Data collection and analysis method

There are three stages in the data collection and analysis method. i) Mechanism for administering the surveys

The Delphi surveys will be administered using e-mail. It is a convenient method for the experts to response. Delbecq et al. (1975) estimated that the average Delphi study could take 45 days to 5 months. This assumes a scenario where the panelists are all in one country, and the researchers rely on the postal system to deliver and return the questionnaires. On one hand, postal system of this study utilizes the current convenient electronic e-mail system which can shorten the delivery time of questionnaires during the survey. However, there may be a case that the processing time can be prolonged by human factor. Assuming that a panelist filled out and returned a survey immediately (probably an overly optimistic assumption), it would take about a month to receive the completed questionnaire for analysis, before the next one could be sent out. Considering that the researchers cannot send out the next questionnaire until all the results for a panel are in, such a lag time would be unreasonably long. (Okoli and Pawlowski, 2004)

ii) Administration procedure This involved two phases:

Phase 1: Brainstorming critical success factors for FM outsourcing strategies;

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Phase 2: a) Narrowing down the original list to a consolidated list; and b) finalizing the factors

Phase 1: Initial collection of critical success factors for outsourcing strategies in FM industry (First round)

The first survey will be sent on the same day that an expert agrees to serve on a Delphi panel by e-mail. The Delphi questionnaires will be sent to all the experts without considering their panel at this phase and analyze the results from all experts together. The initial survey for a Delphi survey is very simple, since it consists of a list of critical success factors for outsourcing strategies in FM. To address the first part of the initial survey, this survey will ask the experts to identify the five to ten success factors. It is important that the correspondents give their unique comments. At this time, experts will be able to suggest additional items.

Phase 2a: Validation of critical success factors for outsourcing strategies and identification of the top success factors (Second round)

Since performing the consolidation of the lists before proceeding, a second questionnaire will be sent to validate the consolidated lists of success factors. This survey will list all the consolidated factors obtained from the first survey, counted in percentage. Furthermore, an exact copy of experts’ responses to the first survey will be given to them. This second survey will ask experts to (a) verify the interpretation on their responses correctly; and (b) verify and refine the five to ten success factors as they choose in first part. This step is important for production of a valid and consolidated list. At this time, experts will be able to suggest additional items that they might not have considered initially. Based on their responses, the list will be further refined.

The phase treats the experts as three distinct panels. In brief, panels will narrow down success factors that reflect the perspectives of the constituent stakeholders, and they will then facilitate to achieve consensus (phase 2). Then, a questionnaire for a Delphi survey has to request the respondents to select the top critical success factors on which half or more than half of experts

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selected in each panel. In the second phase that narrows down the list of factors, the target is to understand the outsourcing strategies in FM based on the differing perspectives of various stakeholder groups.

The complete consolidated lists of items will be then presented to each expert within each panel. Each panelist will be asked to review and to validate the lists that they consider important to local FM industry. When all of the panelists have returned their responses, each panel was analyzed separately.

This rigorous process assures that the items in the survey are the most important, and that the ratings are a valid indicator of the relative importance of the various items. Based on these results, theoretical observations from the literature will be able to be reassessed and critical success factors for outsourcing strategies in FM will be offered in propositions.

Phase 2b: Finalizing the critical success factors for outsourcing strategies and validation of the top success factors (Second round)

The goal of this final phase is to reach a consensus of the factors with the outsourcing strategies in FM within each panel. Studies have consistently found that it is difficult to reach consensus with Delphi groups; however, with a panel design it is less difficult to attain consensus because the researchers deliberately select panel members for their homogeneity (Okoli and Pawlowski, 2004). This phase of the procedure will involve each panel separately to give comments on the strategies on each of their distinct pared-down lists. In this phase, each expert will individually be requested to confirm the top critical success factors for outsourcing strategies.

144 Phase Time Schedule

(Total 2 weeks) Steps Phase 1: Brainstorming First Round 1 week

1. For this phase only, treat experts as individuals, not panels

2. To collect five to ten critical success factors for outsourcing strategies in FM industry 3. To consolidate the data from all experts,

regardless of panel Phase 2: Narrowing down and finalizing Second Round 1 week

1. Henceforth to treat experts as two distinct panels

2. To send consolidated lists to experts for validation of the critical success factors 3. To select the top critical success factors (Equal or more than 50% experts in selection in each panel)

4. To confirm the top critical success factors in outsourcing strategies in each panel Table 5.5 - Delphi study administration process

iii) General survey design issues

Considering that a Delphi study, with its multiple steps and iterations, is considerably more time-intensive for the respondents than a traditional survey, one objective will be to ensure that no single survey should take more than 5 min to complete.