The mediation effects of finance on the relationship between service quality and performance of hospital facilities management services

Purpose With rising health-care costs and the financial constraints in most developing countries, prioritization of needs have become an issue of strategic importance in public hospitals. As a result, there is the intense competition of scare resources between core health care and non-core facilities management (FM) services. Given that financial resources are needed to facilitate the smooth operation of the FM department, this paper aims to investigate the direct and indirect effects of finance on the relationship between service quality and performance of hospital FM services. Design/methodology/approach The paper adopts a quantitative approach following a general questionnaire survey which was conducted on the research population. Partial least squares structural equation modelling was used to investigate the relationships between service quality and performance of hospital FM services. Findings The study highlights the relevance of service quality to improving FM performance and demonstrate the direct and indirect influence of finance to ensure quality FM services delivery to improve core health care outcomes in hospitals. Practical implications The result of this study should motivate hospital management to prioritize attention on FM in scare resources management in public hospitals to create and maintain a decent health-care environment for better health outcomes. Further, managerial commitment to facilitate employee training, empowerment, incentives, awards and compensation should be strengthened in the quest of ensuring quality services delivery. Originality/value The paper extends knowledge by mediating the influence of finance on the relationship between service quality and FM performance. Proposes a parsimonious financial mediation framework which can easily be adaptable to several developing countries health-care FM management.