On the ranking of critical success factors The role of cost efficiency and score uncertainty for public facilities management

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to discuss rankings of critical success factors (CSFs) from survey data, both with respect to what information such rankings should be based on and how to evaluate and interpret uncertainty from sampling errors. Design/methodology/approach - The authors conducted a survey on CSFs in public facilities management. The survey data set covers two-thirds of all Norwegian local governments and 80 per cent of the Norwegian population. The authors analyze the data using basic statistics and bootstrap sampling techniques. Findings - Rankings of CSFs are sensitive to the information one chooses to collect in the survey. With the survey data, the authors show that the typical approach of inquiring about importance of various factors leads to a different ranking of factors than if one inquires about cost efficiency. The authors further consider a ranking that reflects all information in the data; the authors look in particular at a ranking with equal weights to importance and cost efficiency. The authors also find that many factors, when controlling for sampling error, should be ranked equally, and that further considerations need to be consulted when priorities are decided. Originality/value - The authors demonstrate the effect of cost efficiency and uncertainty considerations on rankings of CSFs for facilities management. The study paves the way for a broader and more comprehensive perspective on CSFs and what these factors should and could reflect.