Asset Management Organizations Research Articles

Semantic knowledge models for decision making in asset management: IM‐SAFE Knowledge Base

AbstractAgainst the backdrop of physical ageing, asset management organizations not only struggle with scattered object‐related data across incompatible software and models, but also dispersed, often missing, insights from domain experts. There is a large volume of data already available particularly at National Road Authorities i.e. object characteristics, inspection and measurement results, usage records. Yet this data is distributed, has complex and varying structures, it takes cumbersome effort to find and obtain for a particular asset management decision. Semantic knowledge models aim to capture domain information and represent it via class definitions, their attributes, relationships and in instances. Such models are used to create knowledge bases, where different technologies are utilized. In the IM‐SAFE project, a knowledge base is created based on a Semantic Wiki Platform. It captures asset information concerning their structural analysis and state on 99 civil structures across Europe. In this paper, a step‐by‐step methodology is provided to build the knowledge base. The paper involves knowledge acquisition, data collection, knowledge modelling, populating datasets and quality assurance steps. It will conclude future implications to make the base expandable and widely used for asset management.

Maturity Improvements in Flood Protection Asset Management across the North Sea Region

North Sea Region countries depend heavily on flood protection infrastructure, such as dikes, dams, sluices and flood gates. Knowledge on where, when and how much to invest to ensure functioning is of crucial importance for asset owners and operators. This requires asset management approaches that are adaptable, respond to feedback and function within various contexts. The FAIR (Flood defense infrastructure Asset management & Investment in Renovation, adaptation, optimisation and maintenance) project has developed a unique framework to ensure that asset management processes are adaptive, comprehensive and make effective connections across strategic, tactical and operational contexts. The framework has for the first time informed an assessment of maturity of five flood protection asset management organisations in the North Sea Region, using a seven-factor maturity assessment model. This paper describes the self-assessment process and the self-reported maturity changes during the project. Maturity assessments were undertaken on two occasions, at the start of the project, and again toward the end. This has revealed how the baseline level of maturity for each organisation developed over the course of the three-year project. The observed maturity changes indicate that adopting the FAIR framework has added value in improving current approaches to asset management.

A study on the CAPM and its extensions in perceptive of Pakistani asset management organisations

This paper explains about the capital asset pricing model (CAPM), its capability and its implication in the real-world data. To crave this thirst, we form this study by using the earlier CAPM approaches (Lintner, 1965; Sharpe, 1964) that are also employed by many latest researches. Though there is a lot of literature available on the extensions of the CAPM, still there is no consensus in the literature with respect to what a reasonable proportion of risk is, and therefore, regarding what is an appropriate measure for assessing risk-adjusted performance. Along these lines, the mission for robust asset pricing models proceeds. Owed to this, we chose five asset managing organisations for the Pakistani stock market KSE 100 Index for the time period of 2012 to 2015. We also employed descriptive test and robust test ratio on our selected data. The finding of the research shows a significant result and suggested the good performance of assets management organisations.

A study on the CAPM and its extensions in perceptive of Pakistani asset management organisations

A study on the CAPM and its extensions in perceptive of Pakistani asset management organisations

Next Generation Data Infrastructures: Towards an Extendable Model of the Asset Management Data Infrastructure as Complex Adaptive System

Organizations are increasingly looking to adopt the Internet of Things (IoT) to collect the data required for data-driven decision-making. IoT might yield many benefits for asset management organizations engaged in infrastructure asset management, yet not all organizations are equipped to handle this data. IoT data is collected, stored, and analyzed within data infrastructures and there are many changes over time, resulting in the evolution of the data infrastructure and the need to view data infrastructures as complex adaptive systems (CAS). Such data infrastructures represent information about physical reality, in this case about the underlying physical infrastructure. Physical infrastructures are often described and analyzed in literature as CASs, but their underlying data infrastructures are not yet systematically analyzed, whereas they can also be viewed as CAS. Current asset management data models tend to view the system from a static perspective, posing constraints on the extensibility of the system, and making it difficult to adopt new data sources such as IoT. The objective of the research is therefore to develop an extensible model of asset management data infrastructures which helps organizations implement data infrastructures which are capable of evolution and aids the successful adoption of IoT. Systematic literature review and an IoT case study in the infrastructure management domain are used as research methods. By adopting a CAS lens in the design, the resulting data infrastructure is extendable to deal with evolution of asset management data infrastructures in the face of new technologies and new requirements and to steadily exhibit new forms of emergent behavior. This paper concludes that asset management data infrastructures are inherently multilevel, consisting of subsystems, links, and nodes, all of which are interdependent in several ways.

Using data to explore trends in bridge performance

Asset management organisations collect large quantities of data on the inventory, condition and maintenance of their bridge structures. A key objective in the collection of these asset data is that these can be processed into useful information that can inform best practice for the design of new structures and the management of existing stocks. As a leading bridge asset owner, Highways England, UK, is applying insights from mining of its asset data to contribute to continual improvement in the management of structures and its understanding of their performance. This paper presents the application of modern data science tools and optimal decision tree learning to Highways England’s asset information database comprising bridge inventory, inspection records and historic and current defects for its stock of thousands of bridges. Trends are observed in the factors affecting the current condition of bridges and their rate of deterioration. Optimal decision trees are used to identify the most influential factors in the performance of bridge structures and present complex multifactor trends in a format readily digested by managers and decision makers, to inform standards and policy.

The importance of informal professional networks in developing a proactive organizational culture: a public value perspective

Public value theory was used by the authors to investigate informal professional networks, perceived discretionary power, and the organizational culture that forms in physical asset management organizations. The results, from a structural equation model, indicated that informal professional networks are positively associated with higher discretionary power and a proactive asset maintenance organizational culture. In the absence of public managers promoting public value, professionals use their informal networks as a source of power to be proactive and contribute to asset reliability and public safety (public value).

Organizational competency in urban water infrastructure asset management

This paper presents an organizational performance measurement framework for guiding the development of organizational competencies to manage water infrastructure assets. The framework was validated through interviews and surveys with professionals. The framework includes three major dimensions for competency: technical activities, organizational management, and information and knowledge management. Across these levels, it presents 11 core critical success factors. It also provides a set of quantitative performance measures for municipal asset management teams and organizations. The framework serves as means to guide public policy makers in establishing policies and guidelines for enhancing municipal capacity in project management in the context of infrastructure assets. It also can help municipalities in defining gaps and areas of improvement. The framework is not intended to be universal. No model can make this claim given the drastic differences in legal and political setting in different jurisdictions. The proposed framework, however, can serve as a benchmark for other work in related contexts.

Safety outcomes for engineering asset management organizations: Old problem with new solutions?

The issue of safety and longevity of engineering assets is of increasing importance because of their impact when disasters happen. This paper addresses a literature gap by examining the role of workplace relationships in employees' safety behaviour, and builds on the Resilience Engineering (RE) framework by examining some organisational culture factors affecting how employees behave. A Social Exchange framework is used to examine the impact of supervisor-employee relationships, employee commitment to safety practices, and the type of maintenance culture upon employees’ commitment to safety and safety outcomes. Survey data from 284 technical and engineering employees in engineering asset management organisations within Australia were analyzed using Structural Equation Modelling (SEM). Effective employee relationships with management and a proactive maintenance culture were associated with employee commitment to safety culture and safety outcomes. The findings provide empirical support for embedding an effective organisational culture focused on a proactive maintenance approach, along with ensuring employees are committed to safety processes, to ensure safety outcomes and also asset longevity. One study contribution is that good safety outcomes do not develop in a vacuum; instead they are built on effective workplace relationships. Therefore, SET helps to explain the forming of effective safety culture.

NPM and change management in asset management organisations

Purpose – Effective engineering asset management is essential in delivering public services safely whilst avoiding breakdowns and accidents. The purpose of this paper is to ensure asset safety and sustainability, public sector firms have to adopt new processes and practices. It is the role of supervisors to implement the changes, and as part of the new public management (NPM) public sector reforms, public sector asset managers have more discretionary power to implement further changes related to increased accountability. Design/methodology/approach – The paper explores the impact of management practices on supervisor-employee relationships and employees’ perception of autonomy, employees’ attitudes towards change and their perceptions of organisational culture within Australian public sector engineering asset management organisations, and in the context of NPM reforms and consequent changes in supervisory discretionary power. Social exchange theory provided the theoretical framework and a self-report surv...

The ISO 55 00X Asset Management Standard

Asset management (AM) is the core business function of grid-based asset management organizations (GAMO). GAMO are looking for compliance with a new international AM standard (ISO 55 000). Currently, a limited perspective – consisting of New Public Management (NPM) and project management (PM) – provides meaning for the new AM standard. However, the limited perspective is not sufficient in aligning AM / GAMO with energy transition and environmental management successfully. The article is aiming at enabling the ISO AM standard to become a co-creational force in energy transition and environmental management. Based on professional engagement and substantial literature review the article employs ‚reflective practice' and causal loop diagrams to identify and elaborate issues of concern that need to be addressed by an enriched perspective on ISO AM: 1) organizational ‚line of sight' (complement key performance indicators with evidence-based causal relationships), 2) control of work (complement formal institutions with AM professionalism), 3) management accounting (advance decision support for the management of the capex/opex relationship), 4) transition modeling (advance agent-based models of AM), and 5) the sustainable management of the resource soil (assess the ecosystem services/disservices that arise from underground urban space use by GAMO during transition times).

Towards Modelling Data Infrastructures in the Asset Management Domain

More and more asset management organizations are relying on trusted data to drive their decision making process. Yet little systematic research has been performed regarding the generation of trusted data. Trusted data has a clear, defined and consistent quality which meets the expectations of the user. The aim of the research presented in this paper is to develop a conceptual model to support asset management organizations with regards to their development of data infrastructures which produce trusted data and provide organizations with the capability to make the right decisions at the right time. The autonomous characteristics of agent-based systems and process orientation of discrete-event simulation are combined in our conceptual model. In this way both the autonomous social behavior of organizations and their business processes can be modelled. Several predefined components containing the behavior of agents through various coordination mechanisms have been developed. These components can be further customized to model an empirical situation more closely. The approach is illustrated with a case study in the asset management domain.

Importance of Workplace Relationships and Attitudes toward Organizational Change in Engineering Asset-Management Organizations

Effective asset management is an important factor that can affect public well-being by reducing accidents and break-downs in public utilities. To be effective, asset managers, engineers, and technicians must be open to the continuous change involved in adopting best practice in the industry. The paper examined the impact of workplace relationships (perceived organizational support and leader-member exchange) on attitudes toward organizational change, affective commitment, and psychological well-being for Australian asset managers, engineers, and technicians working in physical asset management. Social exchange theory provided the theoretical framework, and a self-report survey was administered to examine 255 asset managers, asset management engineers, and asset management maintenance employees. The major findings from a structural equation model indicate that perceived organizational support was positively correlated with an employee’s attitude toward organizational change, and supervisor-subordinate relationships and perceived organizational support were positively correlated with an employee’s emotional attachment to the organization. Perceived organizational support, attitude toward organizational change, and affective commitment were positively correlated with employee psychological well-being. The implication of the findings is that Australian engineering asset management employees’ well-being and attitude toward organizational change is influenced more by their relationship with the organization, compared with the relationship with their supervisor. This research provides support for management seeking to enhance employee attitudes toward organizational change and employee outcomes in physical asset management organizations.

Building a Proactive, Engagement Culture in Asset Management Organizations

This study developed a path model to examine the impact of perceived organizational support and leader-member exchange on organizational culture within asset management organizations in Australia. Additionally, a path from organizational culture to employee engagement was also examined. Survey responses from 90 technical and engineering employees within asset management organizations were analyzed using partial least squares modeling. The results provide support that perceived organizational support and leader-member exchange were positively and significantly related to organizational culture and that organizational culture was positively and significantly related to employee engagement. As a result, the findings from this study provide asset managers with insights to assist the movement from reactive to proactive organizational cultures and to enhance the engagement of asset management engineering and technical employees with optimizing the performance and competitiveness of their organizations.

Culture Change for Effective Engineering Asset Management Organizations

Using the competing values framework (CVF) as an organizational culture lens, this study analyses current organizational cultures and identifies strategies and actions for effective change in Austr...

Definition of generic re-use operating models for electrical and electronic equipment

This paper aims to define a typology for the most common re-use operating models for electrical and electronic equipment (EEE). The scope of the study is Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) and Large Household Appliances (LHA). To describe and categorize re-use operating models, an analytical framework was defined, which consists of the four dimensions supply chain, offer, customers and financial structure. Based on this framework, standardized telephonic and personal interviews were conducted with 28 case study partners.Four re-use operating models for ICT and LHA were identified:•The Networking Equipment Recovery Model•The IT Asset Management Model•The Close the Digital Divide Model•The Social Enterprise ModelThe first two models are for-profit, whereas the last two are not-for-profit. Moreover, models differ in terms of customer segments and products and services offered to these customers. The Networking Equipment Model processes Information Technology Networking Equipment for original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) as main customers. IT Asset Management organizations specialize in refurbishment of desktop and notebook computers for resale to distributors and retailers. The Close the Digital Divide Model provides used computers to eligible recipients in developing countries. Social Enterprises prepare computers and peripherals or large household appliances for re-use and sell them through retail shops to individual users.The identified models constitute generic ways to structure re-use operations along the four dimensions of the analytical framework (“supply chain”, “offer”, “customers”, “finance”). Different entities can utilize one or multiple combinations of these models.

Managing the Implementation of Business Intelligence Systems

The implementation of a BI system is a complex undertaking requiring considerable resources. Yet there is a limited authoritative set of CSFs for management reference. This article represents a first step of filling in the research gap. The authors utilized the Delphi method to conduct three rounds of studies with 15 BI system experts in the domain of engineering asset management organizations. The study develops a CSFs framework that consists of seven factors and associated contextual elements crucial for BI systems implementation. The CSFs are committed management support and sponsorship, business user-oriented change management, clear business vision and well-established case, business-driven methodology and project management, business-centric championship and balanced project team composition, strategic and extensible technical framework, and sustainable data quality and governance framework. This CSFs framework allows BI stakeholders to holistically understand the critical factors that influence implementation success of BI systems.

From Skill-Based to Solution-Based Investment Management

This paper analyses the implications of a low return environment in asset markets, for the investment model and product structure of asset management organizations, and the evolution necessary in asset owner allocation processes in order to continue meeting return requirements. We discuss how the investment and product structure of commercial organizations needs to evolve to a solution-based approach, where the emphasis is on inefficiencies rather than product segments. Further, we propose that a strategy allocation process in total return space should determine the asset allocation to strategies, active or passive, rather than segmenting them into beta-based allocation processes and alpha based product selection processes.

Financial securities transactions: a study of logistic process performance improvements

The goal of this paper is to develop a better understanding of the intra- and inter-organisational processes related to financial securities transactions, and, ultimately, to provide guidelines for the design of inter-organisational systems in information-intensive markets and networks. A framework is presented to evaluate the influence of eight factors on the performance of the securities transaction process. These factors are stakeholders, competition, information technology, market network design, perceived risk, process design, information, and trust. The framework is used in a case study of one of Europe's largest asset management organisations (the Robeco Group). It is concluded that improvement of the logistic process for securities transactions implies a balancing act between process design, risk perception of the stakeholders and trust.