Critical factors that influence the effectiveness of facility maintenance management practice in public university buildings in Ethiopia: an exploratory factor analysis

Abstract

Facility maintenance management (FMM) is essential for ensuring long-term values and to sustain project goals throughout the life cycle delivery process. However, in underdeveloped nations such as Ethiopia, facility maintenance management is an immature and underutilised process that requires a holistic intervention for practical improvement. The main aim of this study was to identify and prioritise critical factors that affect the effectiveness of FMM, with a focus on public universities in Ethiopia. Initially, a total of thirty-three (33) crucial variables were identified with a systematic literature review and desk study. To collect primary data, a survey research design approach was utilised using questionnaires and informant interviews. A total of seventy-five (75) data sets were obtained from 180 online surveys for conducting exploratory factor analysis (EFA). The outcome of the study revealed thirteen (13) critical attributes grouped into four factors that affect the effectiveness of facility maintenance management practises. The final four-factor model includes F1, internal processes and organisation; F2, community culture, learning, and growth; F3, impacts of design and construction quality; and F4, facility maintenance approach and management. This study indicated that facility maintenance management practises in public universities in Ethiopia are immature and require extensive enhancement. The identified influencing factors highlight the need for a comprehensive intervention to promote improved facility maintenance management practises and applications in Ethiopia. Further research is needed to analyse a wider range of attributes and data using confirmatory factor analysis.

Keywords:

• Facility maintenance management (FMM)
• critical factors
• underdeveloped nations
• public universities
• exploratory factor analysis (EFA)

REVIEWING EDITOR:

• Sanjay Kumar Shukhla, Associate Professor and Program Leader, School of Engineering, Edith Cowan University, Australia

SUBJECTS:

• Engineering Management
• Civil, Environmental and Geotechnical Engineering
• Building and Construction
• Building Project Management
• Building Regulations
• Building Services Engineering

Acknowledgments

Chair of construction Engineering and Management, Faculty of Civil Engineering Bauhaus Universität-Weimar and the Ethiopian Institute of Architecture, Building Construction, and City Development (EiABC) were honoured for their financial support during the study.

Authors’ contribution

Muluken Tilahun Desbalo: substantially contributions and designed the study, collected, and analysed data, and wrote the initial draft of the manuscript. Asregidew Kassa Woldesenbet: Contributed to critically review the manuscript for intellectual content and enhanced the final draft of the manuscript. Mitiku Damtie Yehualaw: Provided expertise in statistical analysis, assisted in data interpretation, and critically reviewed and edited the manuscript and final approval of the manuscript to be published. Professor Dr. Ing. Hans-Joachim Bargstädt: critically reviewed and edited the manuscript and final approval of the manuscript to be published.

Disclosure statement

There are no potential financial or non-financial conflicts of interest related to this research, its funding, or the publication of this article.

Data availability statement

The data supporting the results of this study are available and can be viewed upon request from the corresponding author.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Muluken Tilahun Desbalo

Muluken Tilahun is currently a lecturer at the Ethiopian Institute of Architecture Building Construction and City Development in Ethiopia. He is a Ph.D. candidate with keen interest in post-construction maintenance and building information modelling. His dissertation focuses on the development of mechanisms to evaluate building maintenance management performance under budget constraints. Muluken Tilahun has been a dedicated research fellow at Bauhaus University in Weimar, Germany, since 2019. He obtained a Master and bachelor’s degree in civil engineering with specialisation in Construction Management from Adama University, Ethiopia in 2010 and 2006 respectively. His research interests include project management, building information modelling, building maintenance and multi-criteria decision making.