Abstract

Purpose: In a fiercely competitive post-recession business climate facilities management companies have to do more than deliver sustainable services to clients, they also have to stay in business and prosper. There is a need for relevant business sustainability aspects to be identified and documented. This paper meets that need.

A literature review, followed by an online survey was used. FM practitioners within the Gulf Cooperation Council region were asked about their companies’ adoption of sustainability related practices.

The research has enabled the identification of key sustainability aspects that should be considered by FM leadership teams. Primary research reveals that within the GCC FM community business leaders are failing to identify risk to their businesses while useful guidance in the form of published standards is largely ignored. Sustainability maturity among these companies is generally low. A taxonomy of sustainability aspects is introduced which may be used to guide and support FM companies towards sustainability maturity and also provide the foundation for year-on-year performance improvement.

Primary research was only conducted within the Gulf Cooperation Council region. Future research should consider the wider FM community. A suite of performance indicators for the identified sustainability aspects should be developed.

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