“Entrepreneurial cooperation” : A model for CREM in times of economic crisis? A case study at Eindhoven University of Technology

Purpose – Total outsourcing is now a common strategy for delivery of building maintenance and facilities services. Standing on the cross roads of “vanish or reinvent oneself” the Maintenance and Control Division of the corporate real estate management (CREM) Service of the Eindhoven University of Technology puts new focus on the operational aspect of CREM and gives less weight to the outside market. Based on engineering management viewpoints on CREM rather than pure economic management viewpoints, the purpose of this paper is to investigate under what conditions a mutual cooperation between in‐house staff and external contractors is successful in implementing new solutions, in effective as well as efficient ways. Design/methodology/approach – A single case methodology in the format of a real business case. Based on theoretical and pragmatic engineering management principles, a business case was developed with the help of a well‐known Business Consultancy. The business case had an interim evaluation and will have a final evaluation. Findings – From the interim evaluation, it can be concluded that the CREM entrepreneurial cooperation is on the right track towards promising results in reaching its efficiency and effectiveness goals. Real cooperation in joint cross‐functional expert teams is felt as experimental and thus time consuming. So CREM entrepreneurial cooperation is only suitable for complex CREM situations where there is a real need for innovative solutions. In spite of this, a sufficient number of large and some international external contractors in diverse aspects of building and building services were willing to participate in CREM entrepreneurial cooperation. In line with the English saying “the proof of the pudding is in the eating”, the official tendering of the next round will prove if the external contractors will be as satisfied as the university with the business case results. Originality/value – The paper offers a non‐conformist view on mainstream outsourcing trends based on engineering management viewpoints on CREM, rather than pure economic management viewpoints. Also, the business case format of the case study is original.