Best practice engineering asset cultures : a pilot study

Abstract

engineering and maintenance departments. Those wishing to implement contemporary maintenance regimes (e.g. Condition Based Maintenance) are often encouraged to develop "appropriate cultures" to support the new method's introduction. Unfortunately these same publications often fail to articulate the cultural values required to support the efforts of those behind the implementation. In the broader literature only a limited
number of case examples document the cultural values held by engineering asset intensive firms and how they contribute to their success (or failure). Consequently a gap exists in our knowledge of what engineering cultures currently are, and what might constitute a best practice engineering asset culture. We report the findings of a pilot study investigating the perceived ideal characteristics of engineering asset cultures.
Engineering managers, consultants and academics (n=47) were surveyed as to what they saw were essential attributes of both engineering cultures and of engineering asset personnel. Valued cultural elements included those orientated around safety and quality and commercial orientations. Valued individual attributes included
openness to change, interpersonal skills and contentiousness. The paper concludes with a discussion regarding the development of a best practice cultural framework.