Significant factors influencing outsourcing decision for facilities management (FM) services: A study on Nigeria’s public hospitals

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate and conceptualise significant factors influencing decision to outsource facilities management (FM) services in Nigeria’s public hospitals.Design/methodology/approachData for this study were collected using a cross-sectional questionnaire survey. A total of 85 responses were received from the six states comprising the study area while 11 of them were discarded due to missing data resulting in 74 usable responses. This gave an overall response rate of 61 per cent. Data collected were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics as well as principal component analysis.FindingsFindings revealed that 25 of the 31 factors were significant in explaining the decision to outsource FM service in Nigeria’s public hospitals; while 15 of them grouped into six broad categories were selected based on their factor loadings during further analysis. Besides, it was also established from the study that “to improve performance standard”, “to improve quality of services” and “to improve timely delivery of services” are the top three rated factors.Research limitations/implicationsThe study complements the body of knowledge on “make or buy” decision theory by provided empirical insight into key attributes of outsourcing decision motives for FM services from the point of view of Nigeria’s public sector spectrum that can serve as benchmark for deciding on whether to outsource or not.Practical implicationsThe study also has practical implications. More is now known as a result of this research about what factors constitute drivers for outsourcing FM services within the context of Nigeria’s public hospitals. With an aggregate opinion from 74 public hospitals, the study provides hospital administrators and public managers with a list of prioritised factors for making rational informed decision about outsourcing of services in the hospitals.Originality/valueThe study complements the body of knowledge on “make or buy” decision theory by providing empirical insight into key attributes of outsourcing decision motives for FM services from the point of view of Nigeria’s public healthcare