Facilities management model for state mosque in Peninsular Malaysia

Abstract

Since the beginning of Islam, mosque has become a focal point of the religion where it serves as the place for worshipping, a centre of education, economic pursuit, community services and spiritual. However, the scope of mosque functions has become limited with rapid growth of world development due to several factors. In short, capacity of congregational and facilities that related to hygiene, safety and space utilisation has become among the issues that receiving close review in Malaysia. Based on the issues, the question arises on the capabilities of mosque management that require improvement to be more professional. Reviews of literature suggested that Facilities Management (FM) approach has the potential to be incorporated in the management of mosque. This study aims to examine the implementation of FM process in mosque in supporting the achievement of mosque’s functions. The objectives of this study were to determine the elements of FM process implemented in mosque, to develop FM process model for mosque and to validate the FM process model. To achieve these objectives, the study adopted mixed methods approach. The study was situated within pragmatism paradigm which emphasised on qualitative approach. The implementation of FM process from 12 state mosques in Peninsular Malaysia were investigated using questionnaire survey, semi-structured interview and focus group discussion. Descriptive statistics were used to analyse the questionnaire survey data with Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software whilst interview data were analysed using content analysis software, namely NVivo. Results from the questionnaire survey revealed that, 50 per cent of the mosque has implemented most of the FM process model elements whereas other mosque still need further improvement to ensure the standards of FM process model is achieved. The results indicated that there is potential for improvement in mosque that possesses low position in implementing elements of FM process model. Results from interview revealed that FM has been implemented in mosque; though not exclusively and extensively. Furthermore, the results from interview derived four layers of FM process for mosque: elements, sub-elements, indicators and attributes. The study has developed and validated a model of FM process for state mosque in which it was divided into five key steps. Step 1 is FM formulation strategy, Step 2 is requirement analysis of services, Step 3 is solutions development, Step 4 is solutions implementation of services delivery and Step 5 is monitoring service provision, followed by the total number of 22 sub-elements, 60 indicators and 119 attributes. FM processes model developed in this research is necessarily important in contributing to the efficiency and effectiveness in managing mosque facilities.