Relating physical and service performance in local government community facilities

Purpose - To examine to what degree good buildings enable the delivery of high quality services. Design/methodology/approach - This paper uses empirical data from a case study of two metropolitan councils in Melbourne, Australia. Both are committed to the strategic management of their community facilities to maximise service outcomes for their constituents. To this end they implemented a strategic tool to measure the facilities' performance, using key performance indicators. Findings - The data indicates a statistically significant correlation of the performance of the physical building and the quality of the service delivered from it, supporting the hypothesis that better physical facilities engender better service outcomes. Research limitations/implications - The implications are that the strategic planning for buildings and services should be undertaken in concert to maximise the enabling effect the physical building has on service performance. While this study concentrates on council buildings, the findings may be equally applicable to other service businesses. Originality/value - This paper has implications for the way facility management practice should be undertaken and fills a knowledge gap about the effect which the quality of the physical surrounds has on the processes taking place within.