Development of an asset management implementation reference model and effective change management strategies for transportation agencies

The implementation of Transportation Asset Management (TAM) requires a series of changes in specific management methods, organizational structure, and the overall approach to transportation investment decisions. The implementation requires, not only a clear understanding of all key activities representing the desired maturity of asset management, but also a commitment to change management and an organizational will to adopt a systematic new way of doing business. Implementing asset management involves organizational transformation, impacting many key business processes such as strategic planning and performance measures. Change management plays a major role in the implementation of transportation asset management.;Transportation agencies around the world are expected to realize the benefits of implementing transportation asset management for the strategic management of infrastructure assets. However, lack of formal guidelines for implementing asset management has produced mixed results and levels of success. This thesis develops a reference model for implementing asset management. The Asset Management Implementation Reference Model (AMIREM) standardizes the implementation of asset management by defining and structuring all key activities that must be carried out for successful implementation. The reference model provides a guide to move agencies already doing asset management to higher levels of maturity in asset management.;By standardizing and defining all key business processes required to carry out comprehensive asset management, the developed reference model provides a practical tool to transportation agencies that are planning to implement or improve their asset management. Starting at the corporate level framework (key blocks or high level activities), the business processes are defined to three levels of detail, thereby facilitating the agency's procedure of scoping, communicating and guiding their implementation plans with very specific and quantifiable representation of the process.;The second part of the thesis examines various change management strategies. It compiles and presents lessons learnt during the asset management implementation process from transportation agencies in North America. Implementation lessons from 21 agencies in the USA and Canada was gathered using a structured questionnaire. (The sample size was limited since only about 30 agencies in USA and Canada have or are currently implementing asset management.) The questionnaire data quantifies some of the key challenges that agencies may or must face during the implementation process. Some of the suggested solutions to those challenges are also presented in this thesis. The thesis concludes with a summary of best practices for change management strategies -- that will be very valuable to agencies undertaking asset management implementation.