Exploring the brokerage potential of facilities manager in hospitals

Facilities management is about integrating knowledge from different functional groups to support the core business of an organisation. The research described in this paper explores the proposition that Facilities Managers should act as information brokers in hospital organisations. Using a case study approach, it presents a social network analysis of a group of non-clinical support services within a Sydney Metropolitan hospital. The relative position of the facilities manager within the social network is highlighted in relation to different functional departments. The results indicate that the facilities manager was positioned strategically within the communication network structure which facilitates identification of inter-disciplinary opportunities between diverse support functions. It is concluded that there is significant potential for Facilities Managers to perform an important brokerage role between different functional departments in hospital organisations.