The strategic role of engineering asset management

The current concept of an asset management (AM) system focuses on the lifecycle of engineered assets and little has been done in the literature on its link to organizational strategy. In this paper, the AM system′s position within an organizational structure and its role in competitive strategy has been explored. Two case studies involving AM have been analyzed using a proposed framework which is comprised of a set of planning and control activities maintaining a control mechanism and a relationship with the strategy-making process. It is argued that the AM system structure and the mechanism play a key role in the organizational strategy. The existence of the AM system is hypothesized by this framework which stipulates the asset performance required for strategic success. The use of this framework allows for conclusions to be drawn on the requirements for building an effective connection between AM activities and strategy development. This connection is achieved through planning and control mechanisms acting on the asset-related activities. On one hand, the effect of inadequate or missing elements of the framework has been shown to result in negative impacts on cost, productivity, quality, business outcomes and ultimately strategy achievement. On the other hand, the existence of elements of this framework has been shown to have positive impacts on strategy achievement.