Factors Influencing Office Building Occupation Decision by Tenants ...

Factors Influencing Office Building Occupation Decision by Tenants in Kuala Lumpur city centre – a Delphi Study(This study, 2009)Toilet & Sanitary Facilities; Air-conditioning system; Electricitysystem; Modern IT & Telecommunication system; Buildingautomation & Energy Management System; Fire fighting system;Adequacy of Ventilation; Standby Power Supply; EnergyGenerating Capacity; Control of M & E Services; Control of NoiseEase of Use of Entrance; Entrance Capacity; Location of Lifts,Stairs & Corridor; Capacity of Lifts; Speed of Lifts; PassengerLifts Performance & Control; Good Lifts & Loading Bay Design;Capacity of Stairs; Adequacy of Good; Access & Circulationfeature; Capacity of Corridors for movement; No of Car Parks;Car park ingress/egress to/from building; Building Way findinge.g. Building Directory/Signage; Ease of Disabled Circulation;Food & Beverage outlets; Sport & Recreational facilities;Landscaping; Bank, Postal & Retail Services; Provision ofVending & Catering Services; Conference facilitiesforecasting (Fowles, 1978). Since the1950s several research studies have usedthe Delphi method, particularly in publichealth issues and education areas (Adlerand Ziglio, 1996; Cornish, 1977).Overview of Delphi MethodFollowing the original method which wasdeveloped in the 1950s, the Delphimethod has evolved and been used acrossdisciplines to reach an outcome based onconsultative basis. It is based on astructured process for collecting andsynthesising knowledge from a group ofexperts by means of a series ofquestionnaires accompanied bycontrolled opinion feedback (Adler andZiglio, 1996). It is also a method forstructuring a group communicationprocess to facilitate group problemsolving and to structure models (Linstone& Turloff, 1975). The method can be usedas a judgment, decision-aiding orforecasting tool (Rowe & Wright, 1999),and can be applied to problems that donot lend themselves to precise analyticaltechniques but rather could benefit fromthe subjective judgments of individualson a collective basis (Adler & Ziglio,1996). The Delphi method is a mature anda very adaptable research method usedin many research arenas by researchersacross the globe. Green and Price (2000)have speculated on the future directionof facilities management using a Delphipanel in the UK. According to Turoff(1970), there are four possible objectivesor secondary goals for any Delphicexercise, namely:1. To explore or expose underlyingassumptions or information leadingto differing judgments;2. To seek out information that maygenerate a consensus of judgment onthe part of the respondent group;3. To correlate informed judgments ona topic spanning a wide range ofdisciplines;4. To educate the respondent group asto the diverse and interrelatedaspects of the topic.73