Behavioural preferences for engineering asset management

Abstract

The essence of managing engineered physical assets that form our built environment is to provide benefits to satisfy the continuum of constraints imposed by rapidly changing business strategy, economy, ergonomics, operational and technical integrity, and regulatory compliance. Innovative approaches to enhance and sustain the profile of values required from these assets demands a shift in thinking styles, cognitive and mental processing modes, and the attitudes of engineering professionals if they are to be effective in asset management occupations. This paper describes the results of a 2005 survey of 190 practicing engineers to ascertain what thinking styles should determine behavioural preferences for managers of engineered physical assets. The study confirms other results from cognitive theory and psychology, highlighting the top ten thinking styles as ranked by survey respondents. The paper provides a strategic view of engineering asset management (EAM) within the context of innovation, with particular focus on behavioural alignment towards the modern era of innovation, knowledge and learning economy. © Springer 2010.