATA ANALYSIS 30
3.5 RESEARCH MODEL/ CONCCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK 31
3.6 RESEARCH PROGRAMME 32
4.0 DATA PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSIONS 33
4.1 OVERVIEW 33
4.2 DATA COLLECTION FOR QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS 33
4.3 DATA COLLECTION FOR QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS 36
4.3.1 OBSERVATIONS 36
4.3.2 INTERVIEWS AND STRUCTURED QUESTIONS 40
4.3.3 CHALLENGES IMPLICATIONS AND SOLUTIONS 41
4.4 SUMMARY OF KEY RESULTS 48
5.0 CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS 49
5.1 CONCLUSION 49
5.2 RECOMMENDATIONS 50

REFERENCES 51
 VIII

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1.1 - Triangles of P’s and FM (Source IFMA) 3

Figure 2.1 - Scope of Facilities Management 13

Figure 2.2 - Scope of Facilities Management 14

Figure 3.1 - Theoretical Framework 31

Figure 3.2 - Research programme 32

Figure 4.1 - Overall profile of orphanages 33

Figure 4.2 - Front view of orphanage A 36

Figure 4.3 - Recreational area of Orphanage A 36

Figure 4.4 - Front view of orphanage B 37

Figure 4.5 - Landscape of orphanage B 37

Figure 4.6 - Front view of Orphanage C 38

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LIST OF TABLES

Table 1. 2 - Research Design 9

Table 4.1 - Summary of Key Results 48

 X

LIST OF APPENDICES

APPENDIX 1 – Pictures of orphanages 55

APPENDIX 2 – Structured questions for the interview 62

APPENDIX 3 – Tabulation of all responses 73

 ABSTRACT

Facilities management can be said to be a new field in the country as it has not been
fully practiced by many organizations, especially small organizations like orphanages.
The realization of its importance has slowly seeped in amongst building owners, and
property managers lately. This is due to the fact that a lot of hazard and mishaps had
occurred, where it compromised the safety of the building and its users. The main one
would most likely be fire hazards, as lately there has been quite a number of cases
regarding fire hazards in small religious schools, where the structure of the building
itself did not comply with the building regulations. These are all due to not having
proper routine checkups on the fire safety facilities. This could likely happen to
orphanages too, as it can be observed that most of the orphanages, just like most
religious schools, started from a normal residential house and slowly became a
boarding school, which in turn alters the regulation requirements of the building.

Thus, it is vital to actually implement FM into institutions, especially so, where there
are small children who rely on shelter. Upon realizing the situation, this study attempts
to explore on the application of FM and further look into detail, its challenges faced,
the implications of the challenges, and finally to come up with possible solutions in
addressing the challenges. It is hoped that, this study would be able to gather the facts
needed in order to come up with suggestions on possible solutions to overcome the
said challenges. A structured interview were done with the operators of the Agathian’s
Shelter,Yayasan Anak-anak Yatim PTTDI, and Pusat Jagaan Anak Yatim Kausar.
The study showed that all orphanages have a facility manager in some ways or another.
They could be professional or at least, one trained in the area, or even be the person in
charge with the needed experience in maintaining and ensuring facilities in the
orphanages work.

Keywords: Facilities Management, Orphanages, Challenges, Implications, Solutions

 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background

There are various definitions that practitioners and researchers have on facilities
management (FM). Broadly, FM is to be concerned with the dynamic interaction
between organizations personnel, processes and places (Laird, 1994). Laird’s views
were supported by (Becker, 1990), by stating FM as what is responsible for
coordinating all efforts related to planning, designing and managing buildings and
their system’s equipment and furniture to enhance the organization’s ability to
compete successfully in a rapidly changing environment.

In other perspectives, it is also applicable to consider that the Centre of Facilities

Management (1996, cited Alexander, 1996) describes FM as ‘the process by which
and organization delivers and sustain support services in a quality environment to meet
strategic needs’. (Alexander, 1996) further defined the four major points for an
organization to be considered in regard to its FM strategy, as follows,
- Creating a facilities policy that expresses corporate values
- Giving authority to the facilities business unit to improve service quality
- Developing facilities to meet business objectives
- Recognizing the values that facilities add to the business

According to Barrett and Owen (1992), In terms of functional analysis, facilities

management can be divided into two classes:
- Management Functions
- Operational or Implementation Functions

The scopes of facilities management can be defined by referring to Kincaid (1994), in

which he stated facilities management to act as more on a support role or service. It is
basically considered as a part of an organisation’s non-core business, which satisfies
the supply side, and also concurrently serving the needs of the main activities or core
business, to which, satisfies the demand side, resulting in a more economically
successful business.
 2

Realizing the importance of facilities management and its relevance towards many
other organizations, it would also be reasonable to imply that facilities management is
important to organizations like orphanages as well. This is due to the fact that such
organizations are occupied with unfortunate children of various ages, living together
and getting care and attention. Thus, facilities such as boarding, healthcare, security,
education, etc. are to be well managed.

In an orphanage, maintaining facilities is considered a non-core business of the

organization, where facility management represents the supply side, whilst at the same
time, serving the requirements of the core business of the orphanage as being the
demand side. For example, boarding facilities such as dormitories, beds and cupboards
are managed and maintained in a professional manner to satisfy the needs of the
orphans.

The function of facilities management is, through some time, reconcile and achieve
said supply and demand characteristics in the business or organization. Again, this
function can also be applied to an orphanage. In order to achieve success on an
organization’s economics, it is required for the organization to strike a balance
between the supply of the facilities management services and the demand of the
orphanage.

There are three elements supporting facilities management, namely, the people, the
place, and the process. With regards to the people in an orphanage, they are, the
orphans themselves and the operators, which include teachers, administrators, wardens
and so on. The process in this context, is the maintenance of the facilities in the
orphanage, and the place being the orphanage itself.
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Figure 1.1: Triangle of ‘Ps’ and FM

(Source: IFMA)

Given the figure above, it explains that the application of facilities management to be
involved working on a place, where it is obliged to support the needs of the users of
the place, say, a building.

There are two major key roles of a facility manager according to Patanapiradej (2006).
The first one involves using the organization’s capital resources, most commonly, the
property, physical plant and facilities. The second key role is to basically, manage the
organizations support services. Both key roles are assimilated with 3 core activities
related to property, which comprises of:
- Management
- Operations and Maintenance
- Administration
In relation to orphanages, ideally, facility managers would make use of the capital
resources i.e. the building and its facilities, while concurrently managing the support
services. Most organizations like orphanages, retirement homes and other welfare
societies would have to be registered under the Department of Social Welfare,
associated with the Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development, in
order for them to acquire their capital resources. Other ways on gaining capital for
orphanages also include in the collection from regular donors, sponsors and public
donations. Having said that, facility managers would run its services under the
dependency of the orphanage’s capital resources.
 4

An orphanage is an organization that provides a temporary shelter for children without

parents. Children without parents or orphans, are usually looked after and taken care
of in orphanages until they are either, fostered by potential adopters or until they are
competent enough to live independently.

For an organization to be considered as an orphanage, they must at least acquire some

basic yet fundamental facilities to be included within. According to Khpal Kor
Foundation (n.d)., boarding, healthcare units, regular education, co-curricular
activities, tours, religious education and sports are the facilities to be provided to their
orphans. From this, it is safe to imply that the basic fundamental facilities to be
provided are generally boarding, healthcare, recreation and education.

In the last few years, there had been many cases regarding fire hazards involving
orphanages. Having said that, it can be opined that, managing facilities are not
professionally practiced. According to Stover et.al (2007), support for some orphans
is being provided by a variety of government, community and NGOs, but these
assistances reaches only a small percentage of those who need it. In their study, the
amount of funding needed in order to provide good facilities and essential services
needed are found to be only a quarter of what is actually needed. This goes to show
that Small Non-Governmental Organizations like Orphanages might not even have
proper facility management systems or bodies that perform maintenance to the
building services and facilities. Thus, it all depends on certain factors namely, the size
of the organization, how it runs, its financial status, its location and so, which explains
to why some orphanages, mainly the larger ones, do implement FM into their
organization. To conclude this, the implementation and application of facilities
management in orphanages or other similar organizations depends on the profile and
characteristics of the organization itself.
 5

1.2 Problem Statement

From what can be observed, facilities management is mostly related to the

maintenance of the building services of an organization. However, in order to apply
facilities management into an orphanage, it needs to be supported with important
elements like capital resources, human resources, as well as the commitment of these
human resources towards ensuring the facilities management aspect is done with full
efficiency.

The problem in orphanages is that they are normally short of capital resources, which
could affect both facilities and services provided. According to Usman (2005), the
problems faced by the Orphanages in Malappuram, Kerala, India, can be divided into
several aspects, namely, problems related to organization, inmates, personnel,
supporting network, financial management, and lastly the government. Said problems
can potentially affect the performance of FM.

Not all orphanages are registered. Some depends on donors and sponsors which does
not donate or sponsor monthly or consistently. This would affect the running of the
orphanage, its maintenance and its upkeep. The funds are more vital to be used for the
core business of the orphanage rather than focus on the supporting services. Even those
that are registered according to Samad & Mansor (2013), the grants provided by the
Government is not enough to operate the social welfare organization.

Realizing the situation, this study would explore the status of the facilities management
in the orphanage, whether there is FM or not, its challenges affecting the success of
the FM in the orphanage.
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1.3 Previous Similar Studies

There are plethora of studies relating to the challenges, implications and solutions of
facilities management, in both local and international aspects. However, after doing
some exploration, these studies did not explore or dwell further into orphanages
specifically. The most related that was found was focused more on the challenges in
universities. Many of the similar ones done did not really talk on the facilities
management itself but focused more on the orphanages in detail.

A similar study that was done by Usman (2005) in his research “Current Challenges
Problems and Prospects Of Orphanages Of Malappuram District” based in Kerala,
India, which focussed on the current issues, problems and challenges facing
orphanages of Malappuram district. In this study, the orphanages have been totally
neglected by the planners and policy makers of Kerala. This study is quite similar to
the present research, however in this scenario, this is more on the administration itself
and relating to the human aspects, such as, absence of the spirit of volunteerism,
predominance of religious motives, absence of leadership etc.

Another study was done by Stover et.al (2007) in their study “Resource Needs to
Support Orphans and Vulnerable Children in Sub-Saharan Africa”. In this study, their
focus was basically more on the financial aspects and actual funding needed for
orphanages in order to be provided with facilities and essential services.

1.4 Research Aim

The aim of this research is to find out the challenges, implications and solutions
implementing facilities management in an orphanage.

1.5 Research Questions and Objectives

a) What are the challenges faced in managing facilities in Orphanages centre

b) What would be the implications of these challenges towards the management
of facilities in the Orphanages centre
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c) What are the possible solutions in addressing these challenges in Orphanages

centre

The specific objectives of this research are:

a) To identify the challenges affecting the success on FM in the orphanage
b) To understand the implications based on the challenges affecting the success
on FM
c) To suggest or recommend solutions to the challenges affecting the success on
FM

1.6 Scope and Limitation of the study

The scope of this study is to dwell into the many aspects of challenges faced that would
affect the accomplishment and success of facilities management. Having identified
these challenges, some suggestions and recommendations would be given in order to
ensure the very success of FM in the orphanage concerned.

The study would focus on Agathian’s Shelter, Yayasan Anak-anak Yatim, PTTDI and
Pusat Jagaan Anak Yatim Kausar, NS and all information to be gathered would be
from those given by the respective orphanages concerned.

This research is with regards to the challenges, implications, as well as solutions on

managing facilities in orphanages

1.7 Importance and Contribution of study

The importance of this study is to provide the real picture, with regards to the
implementation of FM in an orphanage. This is especially so, after having done a
study at the 3 orphanages stated. This study is expected to obtain some issues
pertaining to actual implementation of FM, such as whether it is applied professionally
as per theories on FM. It is obvious that there would be challenges to implement FM,
as from readings done, financial resources and professional facility managers would
not be easily available. Orphanages would rather spend the bulk of their capital
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resources on the core business itself, rather than on the support services, as the
objective is to provide basic shelter and education for the fellow inmates.

Therefore, with this study, it is hoped that facilities management can be emphasized
in terms of its importance, so as to ensure that there is a balance between the people,
process, and place as mentioned earlier. Having said that, reasonable steps can be taken
in order to maximize the improvisation of the situation, as well as to ensure the
facilities in an orphanage are professionally managed. This study is expected to create
awareness amongst the player of this industry.

With this study, the facilities are to be in good state and well managed in order to
minimize complications and loss of money. Lastly, it is also hoped that the findings of
this research can be brought to the authorities concerned, which will enhance the
guideline, if any, to all new similar organizations.
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1.8 Research Design

Basically, interviews were conducted, getting responses from 3 orphanages, in order

to collect data from the operators and staff of the orphanage. Both quantitative and
qualitative methods were used in this research. Each set of interview questions were
used to interview the owners and operators of the 3 orphanages, namely Agathian’s
Shelter, Pertubuhan Anak Yatim dan Miskin Al Kautsar, and Yayasan anak anak
Yatim PTTDI. The interview questions include both open ended, as well as objective
questions. lastly, those answered questions were analysed thoroughly using Microsoft
Excel.

Table 1.1: Research Design

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CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Introduction

2.1.1 Definition of Facility Management

Facility management is a career that adopts disciplinary aspects into their profession
in ensuring a decent functionality of a building, where it aids buildings by maintaining
the facilities available for ease of its users. Throughout its existence, there has been
lots of interpretations and definitions that practitioners and researchers have come up
with. For instance, Curcio (2003), defines facility management as an integrated
management system of different services and progressions which are more focused on
the buildings, spaces, people in which it is not included in the core business, but are
still necessary for the functioning of the organization.

This can also be related to Becker (1990), in which he states that the facility
management is accountable when it comes to coordinating all efforts that are in
relation to planning, design and management of buildings and their systems, their
equipment and their furniture, in order to improve the organization's ability to compete
successfully in a rapidly changing environment.

Also, Bernard (1996), further defines in detail, “the facilities as the premises and
services necessary to accommodate and facilitate the core business”. From said
statement, it could be implied that the plant management has to cover all the three cost
centres, in which it includes:

- Local services
- Support services
- Information Technology

Atkins & Brooks (2000), defined FM as an integrated approach which involves

operating, maintaining, improving, and adapting the buildings and infrastructures of
an organization in order to create an environment that strongly support the primary
objectives of the organization. From this, it can be said that the main methodology of
 11

managing facilities involves four sub elements to be implemented to the building and
infrastructures of an organization, in which the four elements are:
- Operation
- Maintenance
- Improvement
- Adaptation

These four elements can be implemented to achieve an environment that supports the
main objectives of the building.

The British Institute of Facilities Management (BIFM) (2003) defined FM as an

Integration of multi-disciplinary activities within the built environment and
management of their impact upon people and the workplace. This basically means that
the management of facilities is a combination of multiple activities regarding
disciplinary aspects, which also involves the management of their impact upon the
people and the workplace, where it is implemented within the built environment.

On a later note, The International Management Association (2003), defined facility

management as a profession that includes multiple disciplines to ensure functionality
of the physical environment through the integration between three key elements,
namely, the people, places and process, with the aid of current technology.

A more recent definition can be implied in accordance to Pala e Pristerà (2004), in

which he states facility management as a process of design, implementation and
control through which it is a possible to identify, find and deliver the facilities, in order
to provide, as well as, maintain a programmed level of service, that can meet business
demands in terms of cost and quality.

In 2011, the BIFM (2011) came up with another definition for facilities management,
in which defines facilities management as the integration of processes within an
organization to maintain and develop the agreed services which support and improve
the effectiveness of its primary activities. From this, it can be said that the agreed
services are related to the building services of the organization.

It was also found that local practitioners and researchers in Malaysia too had come up
with definitions of facility management. For instance, according to Rozilah Kasim
 12

(2011), the original concept of facilities management is much associated with its role
as “enabler” to support the core business of the organization with the aim of
minimizing cost and maximizing cost along the process. Out of all the many
definitions, it is most important to note that the International Facilities Management
Association (IFMA)’s rendition is the official definition of facilities management. To
conclude this as a whole, the definition of facilities management can be simplified as
a kind of maintenance service to be provided to organizations, mainly the larger ones,
which the services are specifically in relation to maintaining the building services and
facilities, to finally complement the main function of the building and its users.

2.1.2 The scope of FM

Similar to the definitions, there are also many interpretations from various authors and
researchers regarding the scope of facilities management. For instance, according to
the BIFM (n.d.), the scopes or roles of FM can be subdivided into three elements,
which are:

- To optimize the using and managing of workplaces in order to deliver the

strategic objectives of the organization

- To identify the examples of best practice, assess emerging developments in

business thinking and be able to present realistic plans for the introduction of
new innovative methods of working.

- To optimize the operational effectiveness, while ensuring compliance with key

legislation and ensuring the workplace adapts to the changing needs of the
organization

The scopes of facilities management can be defined by referring to Kincaid (1994), in

which he stated facilities management to act as more on a support role or service. It is
basically considered as a part of an organisation’s non-core business, which satisfies
the supply side, and also concurrently serving the needs of the main activities or core
 13

business, to which, satisfies the demand side, resulting in a more economically

successful business.

Figure 2.1: (Source: Patanapiradej, W., (n.d.), The Scope of Facility Management,
pg.77)

Based on the above stated, the function of FM is to gradually reconcile said demand
and supply qualities of the organization. According to the figure above, it explains that
the application of facilities management to include the involvement of working on a
place, where it is obliged to support the needs of the users of the place, say, an
orphanage.

2.1.3 The Levels of FM

Facility management can be divided into a few distinct parts. According to Barrett and
Owen (1992), there are two classes of FM, when it comes to functional analysis:
- Management
- Operational or implementation

However, according to Then and Akhlaghi (1990) on the other hand, FM can be
divided into three levels, namely, strategic function, tactical function, and operational
function. From this, it can be said that the difference between the two interpretations
 14

is that both strategy and tactics are categorized under the management function
according to Barrett and Owen (1992)’s understanding.

On the management level, it involves more on planning and strategy. Specifically,

according to Johnson & Scholes (2002), the management level takes into consideration
the routine actions, and care of maintenance resources. One of the core activities within
the strategic level comprises of consultation and non-routine planning, which focusses
on the long-term use of the organization’s physical resources and facilities. Johnson
and Scholes (2002) further states that management strategy deals with the complexities
of ambiguous, non-core routine situations which can affect the direction and future of
the organization.

On the operational level, the functions basically refer to the daily routine support
functions, in which it involves the workers. At this level, there are various activities,
where the common one being the operation and upkeep of all the physical resources
within the organization, in order to maintain the good condition and appearance of the
place. Other than that, is to also add value to said physical resources, and lastly result
in providing a safe environment for the organization’s main activities.

Figure 2.2: (Source: Patanapiradej, W., (n.d.), The Scope of Facility Management,
pg.79

2.2 Purposes and Implementation of FM in Orphanages

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2.2.1 The Purpose of FM in Orphanages

As have been mentioned earlier, in general, there are various facilities that are present
in order to run orphanages. According to Khpal Kor Foundation (n.d)., an orphanage
in Pakistan, boarding facilities, healthcare units, regular education, co-curricular
activities, tours, religious education and sports are the facilities that is currently being
provided to their orphans. From these mentioned facilities, they can be categorized
into 4 fundamental aspects namely:
- boarding facilities
- healthcare facilities
- recreation facilities
- education facilities

The very purpose of implementing FM in an orphanage is to ensure the stated facilities

and other necessary building services are well and properly maintained by the
organization. In this aspect, in the case of the boarding facilities, for example, all the
bedding facilities in the dormitories would have to be inspected, checked and
maintained regularly, so as not to have any occurrence of mishaps. Therefore, say, if
a double-decker bed has come to the edge of its lifespan or the joints are loose, then,
the screws, bolts and nuts need to be tightened or changed due to wear and tear. The
dormitory itself has to be conducive and thus its ventilation aspects including air
conditioners and fans has to be regularly maintained and serviced.

Fire protection services such as smoke detectors and fire extinguishers are one of the
most important services in any organization. Failure to ensure the maintenance of the
smoke detectors and fire extinguishers would result in unforeseen fatal consequences.
In general, facilities that are not maintained properly will contribute to various
unwanted consequences. Therefore, proper maintenance is to be highly considered in
order to ensure the safety of the orphans.
 16

2.2.2 Implementation of FM in Orphanages

The Implementation of FM is vital, so as to support the needs of the users of the place,
however, not all organizations are able to afford the services provided by FM
companies.

Most orphanages in Malaysia however, it can be observed that facilities management

are not professionally practiced or does not have proper FM. This is most probably
due to the lack of exposure of Facilities Management within the country. The financial
status of an orphanage or any other organization also plays a role on whether to
implement FM into their business. It can be understood that small organizations might
not even have proper facilities management service implemented in their organization.
Thus, bearing this in mind, it all depends on certain factors like, the size of the
organization, the nature of the organization, the capital earnings of the organization
and so on, to implement FM.

Amerman (n.d.) quoted in one of his articles, that businesses, whether large or small
must invest on their time and money to ensure that their facilities are maintained (by
purchasing an FM service). By relating to this statement itself, it can be assumed that
most small organization/orphanages without proper facility management already
implemented into the business, would normally maintain their facilities by themselves,
or it can be said that they practice their own method of facilities management. For
example, instead of applying proper FM to maintain the facilities, they would hire a
cleaner to get the job done, whenever needed. It can be said that they are operating in
more of a reactive mode, rather than a proactive mode.

2.3 Common Challenges in FM

Generally, there are many challenges faced in the management of facilities. According
to DPSI (2017) there are four common challenges that are currently faced by most
organizations practicing facilities management are namely, cost management,
operations & time management, vendor and inventory management, resource
management and safety & security management.
 17

2.3.1 Cost management

One of the first challenges that are common in most organizations, whether they
implement facility management or not, is the management of cost. According to DPSI
(2017), each and every demand that is placed on a facility has its own individual cost
associated with it.

These individual costs can be broken down into the hiring of staff members, repairs
and maintenance, inventory and supplies, as well as safety and security. Having a good
cost management system is highly encouraged as it plays a big role in FM, in order to
keep track on all the detailed expenditures of each respective cost.

From this information, most organizations would use the collected data of the
respective costs and make a historical analysis for the purpose of planning ahead, to
allow for proper administrative reporting and reduction of operational costs.
Therefore, keeping a good cost management system plays an important role amongst
facility managers in the long run as it helps in overall future planning.

This challenge can also be found in orphanages, as the cost involved are also
experienced by them, regardless of its size and whether it is in-house or outsource.

2.3.2 Operations and Time management

Other common challenges faced by organizations in general is the management of

operations and time. DPSI (2017) states that, when maintenance operations are highly
organized, it allows the maintenance staff to be more productive as information is
available at their fingertips.

Nowadays, FM implements various software system that provides the ability to create
any type of scheduled maintenance activity making it easier on keeping track,
including repair and maintenance of all types of equipment and facilities, the physical
facility as well as grounds. This process involves work orders, being automatically
 18

generated for any time period including information such as craft/labor needed, time
estimated for completion, priority, parts needed and detailed job steps, including safety
instructions.

Therefore, since the wealth of information are made available for management,
corrective work orders can also be done as issues are reported. Highlights on problems
such as areas of the facility with recurring issues and high maintenance costs can be
made.

However, the application of software applications above is only available when the
organization concerned are affordable by the organization and when FM is seen to be
on their priority list. In the case of orphanages whereby money is of constraint and
many of them depending on charity, operations and records can only be done
manually. This also depends on the priority of FM in their organization.

2.3.3 Vendor and Inventory Management

According to DPSI (2017), Vendors are vital in FM, as they supply all items and
services to the organization. Therefore, ideally, track records and necessary
information on the inventory parts and supply, should be computerized. There are
many modules in the market that can provide the capability to track all necessary
information for vendors and inventory parts and supplies. This include all the items
they supply, last quoted price and lead times. If multiple vendor supplies the same
item, then price and lead time can be factored into a planned purchase, cutting down
on cost or lead time.

From the above information, it can be said that, in order to overcome this challenge
for smaller organization with limited capital, Vendor management has to be recorded
and planned manually. Thus, the challenges for orphanages is tedious, due to the fact
that all records of the vendors management are done manually, which means higher
cost in terms of time and labour.
 19

Many parts and supplies will need to be kept in inventory while some expensive or
seldom used items can be specially ordered. Tracking them in using computers allows
for inventory to be linked into the work order module to forecast upcoming needs
based on time period, insuring inventory is available when needed. Again, in smaller
organizations like orphanages, it is a big challenge to record and track parts and
supplies needed manually. Periodic physical inventory counting is also a difficult task
to record items in the store rooms. Tracking Vendors and Inventory manually serves
as a big challenge for small organizations in terms of saving time and money.

2.3.4 Resource management

Facility managers have to rely on many resources to operate the facility efficiently.
This includes both full and part time staff members. It also requires different types of
service providers. As stated by DPSI (2017), Among facility management challenges
is man the need to rely on many resources to operate the facility efficiently. This
basically means that operating the facilities to satisfy the needs efficiently, appears to
be a problem/ challenge within the facility management industries, due to risks on
relying on many resources.

DPSI further states that this includes both full and part time staff. This means that
challenges like manning the need to rely on resources to operate the facility efficiently,
generally includes both full time and part time staff members, as it also requires
different types of services providers.

The challenges faced by orphanages in terms of managing the resource, i.e., the part
time/ full time staff members, is another tedious process, as it involves recording
contact information, skills information, certifications etc. manually. Obviously, it
would be ideal if they are all computerized.

2.3.5 Safety and Security Management

 20

Last but not least, DPSI (2017) had also stated in their website, expressing that Safety
and Security management is also one of the common challenges faced by FM.
Tracking regularly all safety and security related jobs and equipment is vital for
regulatory and insurance purposes and for the safety and security of all customers or
guests who use the facility.

From the above explanation, it can be implied that this issue is also currently faced in
orphanages as a potential challenge. From what can be observed, safety and security
management play a very important role in ensuring the orphanages security, as well as
the orphans safety. There had been many cases regarding the breach of safety and
security of many orphanages due to negligence in the security measures of the
organization.

For instance, Tan, Ng and Raman (2013) reported that, an orphanage within the Klang
area, was robbed at least three times within the span of just two months. From this, it
shows that safety and security aspects of the orphanage was poorly managed. The news
article further states that the orphanage had to depend on a dog to guard its safety as it
was unable to afford to hire proper security guards. This supports the fact that most
orphanages suffer in financial support and funds.

Other relevant sources regarding Safety and Security Management can be observed by
referring to an article from a while ago. According to “Safety & Security – Goals”
(n.d.), Although it is not possible to maintain full security at school, it is still possible
to at least minimize the risks that will harm anyone in a school building due to a breach
of security.

Again, having all this information computerized would ensure these critical jobs are
done when needed and that history is available for all reporting purposes. However, in
some orphanages these would have been done manually, due to the small amount of
staff and authority.
 21

2.4 Implications to the Challenges and its Possible Solutions

2.4.1 Cost Management

Implications
The implications of not practicing a good cost management system will result in not
being able to plan and realize ahead. It can be understood that according to DPSI’s
(2017) earlier statement, an organization would not be able to come up with a historical
analysis and proper administrative reporting to reduce operational costs, due to
insufficient collection of data and poor cost management planning. Therefore,
resulting in the organization having to forcibly to run the organization at a higher cost
and with less efficiency and effectiveness in meeting its objectives.

Possible Solutions
In order to overcome the challenge above, it would be ideal if they implement the
computerized system as it offers great benefits to both the parties. According to the
Watsons (2016), computer aided facility management (CAFM) systems benefits the
user via combining and analyzing complicated data towards improving the practices
of FM within various environments Including:
- Government
- Healthcare
- Educational
- Commercial
- Industrial
CAFM provides the ability to automate data-intensive functions regarding FM and
usually benefit on cost savings and better asset utilization overall.

However, for smaller organizations that could not afford the computerized system, it
is recommended that they have a standard operating procedure for those doing the FM
job. Regular staff meeting is to be conducted with systematic checklists and
paperwork.
 22

2.4.2 Operations and Time Management

Implications
Regarding the DPSI (2017) article, not being able to provide the ability to create any
type of scheduled maintenance activity would make it difficult to keep track on repairs
and maintenance of all types of equipment and facilities, the physical facility. The
implication of not having a good operations management is that it will result in poor
quality, maintenance, and services. According to Morgan (2018), there are four aspects
of when quality can affect an organization’s operations management, which are:
- Productivity
- Profitability
- Customer’s satisfaction
- Costs
Hence, it can be said that the possible implications of having a poor performance
regarding the operations management within orphanages are low productivity of the
staff members on providing necessary services as well as low satisfaction of the
orphans, which will also affect cost management.

According to Pickard (2011), the objectives of time management is to increase

efficiency and productivity. Based on this, the implication of not being able to handle
time management, on the other hand would be that the organization not knowing when
to do the corrective measures, as well as what and when to apply, repair or maintain,
in which would result in inefficiency and low productivity. This again, will affect cost
and expenses, reputation of the FM service, as well as the organization itself.

Possible Solutions
Pickard (2011) further states that modern business tools, like office software, namely
Outlook, aids in making it much easier to schedule and keep track of events and
appointments with links to tasks and related messages. This solution could be applied
to orphanages, where weekly reports of the status of the facilities provided would have
to be in the know by all of those responsible, through similar integrated platforms like
messenger applications, such as, whatsapp, telegram etc., aiding in both operations and
time management.
 23

2.4.3 Vendor and Inventory Management

Implications
Vendors and Inventory management is one of the most tedious and complex task to
perform. Failure to overcome this challenge would result in the orphanage to do wrong
things at the wrong time and at the wrong place. It goes the same for inventories,
whereby, the supply requested from the vendor, might not be the supply that was
needed the most at the time, due to poor scheduling and inventory management.
According to a few of Clear Spider (2014)’s statement on the consequences of poor
inventory management, it includes:
- Increased costs
- Time consuming
- Conflicting relationship between vendors and customers
- Decreased productivity
- Delays in shipping and delivery
The implications stated above can also be applied to orphanages in many scenarios, as
most of them are funded by donations and sponsor, where budgeting is tight.

Possible Solutions
One possible solution to overcome this challenge is to have a regularly update list of
vendors and suppliers, along with their status and company profile, as well as their
track records. In terms of managing inventory, a proper list of inventories with its
details and particulars would be of great help in order to manage efficiently. A
computer-aided facilities management software would also be highly supportive on
this area of management.
 24

2.4.4 Resource Management

Implications
Facility managers have to rely on both human and financial resources to operate the
facility efficiently. However, in this context, the human resources is discussed, which
relates to staff members of the organization. This includes both full and part time staff
members. According to Scott (2017), the implications of poor resource management
leads to:
- Low Productivity
- Ineffective recruitment
- Employee Turnover
- Noncompliance

Therefore, the implication of having poor resource management in an orphanage

would result in situations whereby, the potential risk of recruiting staff members would
not be properly filtered in order to get one that is of sound mind. This could also be
implied when it comes to recruiting service providers.

Possible Solutions
Since human resource is the one who runs the organization, it is only vital that these
aspects are taken care and placed on its highest in the priority list. It is very important
to ensure that the human resources responsible in the orphanage are of high caliber,
qualified and can be trusted especially now with cases of molests, assault and sodomy
etc.
Therefore, a possible solution to overcome the challenges of ensuring good resource
management, a properly recorded updated list of data on all the staff working in the
orphanage is necessary.
 25

2.4.5 Safety and Security Management

Implications
Not being able to track regularly of all the safety and security related measures, jobs
and equipment would result in unprofessional and uneconomical services provided to
the orphanage. This would again, in the long run, affect the reputation of both parties,
or those who runs in-house maintenance. The implications of having a poor safety and
security management are clear. According to Ashe-Edmunds (n.d.), the consequences
of poor security in a company are:
- Assault cases and Vandalism
- Thefts of Goods
- Electronic Theft
- Corporate Espionage
- Loss of Access
- Legal Liability

Lately, there were many robbery/assault cases regarding orphanages within the
country. For instance, According to Tarmizi (2016), five thieves in a black SUV
robbed three Subang Jaya homes, including an orphanage, within two hours. This
implies that safety and security management is important. Out of the six implications
above, the relevant ones regarding poor safety and security management of orphanages
are risks of Assault and Vandalism, Theft of Goods, Corporate Espionage, as well as
Legal Liability.

Possible Solutions
The safety and security management have the most important personnel as it is to
protect the orphanage itself. Overcoming the challenge is similar to the one above.
According to Boehm (2013), there are various ways to overcome poor safety and
security management. Some of those which are relevant to orphanages include:
- Chokepoints
- Security Guards
- Camera surveillance systems
One of the possible solutions of managing poor safety and security within an
orphanage is to limit the entry points to the organization (Chokepoints). This will
 26

reduce the possible ways in which strangers can gain access to the organization’s
compound. The level of security measures can also be greatly increased by adding
security guards near the chokepoints. Lastly, is to adopt camera surveillance systems
at strategic locations within the orphanage compound in order to maximize the
effectiveness of safety and security.

2.5 Summary of Literature Review

To summarize the overall contents of this chapter, it has provided detailed definitions
of FM and comprising of interpretations from various authors including worldwide
and local. It has also provided detailed answers to reflect to the three main objectives
of this thesis, which comprises of the common challenges faced on managing facilities
in orphanages, its implications, as well as its possible solutions.

Findings in relation to the first objective

The first objective of this research is to identify the challenges faced in managing the
facilities within an orphanage, namely, the management of costs, operations and time,
vendor and inventory, resources, as well as safety and security. Results from the
literature review concludes on the common possible challenges that are affecting most
organizations then was assumed based on the given info, the challenges faced in
orphanages regarding FM.

Findings in relation to the second objective

The second objective of this research is to identify the implications or consequences

to the challenges in managing facilities within an orphanage. Results from the
literature review concludes in detailed, the implications to the challenges in managing
facilities within an orphanage, for example, the implications of poor cost management,
operations and time management, and resource management are poor planning, poor
productivity, and ineffective recruitment, respectively. It was also done using the same
method as the first objective.
 27

Findings in relation to the third objective

Last but not least, the third objective of this research is to possibly come up with a
solution to most of the challenges faced. Readings from the literature review suggested
the possible solutions to the challenges. To name a few, the possible solutions of
ensuring an effective cost management, operations and time management, and
resource management are adopting computer-aided systems, integrated business tools
(Outlook), and properly recorded database respectively. These proposed solutions
were then filtered down to relate to orphanages.
 28

3.0 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

3.1 Research Design

The research design plays a very important element with respect to the research
process. According to Sekaran (2003), the research design generally outlines issues
relating to decisions regarding the sole purpose of the study:

- Exploratory

- Descriptive

- Hypothesis testing.

Sekaran (2003) further states that its location (i.e., the study setting), the type it should
conform to (type of investigation), the extent to which it is manipulated and controlled
by the researcher (extent of researcher interference), its temporal aspects (time
horizon), as well as the level of which the data will be analyzed (Unit of analysis), are
the basic fundamentals to research design.

In addition, decisions have to be made as to what the type of samples are to be used
(sampling design), how the data will be collected (data collection methods), how
variables will be measured (measurement), and how they will be analyzed, in order to
test the hypotheses (data analysis).

For this research, it is more of an exploratory research method, in which, it would also
be considered as a descriptive method, due to the fact that the research would like to
explore the availability of facilities management in orphanages. This study sets in
different orphanages that are of various types and sizes, in the sense that they are
probably fully funded by the government, partially funded by the government or they
could only be funded by donations and sponsors.
 29

A number of interviews were conducted to at least 3 orphanages within the Klang

Valley, and the questions asked would primarily be with regards to the main 3 research
objectives namely:
- To identify the challenges affecting the success on FM in the orphanage
- To understand the implications based on the challenges affecting the success
on FM
- To suggest or recommend solutions to the challenges affecting the success on
FM

These interviews were conducted from the fourth week of semester 6 onwards, of
which they are targeted primarily to facility managers or if not, the person-in-charge
of the respective orphanages.

In terms of the researcher’s interference, there were minimal interference involved, as

the respondents were interviewed within the comfort of their respective orphanages.
A structured list of questions would be given to the respondents, as they will be going
through the questions concerned. Regarding the time horizon, it is current i.e. as at
2018. Therefore, respondents would be asked about the facilities management
scenario.

There are many orphanages to be found within the country. However, for the purpose
of this research, the orphanages chosen are of multiple characteristics in terms of size,
location, different types of funding, background and so on. The data from the
interviews were collected and analyzed using Microsoft Excel software. However, due
to the number of samples being only around 3, it is foreseen that the data collection
and analysis to not be very complicated.
 30

3.2 Target Population

The target population to be concerned for the purpose of this study includes primarily
the facility managers, or the person-in-charge of the respective organizations, where
at least 5 different orphanages are to be approached.

3.3 Data Gathering

This study adopts two methods of gathering, which consists of the primary and
secondary data collection. The primary data will be from the responses at the
interview, whilst the secondary data will be gathered from reviewing sources from
journals, literatures, articles and other printed sources

3.4 Data Analysis

Microsoft Excel will be used to analyze the data collected and descriptive aspects of
the challenges, implications and solution to facilities management in the orphanages
would be taken.
 31

3.5 Research Model / Conceptual Framework

The research model for this dissertation explains how the uses of research findings and
variables aids in coming up with an expected outcome. This model or framework
basically illustrates a flow chart explaining the process and procedures needed to be
done in order to maintain an Ideal Facilities Management.

Figure 3.1: Theoretical Framework

 32

3.6 Research Programme

The research programme covers submission dates throughout the overall process of
the research or dissertation. This includes submissions made from semester 5 up to
semester 6.

Figure 3.2: Research Programme

 33

4.0 DATA PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSON

4.1 Overview

In this chapter, all the data findings from the structured interviews are presented and
deeply investigated and analyzed thoroughly. The chapter includes a number of
subcategories consisting of data collection, structured interview questions, research
findings, challenges faced by each respondent, the implications of the challenges to
the orphanages, as well as their suggested solutions to the challenges.

The data collected from the structured interviews were divided into two sections A and
B, with section A being the profile of the orphanages, which consists the age of the
orphanages, their financial resources, and the size of their organizations. Section B, on
the other hand, was more on collecting data pertaining to the research objectives,
which are the challenges faced, their implications, as well as possible solutions.

4.2 Data Collection for Quantitative Analysis

For this category, the structured questions are concerning the profile of the
organization. In this context, the three organizations interviewed, were quantified in
terms of their years of establishment, funding status, respondent status, number of
staffs and orphans, as well as their application of Facilities Management. The
Microsoft Excel software applications were used in order to perform the quantifying
process.

From the data collected, it was observed that two organizations namely Orphanage A
and Orphanage B were established more than 10 years ago, while the other, Orphanage
C, is only below 5 years. It was also observed that the earlier two has got more staffs
and orphans compared to the younger establishment. Therefore, it is quite obvious for
the newer one to not have many orphans as yet. The figure below explains the profile
of the respective orphanages, explaining the years of establishment, number of staffs
as well as the number of orphans.
 34

Figure 4.1: Overall Profile of Orphanages

Orphanage A and B has been established for more than 10 years, specifically 15 and
20 years respectively, with B being the longest establishment. However, Orphanage C
has been established for less than 5 years, specifically 2.5 years. This ensures a good
comparison between the respondents as all of them are from different phases and
experience, with B being the most experienced in terms of years of establishment and
it has also the most number of orphans under its care.

In terms of number of staffs, Orphanage A, B and C have 12, 8 and 2 staffs

respectively, with Orphanage A having the most number of staffs and C having the
least. From this information, it could be used to determine the size of the organization,
whether it is small, medium, or big, in terms of volume.

In terms of number of orphans, Orphanage A, B and C has 37, 45 and 11 orphans

correspondingly, with B having the most orphans and C having the least. From here it
can be hypothesized that the year of establishment of the organizations can be used
 35

determine the number of orphans within an orphanage, taking into consideration that
the services provided by the staffs remains constant.

The staff to orphan ratio of Orphanages A, B and C are (1:3.1), (1:5.6) and (1:5.5)
respectively. According to Groark and McCall (2011), “High children:caregiver
ratios; many and frequently changing caregivers; homogeneous grouping by age and
disability status; periodic graduations to new groups of peers and caregivers; and an
“institutional style of caregiving” that minimizes talking, provides rather
dispassionate perfunctory care, and offers little warm, sensitive, contingently-
responsive caregiver-child interactions”. This basically means that low staff to orphan
ratio provides a rather unemotional obligatory care and offers responsive staff-to-
orphan interactions.

In terms of the resource funding for these orphanages, it was found that all 3 of them
were fully dependent on donations and sponsors. None were either fully funded by the
government or partially got any help from the government resources. This goes to
show that facilities for the orphanages are quite a restrain.

The respondents for the interview on Orphanage A was the director herself, whilst for
Orphanage B was the supervisor. However, for Orphanage C, the respondent for the
interview was the director/ founder and chairman. Since all the interviewees are of
high position and high caliber in the organization, therefore all the questions,
comments and views given are considered reliable and valid.

In terms of the application of FM within the organizations, only Orphanage A adopts

a proper facility management system whereby they hired a proper facility manager.
However, for the other two, the facilities were managed by abled person in charge or
by joint cooperation amongst the staffs.
 36

4.3 Data Collection for Qualitative Analysis

For this category, the open-ended questions were directed to the person in charge of
the respective orphanages. Basically, they are questions pertaining to what kind of
services or facilities that are available, as well as stating the challenges/problems that
are faced with these services, the implications to the challenges and what their
suggestions are in order to overcome the challenges.

In this context, the forms of data collection (Creswell, 2012) are:

- Observations
- Interviews and Questionnaires
- Documents
- Audiovisual Materials

For both observations and interview and questionnaires, they are elaborated,
interpreted and analyzed within this chapter. however, for the documents and visual
materials, they are included in the appendices

4.3.1 Observations

The organizations concerned are identified as orphanages A, B, and C. For both

orphanages A and B, an observation was made on site. However, for orphanage C, an
online interview was conducted due to location and availability constraints of the
respondent, thus the observations made were based on telephone, email and social
media.

Basically, during the interview, the environment has been thoroughly observed, and
the observations were made regarding the size of the respective orphanages, its
surroundings, and its building type.
 37

4.3.1.1 Respondent A

Orphanage A is a medium sized orphanage located within a residential area, where

schools are located within the nearby vicinity providing easy access for the children to
walk to school. In this context, it can be said that providing transport to school is not
a requirement. Other than that, shophouses including various purposes like clinics,
restaurants, bookshops were also available within the vicinity. Orphanage A is made
up of a permanent two storey semi-detached house and was renovated for the purpose
of the orphanage. It is also a fenced-up building, situated on a split ground level
whereby the lower level of the building is on the lower part of the land. It has a road
frontage.

Figure 4.2 & figure 4.3: Front view and Recreational area of Orphanage A
 38

4.3.1.2 Respondent B

For Orphanage B, it is also situated in a residential area and have a good neighborhood
consisting of infrastructures such as schools, clinics, shopping complexes etc.
Orphanage B is the biggest amongst the 3 orphanages. It is made up of 2 blocks of
permanent 3 storey buildings, in which it also comprises separate quarters for its staff.
There were no lifts for these buildings and the vertical transportation is just the
staircase.
There were 2 minivans for the children’s daily transportation to school, as well as 1
minibus for other affairs. There were also covered parking spaces designated for each
of the minivans and bus located closely nearby the building. This particular orphanage
has a very good landscaping environment with fishponds and gardens.

Figure 4.4 & figure 4.5: Front view and Landscape of orphanage B
 39

4.3.1.3 Respondent C

As for Orphanage C, it is a renovated permanent single-story bungalow house, also

situated within a residential area located in Seremban. This orphanage is the smallest
in terms of number of orphans and youngest and newest compared to the other 2. All
other pictures of the orphanages above are per Appendix 1

Figure 4.6: Front view of orphanage C

 40

4.3.2 Interviews and structured questions

Prior to the interviews, all the respondents were informed of the tentative dates and
tentative issues to be discussed and interviewed upon. A letter of consent was also
given to which all respondents have agreed to the dates most convenient to them.
9 orphanages were contacted out of which only 3 responded and agreed for the
interview and research.
Out of these 3, only 2 was done physically on the field whilst the 3rd one was done via
a telephone interview and the respondent had also send over his answers via email.
The 3rd orphanage is situated in Seremban, Negri Sembilan.

The structured questions were used as a guide for the researcher to do the interview so
that the main same questions were asked to the respondents. The questions structured
were all pertaining to the issues at hand, in order to meet the research objectives.
Copies of the structured questions were as per Appendix 2. On top of that, other
additional notes and comments by the respondents were also noted. These are
pertaining to the security guards and the staff members.

In order to proceed to analyze and interpret the qualitative data collected, the basic six
steps as outlined by Creswell (2011) below:
“These steps are not always taken in sequence, but they represent preparing and
organizing the data for analysis; engaging in an initial exploration of the data through
the process of coding it; using the codes to develop a more general picture of the data,
descriptions and themes; representing the findings through narratives and visuals;
making an interpretation of the meaning of the results by reflecting personally on the
impact of the findings and on the literature that might inform the findings; and finally,
conducting strategies to validate the accuracy of the findings.” were applied.

Since all the data that has been gathered during the interview was based on the similar
questions, a hand analysis as of the data collected as of Creswell’s (2011) method,
were done because there were only 3 respondents. All the responses were tabulated in
order to easily compare and comprehend the answers for the questions at hand at a
glance.
 41

In order to prepare and organize the data analysis, all answers and responses from the
3 orphanages were tabulated according to the questions asked (refer Appendix 3 for
tabulation).

4.3.2.1 Building Services

In terms of Building Services, orphanage A, B and C are well equipped with all the
necessary ventilation system, both mechanical and natural. For mechanical ventilation,
this includes air conditioning, ceiling fans as well as table fans for orphanage C. For
natural ventilation on the other hand, based on the observations to all the 3 orphanages,
there are adequate number of windows to encourage cross ventilation to support
natural wind to flow through the buildings.

4.3.3 Challenges, implications and solutions

a) Air-conditioning system

The problems faced by orphanage A with regards to the mechanical ventilation is high
electricity bills. The increase in electricity bill does not mean that the air conditioners
were not maintained as it can also be due to hot weather, which incurs high usage of
the air conditioners, as well as increase of electrical tariff by Tenaga Nasional Berhad
(TNB). However, since the organizations adopts proper facilities management, the
operations management, i.e. maintenance of the air-conditioning system etc. is well
taken care of. Therefore, the operations management for this orphanage is seen to be
working well.

The suggested solution by orphanage A was to change all electrical appliances to

energy saving units. This could be done if the cost management are properly practiced.
On the other hand, orphanage B, being the biggest and most established, does not seem
to be experiencing with any issues with air conditioning. For orphanage C, due to being
a small and least experienced organization, they admit that they do not do proper
maintenance, which in results in poor function and high electricity bill.
 42

b) Electrical Services

The problems faced by orphanage A in terms of electrical services are faulty

appliances, thus the durability of the appliances is low. Therefore, the appliances need
to be replaced quite often and would affect the cost management. The wiring system
of this orphanage was replaced from time to time all according to maintenance and
schedule by the facility managers.

With reference to cost management, the suggested solution provided by the respondent
of this orphanage was to have more natural lightning, rather than bulbs, and lights.
Other suggestions include the using of solar panels to reduce the over-usage of
electrical services. This is where operations and inventory management plays a vital
role.

Orphanage B, on the other hand, does not have any problem regard the electrical
services. This is because even though they do not have a facility manager, their own
staffs are experienced enough to undertake all the problems needed to be solved by a
facility manager.

For orphanage C, they do face minor problems including damaged sockets due to
prolonged use of appliances. Since they are new, there has not been much problems
faced regarding the electrical services.

c) Telecommunication services

It is noted that the telecommunication service for all the orphanages A, B and C is high
in terms of cost and expenses, as they are easily spoiled due to heavy rain and lightning.
The implications to this would be loss of telecommunication services including
telephone and internet modem etc. The fact that orphanage A has a facility manager,
scheduled maintenance and checkups with the system has been done. This goes the
same for B as it has gone through a long way and have enough experience to overcome.
 43

However, for orphanage C, due to having less experience compared to the other two,
they face problems with scheduling and maintenance.

The solutions suggested by each respondent includes installing natural disaster

protection devices, upgrading to a more durable telecommunications services as well
as to always remember to switch off the services, as an act of prevention.

d) Hot and Cold-water supply system

There are 2 orphanages that apply hot and cold-water supply system, namely
orphanage B and C. The problems faced by both B and C is low or not enough water
pressure and increase in water temperature due to multiple usages simultaneously. The
implications to these problems are risk of injury due to extremely hot temperatures as
well as it will take a longer usage time per user due to low water pressures.

The possible solution suggested by orphanage B is to upgrade to a more advanced

water supply systems like pressure booster or water pumps to overcome low water
pressure. By upgrading to water boosters, this will also fix the temperature problem,
as low water pressure is the main cause of the increased temperatures. In terms of FM
challenges, the maintenance and outsourcing of these systems plays an important role.

e) Fire protection system

Orphanage A is well equipped in terms of fire protection system. This is due to the
fact that proper facilities management is available. The fire protection system includes
fire extinguishers and fire drills. Other aspects also include having a properly certified
fire marshal team working together with the first aid team on standby.

As for Orphanage B and C, the fire protection systems are only up to par as per the
statutory requirement and the fire safety regulations. Therefore, checks and
maintenance of their respective fire extinguishers are done with checks on a regular
basis.
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However, for orphanage C, being smaller and newer establishment, it needs to apply
a more systematic approach on working on the operations and time management to
ensure a more scheduled maintenance and checks are done accordingly in order to
avoid the risks of mishaps.

f) Boarding Facilities

In General, both orphanages A and B faces problems of worn out boarding facilities,
such as mattresses, lockers, furniture and etc. this would mean that the performance of
the orphanage in terms of vendor and inventory management needs to be on par with
the level of work needed to be done. Both A and B replaces their boarding facilities
when needed. For example, orphanages A and B replaces their mattresses every 2 to 3
years, depending on the wear and tear of said facilities. Orphanage C, being new, has
not faced any problems yet with their current boarding facilities.

The possible solutions suggested by B is to, again, do regular checks on the facilities.
On the other hand, orphanage C suggested that in order to reduce wear and tear of the
boarding facilities, operations management has to be applied whereby the orphans are
to be disciplined.

g) Healthcare facilities

Due to the size and number of orphans in the orphanages A and B, both the orphanages
have sick bays and is used to mainly facilitate any light treatment to the sick or injured
orphans if there is any such occurrence. According to most of the respondents,
healthcare facilities are one of the costliest expenses as it the facilities themselves (first
aid kits) is already costly as it also requires regular replacements. The implications to
these problems are again, cost incurrence. For orphanage C, being a small organization
with few orphans, the healthcare facilities are just the necessities like first aid kit.
Therefore, the challenges for healthcare facilities faced by C is to follow proper
approaches and usage of the first aid kits. In terms of FM challenges, cost management
and safety & security management are the most relevant.
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The possible solutions suggested by orphanage A in terms of overcoming the challenge

is to consider healthcare departments or institutions as a long-term solution provider
by engaging non-governmental organizations as their corporate strategy partner. This
basically means to have health institutions to provide regular charity events
emphasizing on the importance of healthcare.

h) Recreational facilities

For recreational facilities, orphanage A has a play area, a pc lab, a library, canteen, as
well as leisure area. Orphanage B have most of the similar facilities as A, with the
addition of a multi-purpose hall and prayer area. Other than that, the recreational
facilities that orphanage C includes are mostly play areas, which consists of nearby
football fields, basketball fields, etc.
Therefore, in general, all the orphanages do cater for recreational facilities and keeps
their occupants happy and satisfied.

In general, the challenges or problems faced orphanage A with regards to recreational

facilities are maintaining with good and safe ambience. For orphanage B, the
challenges are mostly similar to A, in addition to minimize wear and tear. These
challenges stated, applies the same for orphanage C.

The implications to the challenges faced by each orphanage are mostly similar.
Orphanages A and B face high maintenance costs as well as refurbishments due to
wear and tear of the recreational facilities. For orphanage C on the other hand, costs
and expenses does not highly impact them, as most of the facilities shared with the
residential areas.

In order to overcome, orphanage A suggested corporates or sports complex to be a

partner of other non-governmental organizations including orphanages to provide
services or sponsors of the related items or expenses. Orphanage B however suggested
to increase the level of supervision during playtime to avoid wear and tear of the
recreational facilities.
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i) Educational Facilities

Educational facilities are only available for the orphanage A and B in which their
facilities include library, study area, homework area, PC lab. Tuition facilities is only
available for Orphanage A only. For orphanage C, their only means of educational
facilities are just the TV and PlayStation.

In terms of sending the orphans to school, only orphanage A and C provides

transportation to school. Orphanage A does not provide transportation to school as the
school is situated just behind the Orphanage. They only provide transportation when
it rains.

For both orphanage A and B, the challenges for the transportation is the high cost of
providing the transport system, and both mentioned that the cost does impact highly
on their profits and loss accounts.

A very interesting suggestion was made by Orphanage A whereby she suggested that
some Teachers training colleges /institutes join hands with NGOs to provide consistent
teaching material and educational advices.

j) Security

The security system in Orphanages A and B consists of security guards as well as

surveillance cameras. All the orphanages have fences surrounding their premises to
evade theft and unnecessary ingress and egress by implementing choke points (limited
entrance points)

k) Staffing

All staffs from the 3 orphanages are committed workers, mostly certified for the
administrative level, managerial level as well as the chef etc. Except for orphanage C,
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in which there are also some volunteers working for the organization, providing
additional aid in operating the orphan age.

As mentioned earlier, the staff to orphan ratio of Orphanages A, B and C are (1:3.1),
(1:5.6) and (1:5.5) respectively. It is interesting to note that the smallest orphanage,
i.e. A, has got the lowest staff to orphan ratio, which is good compared to the other 2
orphanages, as it decreases the number of unattended orphans. For this matter, it can
be assumed that the orphans are being well cared for and given more attention and
time comparing to the other 2 i.e. orphanage B and C.
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4.4 Summary of Key Results

This summary merges and generalizes the answers from the 3 respondents,
highlighting the most relevant issues, for a more simplified overview of said findings.

Table 4.1: Summary of Key Results

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CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION

5.1 Conclusion

This chapter concludes the research discussing on the challenges, implications as well
as solutions on facilities management in orphanages namely orphanage A, B and C.

As have been mentioned earlier, facilities management is quite a new field in the
country. However, most of the facilities in organizations have so far been managed by
the organization itself fully or some of it has been outsourced. In the earlier days, the
facility managers are normally the supervisors or manager himself doing the necessary
rounds, maintaining and checking schedules, ensuring that all facilities like the
electrical supplies, the air conditioning system, the fire safety and security, the
educational, recreational facilities and all those human and financial resources are
managed well.

Later, when the field of facilities management has been introduced into the country,
organizations have started employing well trained professional facilities manager or
make their supervisor manager be the facility manager for their organization.

Facilities management in the 3 Orphanages understudy can be said to be fairly good.

It is obvious that the challenges faced are quite the same but due to the size, years of
establishment and also the staffing availability and availability of funds, then the way
each orphanage get implicated by the challenges are different. Therefore, the suggested
solutions are also different. It can be seen that the bigger and more established
orphanages gave solutions of a more macro perspective compared to the smaller
orphanage. This goes to show that all the common challenges in FM had somehow or
rather in their own way affect orphanages. These are: cost management, operations
and time management, vendor and inventory management, resource management,
safety and security management.

In conclusion, the objectives of this research;

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- To identify the challenges affecting the success on FM in the orphanages

- To understand the implications based on the challenges affecting the success on
FM
- To suggest or recommend solutions to the challenges affecting the success on FM
have been met via the study done on the 3 orphanages concerned.

5.2 Recommendation

In order to ensure the productivity and efficiency of the orphanage services in the
country, it is recommended that orphanages are to have facility managers attached to
their organizations or outsource facility management services. This is to evade
unnecessary increase costs incurred.

The idea by the director of orphanage A in terms of their educational facilities should
be taken up to the higher authorities. This idea is to join efforts with teachers training
colleges and institutes in order to facilitate the educational aspects of the orphans, as
this would not only help the teachers be responsible to help the poor and needy but
also helps the orphans to excel in their studies which would consequently help the
country and in the long term to the nation as a whole.

Finally, it is recommended that all orphanages should have at least one staff that is
properly trained and attend short courses to carry out facilities management in their
organization
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APPENDIX 1

ORPHANAGE A
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ORPHANAGE B
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ORPHANAGE C
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APPENDIX 2: STRUCTURED INTERVIEW QUESTIONS (GUIDE)

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APPENDIX 3: TABULATIONS OF RESPONSES

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