Maintenance performance management in capital intensive organizations

grantor: University of TorontoGiven the significance of maintenance in today's operating environment, excellence in maintenance performance becomes a strategic issue of capital intensive organizations. Managing for excellence needs effective measurement of performance. Whilst organizational performance measurement in general has been discussed extensively in the literature, few of these discussions focus specifically on the maintenance function. The overall objective of this research project is to study the role measurement can play in managing maintenance performance. In the initial phase of the inquiry, eight maintenance organizations in Hong Kong and Canada were visited and interviews were conducted during these visits. Findings from such field work indicate that maintenance organizations seldom measure their performance using a balanced set of indicators, or regard performance measurement as a strategic management tool. An approach that involves the use of strategy driven balanced scorecards, has been proposed to enhance effectiveness of maintenance performance management. Given its novelty, the proposed approach had to be put into practice to validate its efficacy. Two maintenance organizations were involved as collaborating parties in an action research to study the application of balanced scorecards as the tool for managing maintenance performance. Observations from the action research indicate that the initial balanced scorecards developed by maintenance organizations are typically machine-centric, rich in outcome measures but poor in performance drivers, with weak linkage between scorecard measures and the espoused strategy of the maintenance organization. The tools for the design and deployment of the maintenance scorecards, and those for the presentation and analysis of scorecard results were identified and field tested. Conditions conducive to successful applications of balanced scorecards in maintenance organizations are found to include: existence of a participative and social process, widespread understanding of the balanced scorecard concept, the maintenance strategy is widely communicated, the momentum of change is sustained, and the support infrastructure is in tune with the espoused strategy. Two propositions are derived from the results of the action research viz: Proposition 1--' Maintenance performance management is emphasized in organizations where maintenance is regarded as an investment, an integral part of asset management, and where managers have a holistic but not machine-centric mind-set'. Proposition 2--' Managers with a good understanding of the balanced scorecard concept will be able to use the balanced scorecard to inform people of the key result areas and show them how exemplary maintenance performance in these areas can be achieved'. The five-step framework proposed in this study provides the road-map for applying balanced scorecards in managing maintenance performance. The design of the maintenance system that will fit in the specific operating environment can be guided by the soci-technical system-based framework suggested in this thesis.Ph.D