SPACE MANAGEMENT PRACTICE OF IT COMPANIES IN SINGAPORE

Abstract

The lack of local studies pertaining to the practice of space management is the prime motivator for this study. The importance of effective space management is underlined by the changing nature of office work. It is also important to remember that space is not a free good and is in fact, a very costly item in Singapore. In a typical organization, the provision, servicing and maintenance of accommodation is the second largest cost it has to bear. Without efficient space management, the resources tied up in a company's asset may not be used to best effect with increased unit costs. Reducing building costs by using space more efficiently can release funds for other important activities. Alternative Workplace Strategies (AWS) have been developed by innovative companies to cope with the changing organization and several studies have been done abroad to assess the effectiveness of AWS. The author considered it timely to conduct a survey on how IT companies in Singapore implement space management in the first place and whether AWS practices are being adopted to cope with the changing nature of office work. The findings found that most of the surveyed companies have been practicing space management for more than a year with more than a third of them practicing space management for more than five years. This shows that space management is not a new thing to the industry. Cellular office plan is also the most widely implemented office layout with hoteling a close second. However, staff involvement is lacking in the space management development and implementation process. Employees are not enlightened through published guidelines and thus, there may be unhappiness and misapprehension when told to move or when the furniture is being reconfigured. More efforts are required to involve and keep the staff posted of this FM function.