A STUDY ON THE TECHNOLOGICAL RISK PERCEPTION OF THE FACILITY MANAGEMENT (FM) INDUSTRY

Abstract

Due to the shift from a traditional industry to an integrated digital system, Building and Construction Authority (BCA) has announced plans to transform the FM industry for it to stay competitive. However, there are limited studies that have been conducted in the area of adopting Integrated Facility Management System (IFMS) in Singapore. Therefore, this research aims to determine the risk perceptions of FM industry with regards to the adoption of IFMS. It also aims to examine the statistical difference between various roles of respondents with the factors affecting their technological risk perception, technological competency, and strategies in enhancing their risk perception for IFMS adoption. A comprehensive literature review was carried out to identify the factors affecting an individual technological risk perception and competency. A survey questionnaire was also formulated to determine the FM employee’s perception towards the adoption of IFMS. A total of 42 responses were collected and analysed using non-parametric tests such as One Sample Wilcoxon Signed-Ranked test and Kruskal Wallis Test. After which, post-interviews were carried out with 4 FM industry professionals to further validate the findings of the results obtained from data analysis. Based on the analysis, the top three factors perceived by respondents to affect their technological risk perception are uncertainty on the usefulness of IFMS, uncertainty on the reliability of IFMS, and the amount of experience an individual has with IFMS. The top three hard skills perceived by respondents to affect an individual’s technological competency are skills in operating the IFMS, ability in operating the IFMS, and amount of experience with IFMS. The top three soft skills are adaptability to work with IFMS, resilience to learn new technology, and optimism in the positive effect of IFMS. Finally, the top three strategies perceived by respondents to improve an individual’s technological risk perception are grants and incentives, formal and specialized training, and proper onthe-job training. The findings obtained from the data analysis will provide the local FM industry with comprehensive information on the possible factors that affect the risk perception of employees when adopting IFMS. This research will also introduce several strategies with ii hopes to improve the employee’s risk perception and increase the adoption rate of IFMS over the next few years.