Chasing the mirage: managing facilities in a virtual world

This paper is a consolidation of the keynote address given to the BIFM Annual Conference and Research Forum held at the University of Warwick in September 1999 in which the authors sought to identify the underlying forces influencing FM’s global development. They argue that radical movements in demand side organisational structures are bringing about fundamental change in the relationship between businesses and their supporting infrastructure and that, if FM is to generate an ability to enhance business performance via the effective application of infrastructure resources, then it will have to be able to respond positively to this new landscape. This will involve re‐evaluation of the structure that supports FM development, including the system for producing FM knowledge, and implies new models that integrate research and practice.