Development of an asset management strategy for a network utility company: Lessons from a dynamic business simulation approach

Abstract

Due to market deregulation, network utility companies are forced to transform their asset management to provide better-than-required service quality and maximize financial performance. The author uses a dynamic business simulation (DBS) - a modeling and simulation approach based on system dynamics - to support development of asset management strategies at a couple of network utility companies. The author describes the background and design steps of the DBS approach and evaluates its effectiveness in supporting development of the asset management strategy for one network utility company in the Netherlands, as well as its capacity to become a part of that company's business capabilities. © 2005 Sage Publications.