Lessons and issues for defining “facilities management” from hospitality management

The growth of facility or facilities management as an academic discipline and a set of “real world” practices has been accompanied by continuing uncertainty as to how the field should be defined. That this issue remains a “live” one is reflected in the various academic and professional commentaries on the subject. Explores the nature of facilities management in the context of vocational education and draws parallels with the field of hospitality management which has experienced comparative debates about scope and meaning. Existing perspectives on the definition of facilities management are reviewed and examination is made as to how intellectual linkages may be established with broader issues in the development of non‐traditional fields of study. Concludes with consideration of one model for resolving the apparent tensions attendant on defining facilities management involving separation of the conceptual meaning of the terms “facility” and “facilities” from the set of practices that constitute “facilities management”.