Asset Management

Blockchain and other business disruption technologies have created a buzz in the last few years and have become an inevitable discussions topic in the financial circles. It will have game-changing impact on businesses, particularly on the banking and financial services. Consortium or Enterprise Blockchain is the latest technological evolution allowing us to build hybrid blockchains (public and private) using features such as permission restriction and multiple controlling authorities. These hybrid features allow easy yet controlled information sharing between various stakeholders. After getting acceptance in areas such as remittance & supply chain financing, blockchain is now making inroads into sub-sectors such as asset and wealth management. This article demystifies blockchain concepts and demonstrates an implementation for the mutual fund (MF) industry. MF industry is plagued by slow processing. For example, it takes days together to onboarding a new investor, transactions take a date to appear on statements while NAV computations takes hours to compute and show up for registrars to process transactions. We explore how smart contracts can help cut the transaction processing but will blockchain provide high speed and latency necessary? Can investor statements be accessed dynamically? Will distributed information sharing and decentralization system save costs and time for the stakeholders, particularly in client onboarding, NAV dissemination? How can blockchain help in KYC and other compliance related activities? Can mf scheme portfolios and factsheets get constructed automatically and available with real time updates? How can regulators and auditors have easy access to information as and when they want? Finally, we will examine some of the challenges or hurdles that come in way towards the implementation.

O gerenciamento de ativos desempenha um papel cada vez mais importante no cenário econômico das organizações uma vez que seu principal objetivo é extrair valor dos ativos e garantir a competitividade da organização. O setor de logística de uma empresa tem sua importância na gestão de informações relevantes ao processo de planejamento, execução e controle do fluxo e armazenagem de produtos. Assim, o gerenciamento de ativos dentro do setor logístico é de extrema importância para garantir a otimização do processo através do uso de ferramentas, técnicas, normas e tecnologias que garantirão o sucesso e melhoria contínua das atividades. Este artigo tem como objetivo realizar comparativos entre o setor logístico e de telecomunicações, dentre estes, as tecnologias utilizadas e as maiores diferenças existentes entre eles. Os resultados mostram que é evidente a necessidade das organizações caminharem, cada vez mais, para um cenário onde o gerenciamento de ativos aliado à utilização da tecnologia tenha um papel mais participativo nos resultados e objetivos estratégicos.

Asset management plays an increasingly important role in the economic scenario of organizations since its main objective is to extract value from assets and ensure the organization's competitiveness. The logistics sector of a company has its importance in the management of information relevant to the process of planning, execution and control of the flow and storage of products. Thus, asset management within the logistics sector is extremely important to ensure the optimization of the process through the use of tools, techniques, standards and technologies that will ensure the success and continuous improvement of activities. This article aims to make comparisons between the logistics and telecommunications sector, among them, the technologies used and the biggest differences between them. The results show that the need for organizations to move more and more towards a scenario where asset management combined with the use of technology has a more participatory role in the results and strategic objectives is evident.

In this paper, we analyze about the relation between stock price returns and Headline News. Headline News is very important sources of information in asset management, and is sent in large quantities every day. We study the effect of more than 13,000 Headline News sent from JIJI PRESS. We classify Headline News using Text Categorization and analyze the reaction of a stock price return for every type of News. From our research, we figure out following issues; 1) we make the Text Categorization System that has about 80% of classification accuracy, 2) this system can extract effective information to stock price returns from Headline News.

Financial statements are the main source of information for stock market participants and financial ratios are the primary tool for their analysis. The main goal pursued by this research includes two major questions; First, whether it is possible to gain “unexpected returns” (in excess of expected return, determined by the Capital Asset Pricing Model) using seven financial parameters, for publicly traded companies in Tehran Stock Exchange. Second, as suggested by the research hypothesis, are artificial neural networks superior to ordinary least square regression in forecasting such returns? Based on research findings, artificial neural networks can outperform ordinary least squares models even when the regression model prediction capacity is enhanced by using principal components analysis, in terms of one-step-ahead forecasting of unexpected returns.

In the past ten to twenty years, governments in various countries have introduced or reinforced market principles in their housing systems. As a consequence, social landlords should have increased opportunities to adopt a more market-oriented approach towards the management of their housing stock. Nevertheless, in many countries governments still have a substantial influence on the social rented housing sector. In this paper we analyse the influence of statutory regulations on the man- agement of the social rented housing stock in four European countries and in Australia, in order to assess to what extent these regulations help or impede the development of a market-oriented asset management. We carry out this analysis in four areas: rent setting, sale of dwellings, allocation of dwellings to tenants, and maintenance and renewal. After an explanation of the term 'market- oriented' in relation to asset management, we describe government restrictions to social housing managem...

The management of engineering assets s uch as facilities and equipments can be a challenging task and optimising their usage is critical. To ensure effective utilization of an asset, one has to make effective decisions regarding the asset lifecycle. Consequently, it becomes imperative to gather useful information about the asset lifecycle. The objective of this paper is then to propose an approach for decision makers to develop an effective asset information management (AIM) strategy. We focus on the management of this set of information associated with the asset throughout its lifecycle. For this purpose we propose first to identify asset information requirements for an effective management. Second, we examine different technologies and systems for information capture, storage, retrieval and use. The findings of this paper would help in selecting an AIM Strategy aimed at providing timely, accurate, complete and consistent information about location and condition of assets so as to result in better decision-making. Furthermore, in order to assist asset managers to select a strategy, we discuss the role of information quality to assess the performance of an asset information strategy.

Effective solutions for asset management become increasingly important in modern automation and control systems. They are especially required in the area of process control. The control systems used here usually consist of PLCbased networks, which are optimised concerning the special temporal and topological requirements of the process. Asset management functions have to be introduced to those systems, without any influence on the existing equipment. The paper shows an object-oriented solution based on PROFIBUS-PA device. By automatically evaluating a system structure and mapping the profile-relevant parameters of devices to proxy objects, different application modules for asset management functions can be implemented acting on these objects.

The senior management of some major companies have recently begun to appreciate the importance of facility site locations, building design and infrastructure, space layout and contractual obligations (and opportunities) to maximize cash flow (Bell, 1991; Manning, 1991; IDRC, 1992; Joroff, ...

Assets Management Companies (AMCs) strive to channel and pool savings and invest these in well diversified portfolios in an optimal way. The size of these portfolios is closely related to their Assets under Management (AUM). This study in particular examined the effects of fund sizes—mainly the induction of new funds and the increase in existing funds, managed by AMCs on their AUM for the mutual fund industry of Pakistan. Furthermore, we assessed that whether Fund Family growth has any effect on individual fund. We examined a total of 180 open ended Mutual funds, managed by 18 AMCs over the period of July-2009 to most recent July-2016. The main findings suggests that both existing and new fund size are having positive and significant impact on AUM and also the growth of fund is strongly associated with Family growth. It was further observed that those AMCs who introduced new funds during this period, were managing relatively large assets as compared to those who introduced small amount of new funds or did not inducted any new fund at all during the period under consideration.

In England and the Netherlands, in response to changes in housing policy and the market, there is widespread enthusiasm for asset management in the social rented sector. A key issue in both countries is the development of a strategic approach towards the formulation of asset management plans. Our paper examines this issue in relation to the current practice of housing associations in both countries. Drawing on case studies in England and the Netherlands we conclude that in both countries practice varies widely between housing associations. Some of the approaches adopted by front-runners can be seen as models for other associations yet to develop a strategic approach towards asset management. Lessons can also be learnt across national boundaries, though necessarily mediated by differences between the two housing systems.

In finance task domain, it is indispensable to get and analyze information as quickly as possible. Analyst's reports are one of the important information in asset management, and these include a large amount of text information. However, it is very difficult to handle text information of analyst's reports, few research and development have been conducted. In [5] and [6] we explored the feasibility to extract valuable knowledge for asset management through text mining using analyst's reports as text data. And we found the effectiveness of keyword information. In this paper we make further research of analyst's reports. From empirical study on the practical data, we have confirmed the effectiveness of using keyword information and numerical information together: (1) the effectiveness of keyword information is different by the direction of change of earning estimate; (2) the keyword of "Upward (or Downward) surprise in forecast" has strong effect to stock price return.

Within the framework of the RIVIERA project (french acronym for Risks in the city: amenities, networks, archaelogy), a research study aims at the building of a 3D geological model at the city scale. Data are also analyzed on specific geographical areas with the purpose of professionnal applications regarding geotechnical engineering, urban archaelogy and asset management of buried networks. This paper regards the geotechnical modelling at the town scale and it is focussed on the Pessac town case, in the southern part of Bordeaux city. The purpose is, from the global geological model built for the near-surface layers, to give information useful for urban planning, in relation with underground properties. These information will condition site prospection or urban planning choices. In a first step, a large amount of data have been gathered from various geotechnical prospection reports. Thus, we have;

The aim of this research was to give a thorough description of the 15-year path towards a more integrated management system within the process industry and its service delivery network. Northern and Central Finland's main units of process industry and their network (N employees > 10, 000) comprised the field material for this chain of development projects. The main methods for R&D were gathering information, opinions and suggestions in the companies' benchmarking, trialling and implementing innovative improvements, evaluating and benchlearning. Purchasing and supplying companies within the studied network have been able, on the contrary to the national trend, to show positive long-term evidence in accident statistics. The score results of the quality prize-style safety management are encouraging. A new holistic auditing tool, HSEQ AP is functioning well and is appreciated by companies on both sides, since they are now partners on much higher level of enabling knowledge and skills of management and business.

Seventh PRRES Conference, Canterbury, 21-23 January 2002 Measuring Corporate Real Estate Asset Management Performance John McDonagh, Senior Lecturer Property Group, Lincoln University, Canterbury. Key Words corporate, real estate, asset management, property, ...

The purpose of this study was to apply new methods of econometric models to the Life
Cycle Assessment (LCA) of physical assets, by integrating investments such as maintenance, technology,
sustainability, and technological upgrades, and to propose a means to evaluate the Life Cycle
Investment (LCI), with emphasis on sustainability. Sustainability is a recurrent theme of existing
studies and will be a concern in coming decades. As a result, equipment with a smaller environmental
footprint is being continually developed. This paper presents a method to evaluate asset depreciation
with an emphasis on the maintenance investment, technology depreciation, sustainability depreciation,
and technological upgrade investment. To demonstrate the value added of the proposed
model, it was compared with existing models that do not take the previously mentioned aspects into
consideration. The econometric model is consistent with asset life cycle plans as part of the Strategic
Asset Management Plan of the Asset Management System. It is clearly demonstrated that the proposed
approach is new and the results are conclusive, as demonstrated by the presented models and
their results. This research aims to introduce new methods that integrate the factors of technology
upgrades and sustainability for the evaluation of assets’ LCA and replacement time. Despite the
increase in investment in technology upgrades and sustainability, the results of the Integrated Life
Cycle Assessment First Method (ILCAM1), which represents an improved approach for the analyzed
data, show that the asset life is extended, thus increasing sustainability and promoting the circular
economy. By comparison, the Integrated Life Cycle Investment Assessment Method (ILCIAM) shows
improved results due to the investment in technology upgrades and sustainability. Therefore, this
study presents an integrated approach that may offer a valid tool for decision makers.

Development of a Fitness for Purpose Assessment-the creation of a tool to assist service managers in determining if buildings that support their services are appropriate Collection of Building Utilisation Data-investigate systems and processes to collect utilisation data for Council's building network to assist in identifying rationalisation opportunities Development of Building Service Levels-joint review of the draft service levels (refer Attachment 13.10) by the responsible officers so that agreement on the standard can be reached, defined and delivered Provision of Demand and Trend Analysis Training-that each Service Manager be trained in analysing and assessing the drivers and demand for their services which will inform their Service Plans and asset needs Investigation of Building Demand Management Strategies-responsible officers consider and develop demand management strategies to relieve pressure on existing buildings and improve utilisation for others without needing to increase building numbers Define Property Management Roles and Responsibilities-stakeholder discussions need to be held so that agreement can be reached regarding the roles and responsibilities of each department with respect to property management for all properties within Council's asset portfolio. The property management approach must be aligned with the objectives of Council's adopted Asset Management Policy and Strategy and aligned with desired service outcomes and community needs Address Building Issues as Listed in Council's Risk Register-the responsible officers consider the building risk register in section 8.3 and implements mitigating measures to reduce and eliminate the risk where Renewal and New/Upgrade Ranking Criteria & Review of Current Programs-Develop transparent renewal ranking criteria for use in the development of the building renewal programs. Use the building hierarchy scores (which reflect the building criticality. Review the current capital renewal programs and align with proposed funding requirements. Undertake 4 year cycle of Fitness For Purpose Audits-When Fitness for Purpose Criteria have been set in Service Plans, undertake these audits to identify gaps and inform upgrade, expansion, disposal and collocation decisions. Project Management Framework Implementation-Develop and implement policies, processes, procedures and systems to fully support the implementation of the Project Management Framework a. Formalising the approach to ensuring that input from Facilities team is part of the design process by ensuring that they are invited to design team meetings. b. Standardised protocols regarding, commissioning, testing, and the format and completeness of O&M manuals. c. Building asset handover process. d. Establish a stronger, more transparent link between service planning and the feasibility of: i. building disposals, and ii. building creation, upgrade and expansion projects ID ACTION Provision of Facilities Management Training-educate and skill responsible officer in best practice facilities management Establish Schedule of Rates SubContractor Panels-for single trades like painting and carpet replacement. Implementation of a Asset Option Analysis Philosophy-when considering the creation or acquisition of an asset that the service and asset managers undertake an Asset Options Analysis to determine the best asset provision option Endorse the Option Four Service Delivery Model for Maintenance-that Council endorses Option Four of the Facilities Management Contract Review and recommendation as provided in section 9.3.4 and implements with the forthcoming tendering of the new maintenance contract and addresses issues as identified in Chapter 5. Application of Funding Within the Correct Capital Works Budget Stream-resist utilising renewal funding to address fitness for purpose issues (new, upgrade and expansion works) Improve Capital Works Project Planning-so that there is more integration of the timing and scope of the 20 year building renewal programs with new, upgrade and building expansion projects. This will enable better use of non-discretionary renewal funds whilst simultaneously improving building condition and functionality. Define the Roles and Responsibilities of all Integrating (enablers) Departments-to ensure there is consistency and alignment with common objectives that support service and asset managers Review Council's existing Carbon Neutral Action Plan (mitigation)-and develop a new prioritised investment plan for energy and water conservation measures in Council buildings Review Council's Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation Plan (adaptation)-investigate new and emerging risks and keep abreast of research to inform changes to the design or management of Council buildings to prepare for a changing climate Implement and Monitor Council's ESD Standards for Council Buildings-continue to ensure that all new buildings, major upgrade and expansion works incorporate and adhere to the Environmental Sustainable Design standards Undertake Energy and Water Conservation Audits-to develop a new prioritised investment plan for Council buildings Continue to Undertake Monitoring and Reporting on Energy, Water Use and Greenhouse Gas Emissions-from Council operated facilities Continue to Invest in Alternative Energy-for Council buildings to progress towards carbon neutrality and mitigate the cost of utilities Adopt the Optimum Lifecycle Funding Scenario-as the tactic for future funding of the building portfolio Continuously Review the Building Renewal Modelling-in depth prior to the completion of the next condition audit and subsequent development of the next version of the asset management plan ID ACTION Continue to Work Towards Reducing the Reactive Maintenance Cost-by actively monitoring the next maintenance contract and reducing requests by Council personnel for the Contractor to complete 'out of scope' services 44 Prioritise Compliance and Renewal Works-Council to focus its attention on BCA and DDA compliance work and renewal of the building stock 2.7.1

A major goal for managers of electric power networks is maximum asset performance. Minimal life cycle cost and maintenance optimization becomes crucial in reaching this goal, while meeting demands from customers and regulators. This necessitates the determination of the optimal balance between preventive and corrective maintenance in order to obtain the lowest total cost. The approach of this paper is to study the problem of balance between preventive and corrective maintenance as a multiobjective optimization problem, with customer interruptions on one hand and the maintenance budget of the network operator on the other. The problem is solved with meta-heuristics developed for the specific problem, in conjunction with an evolutionary particle swarm optimization algorithm.

Although property markets represent a large proportion of total wealth in developed countries, the real-estate derivatives markets are still lagging behind in volume of trading and liquidity. Over the last few years there has been increased activity in developing derivative instruments that can be utilised by asset managers. In this paper, we discuss the problems encountered when using property derivatives for managing European real-estate risk. We also consider a special class of structured interest rate swaps that have embedded real-estate risk and propose a more efficient way to tailor these swaps.

Recent developments in the condition monitoring and asset management market have led to the commercialisation of online vibration-monitoring systems. These systems are primarily utilised to monitor large mineral mining equipment such as draglines, continuous miners and hydraulic shovels. Online monitoring systems make diagnostic information continuously available for asset management, production outsourcing and maintenance alliances with equipment manufacturers. However, most online vibrationmonitoring systems are based on conventional vibration-monitoring technologies, which are prone to giving false equipment deterioration warnings on gears that operate under fluctuating load conditions. A simplified mathematical model of a gear system was developed to illustrate the feasibility of monitoring the instantaneous angular speed (IAS) as a means of monitoring the condition of gears that are subjected to fluctuating load conditions. A distinction is made between cyclic stationary load modulation and non-cyclic stationary load modulation. It is shown that rotation domain averaging will suppress the modulation caused by non-cyclic stationary load conditions but will not suppress the modulation caused by cyclic stationary load conditions. An experimental investigation on a test rig indicated that the IAS of a gear shaft could be monitored with a conventional shaft encoder to indicate a deteriorating gear fault condition.

Every year since 1991, the Central Government of India has been successfully disinvesting its PSEs from various sectors. The recent announcement to strategically disinvest some of the better performing PSEs like Life Insurance Corporation of India Ltd., Air India and so on is indeed shocking. This seriously questions the intension of the government towards the declared objectives of the disinvestment strategy in 1991. There are severe apprehensions on selling-off the PSEs at a lower price and the utilization of disinvestment proceeds for filling the revenue deficits of the Central Government. This paper discusses the idea of disinvestment in India and the debates associated with it. The paper also critically analyses the disinvestment proceeds in India as a tool to tackle mounting fiscal deficits after the initiation of the New Economic Policies in 1991.

The provision of investment services (and the correlated ancillary services) and collective investment services forms part of the main functions carried out by the securities industry. From an industrial point of view, all the activities defining the securities industry represent subsequent stages of the production process of the industry. The financial exchange sensu stricto uses the orders originating from the investment decisions produced in the asset allocation stages as input for the production process and, in turn, is divided into the order capture, order execution and order processing stages. The presence of banking intermediaries characterizes all the stages of the production process of the securities industry. This, of course, has implications in terms of profitability of the banking groups and affects their competitive strategies.

Modern companies operate in a complex business and operational environment, which generates new types of risks that were relatively unknown just a few decades ago (e.g. cyber security), and creates favorable conditions for the emerging of extreme and rare events that may seriously perturb the current and long-term performance of enterprises. Current practices generally neglect taking into account those risks. Analyzing and managing them through traditional methods has recently shown to be less efficient. Advice and input from technical experts, strategic planners or knowledgeable managers may be insufficient or too narrowly focused to adequately manage the complexity of the systems and structures in a constantly changing and barely predictable environment. It is generally due to a lack of knowledge regarding the type and range of uncertainties, the nature of interconnections, the level of complexity, as well as our low ability to predict future events. Consequently, enterprises need alternative and enhanced methods and tools in order to better understand and model the complex business and operational environment and the associated risks. This paper proposes a high level Risk-Informed Decision-Making framework in Asset Management that integrates risks extreme and rare events as part of an overall risk assessment and management activity. The research focuses on the methodology aimed at identifying, assessing and managing those risks in Asset Management. We believe that this approach may support organizations in becoming companies more resilient and robust in a changing and complex environment. We expose two case studies that demonstrate the applicability of the proposed model.

This article reports the results of a survey of executives of companies listed on the Tehran Stock Exchange regarding their companies’ capital budgeting practices and the major factors influencing their practices. The results show that the majority of responding companies use formal techniques to evaluate proposed capital investments. Of these companies, the majority use a discounted cash flow technique as the primary measure for evaluating capital investment proposals. Sensitivity analysis and Decision tree analysis are the most commonly-used risk assessment techniques. Accounting return on equity and the CAPM are most popular used techniques in Calculating the Cost of Equity in Iran. The most important objectives in capital budgeting are increase future cash flow and Growth in market shares followed by growth in long term earnings.The results also show that chief financial officer educational background and size of annual capital investment (increase in Net Fixed Assets) influence capital budgeting analysis technique usage.

Responsible Life Cycle Management (LCM) of mines has received much attention in the South African legislation. However, there is currently a mis-alignment between the mining industry and the various government authorities pertaining to the issue of mine closure or end-of-life management. The main reasons for this are unclear and unformulated approaches to rehabilitation with a subsequent legacy of unsuccessful mine closures that have wrongly been issued by the government from a sustainability perspective; this has posed an excessive economical burden for the mining industry. In this paper, a Mine Closure Model (MCM) based on project management principles, including risk management and concurrent engineering, is proposed to manage the closure process and assist the governing body with the effective evaluation of closures and the issuance of certificates. Mine closure or rehabilitation objectives can be achieved whilst managing the resources (of industry) optimally and aligning the closure process to meet the end requirements of stakeholder groups.

One indication of the extent corporate responsibility reporting is suggested in the KPMG International Survey of Corporate Responsibility Reporting 2011. This finds that, 'Ninety-five percent of the 250 largest companies in the world (G250 companies) now report on their corporate responsibility (CR) activities, two-thirds of non-reporters are based in the US.' This suggests that many companies do at least make claims about corporate responsibility. The nature and depth of the these reports needs to be explored further, and is discussed in this KPMG document. In addition, examples of corporate responsibility reports (or related reports) can be easily accessed on most corporate websites, and are collated on websites such as http://www.csrwire.com/ 2 The further responsibilities suggested in this paper are drawn from a variety of sources. One public source of the kinds of issues that could be considered further responsibilities is the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) https://www.globalreporting.org/Pages/default.aspx According to the website, 'GRI provides all companies and organizations with a comprehensive sustainability reporting framework that is widely used around the world.' This framework is used as the basis for some of the CR reports mentioned above.

In this article we test whether the stock market in India is driven by macroeconomic fundamentals. We use a non-parametric approach to determine whether any variables are nonlinearly related with stock returns and the variability of stock returns by taking monthly observations from 1998 to 2008. We consider exchange rate, interest rate, industrial production, inflation and foreign institutional investments as macro-economic factors. Further, we employ a semi-parametric approach to see whether any of the macrovariables have a significant nonlinear impact on the stock return and on the variability of stock return. Our results suggest that of the Ordinary Least Square and semi-parametric approaches, the semi-parametric approach better explains the stock returns and volatility.

Railways are becoming the main transportation mode in Thailand. Thus, maintaining the optimal service level to passengers is one of the significant issues that need to be addressed. This makes the way to manage railway assets extremely important, especially with the essential assets on a railway network such as switches and crossings (S&C). This study presents how the risk of switch and crossing failures could be assessed and managed. The process of the risk management is based on ISO 31000, and the method used to analyse the risk is the Failure Modes, Effects and Criticality Analysis (FMECA). In detail, the switches and crossings on the Airport Rail Link city line (ARL), Thailand, are considered as a case study. The interview data from six experts, engineers and technicians who are responsible for the maintenance of S&C were used to determine the risk of each S&C component. The results show that the point machines, check and wing rails are the most critical components of S&C in the case study, and the least critical components are heel blocks, slide chairs and closure rails. Based on these findings, it is suggested that the current S&C maintenance program of the ARL may need to be improved. The priority of the inspection and maintenance activities of each S&C component could be adjusted according to the risk evaluation results presented in this study.

To understand the performance implications of corporate strategies as conditioned by business group affiliations, we analyze the relation between corporate diversification and performance for 889 Indian firms. We find that diversified firms perform significantly worse than focused firms and that there exists a significant negative relation between the degree of diversification and firm performance. A comparative analysis of firms affiliated with Indian business groups and those affiliated with MNCs indicates that the sources of negative impact of diversification on performance are conditioned by the nature of a firm's affiliation. For multinational affiliates, diversification is associated with poor asset quality and asset management, which is an indicator of possible agency conflict. For domestic business group affiliates, diversification is associated with cost inefficiencies and poor performance.

This paper discusses the concept of a virtual digital forensic laboratory, which incorporates networked examination and storage machines, secure communications, multi-factor authentication, role-based access control, and case management and digital asset management systems. Laboratory activities such as the examination, storage and presentation of digital evidence can be geographically distributed and accessed over a network by users with the appropriate credentials. The advantages of such a facility include reduced costs through shared resources and the availability of advanced expertise for specialized cases.

Distribution utilities that upgrade or implement new asset management applications very soon arrive at a stage where the business value of different system options needs to be assessed and compared One obvious, aspect that must be considered in the respective options is their functional fit, i.e. the degree to which their functionality suits the business needs of the utility. At the same time it is inherently difficult to objectively measure the functional fit of a proposed system solution. One way to evaluate the functional fit is to develop a functional reference model and then compare the functionality of the proposed system, or systems with the reference model. In order for the reference model to be of any value it needs to be based on business requirements rather than existing system functionality and it needs to be complete in the sense that it encompasses all possible functions in the evaluated functional area. This paper describes the development of a reference model for asset management applications in the area of electricity distribution and generation. The functional reference model is based on an existing functional breakdown presented in the IEC-61968 standard developed for interapplication integration at electrical utilities. Also incorporated into the model are functions from various vendors of asset management applications. Having merged these sources together, the model has been validated by means of an extensive case study at a large Nordic power company.

Nowadays construction projects are more and more delivered by Building Information Models instead of traditional 2D drawings. This allows for information rich projects but this information is, in many cases, accessible only for those who are able to use a BIM authoring software. In the current market, both the top levels (CEO and executives) and the low levels (on site and off site operators) of an asset or a facility management company are not able to use a BIM authoring tool, thus to use the valuable information stored in the model. Moreover, BIM models that work fine for the design stage will be of no use during the operational stage if not correctly created. A research has been carried on to cope with these problems and the preliminary results are shown in this paper. Asset managers’ work procedures and needs have been analyzed to identify what information is needed and when in the operational stage and then an IFC compliant standard has been adopted to store data. Once useful d...

Metro systems play a crucial role in the movement of millions of passengers worldwide as commuters rely on a fast, reliable, and convenient underground railway for their daily transportation. However, in many cases, the quality of the service that can be delivered, including performance, attractiveness, and customer satisfaction, are constrained by poorly maintained infrastructure. Meanwhile, effective planning to maintain, rehabilitate, replace and expand existing systems must respect technical, social, political, financial, and management constraints. There is a lack of a comprehensive framework for managing metro assets. This is mainly due to the multiplicity of components; the complexity of their interdependencies; common lack of historical data and performance indicators; and unavailability of a unified framework that integrates forecasts of future demand with decision-making systems. The main objective of this research is to review available studies and models for underground rail systems, identify the main strategic-operational planning gaps, and propose critical tasks for a comprehensive asset management framework. The platform developed in this research is suitable for further studies in urban railways such as Rail Rapid Transit (underground and surface), Light Rail Transit, and suburban trains as well as other modes of transport (e.g. traditional buses, Bus-Rapid-Transit).

This paper presents a framework for assessing the impact of the data collection process on the validity of key measures in reliability. The quality of data is affected by many organisational and behavioural factors. The aims of developing this framework are to (1) identify inputs/steps that have the most significant impact on the quality of key performance indicators such as MTTF (mean time to failure) and MTTR (mean time to repair), (2) identify ‘weak’ links in the data collection process, and (3) identify potential remedial actions. Development of this framework will assist the understanding of assumptions used in reliability calculations and improve the quality of underlying data and the data collection process. Consequently, this is a vital step in the continued development and use of data based decision-making models for reliability assessment.

Purpose – Despite the flourishing literature on intellectual capital, few studies explored its features in the perspective of family firms, and even fewer focused on small family firms (SFFs). This multiple case study analyses how managers and senior employees in SFFs perceive the benefits and costs of intellectual capital assets (ICAs) and provides many insights for future researches. Design/methodology/approach – Taking the lead from the constructivist epistemology, this instrumental study describes the implementation of a framework for the assessment of ICAs into four SFFs in order to develop general theoretical principles. Findings – Among the findings, it stands out that most SFFs in the sample especially rely on their internal processes and on their human resources' knowledge and competences. Furthermore, we found much internal disagreement with respect to the expected costs of investing on ICAs, especially within firms operating in more turbulent markets. Research limitations/implications – Being referred to a multiple case study, the results may not be generalized to other organizations. Nevertheless, they are useful to build theory, either by verification of falsification, and to encourage their future testing in empirical papers. Practical implications – The implementation of the framework allows identifying internal disagreement with respect to the ICAs' costs and benefits and exploring their causes. Furthermore, it suggests which should be the ICAs deserving primary attention in order to have the best impact on value creation. Originality/value – The paper investigates intellectual capital in SFFs, thus contributing to fill a remarkable gap in intellectual capital literature.

La mia attività di stage presso l’azienda Siram ha riguardato il mantenimento e lo sviluppo dei siti intranet e internet che vengono quotidianamente utilizzati come strumenti di marketing interno, verso i dipendenti Siram, ed esterno, verso gli stakeholder. Negli ultimi decenni le reti internet ed intranet sono diventate sempre più importanti, non solo come mezzo di comunicazione ed informazione tra l’azienda ed i potenziali acquirenti, ma anche tra coloro che lavorano all’interno dell’Azienda. Siram tratta settori e fornisce servizi rivolti al mercato BtoB. Diventa quindi necessario (per quanto riguarda il sito internet) fornire degli approfondimenti sui temi appartenenti al core business dell’azienda (di cui si parlerà nel capitolo 2), e un glossario di tutte le parole chiave, sia per fornire informazioni a chi si approccia per la prima volta a questo ambiente, (che egli sia un potenziale acquirente o anche un potenziale candidato a lavorare con l’Azienda), sia per come comunicare le linee di pensiero dell’Azienda sui temi energia e FM. Serviva quindi all’Azienda una persona in grado, date le conoscenze acquisite tramite la formazione di architetto al Politecnico di Milano, di integrare e approfondire questi temi al fine di aggiornare continuativamente i siti intranet e internet. Nel mio lavoro di ricerca sulle tematiche sulle quali avrei dovuto scrivere del materiale per la pubblicazione online, ho avuto modo di consultare documentazione interna all’azienda, riviste di settore italiane e straniere, le newsletter interne all’azienda e delle aziende partner.

This study analyses, evaluates and compares the performance of 19 equity mutual funds in Ghana and Nigeria, during a five-year period from 2013 to 2017. The performance was analysed using Sharpe’s Ratio, Treynor’s Ratio and Jensen’s Alpha. The findings indicated that Nigeria’s stock market had an unusual and an inversely insignificant relationship with the performance of their Equity Mutual Fund market, although generally, all the markets outperformed their stock markets with relative sensitivity to the stock market’s volatility. The study also shows that interest rate in Nigeria has a significant positive impact on the performance of the market, unlike Ghana’s market. This is as a result of the extremely volatile market of Nigeria, thus, fund managers, peg returns at the Treasury bill rate, in order to hedge against the risk of the fund value depreciating. Based on these findings, policymakers of both countries should include MFs in the economic development framework by ensuring the stabilization of the interest rate through proper fiscal policy implementation, development of the capital market and encouraging the investment of MFs through extensive sensitization, in order to boost the performance of equity mutual funds. Further study into the style, structure and selection of the assets in the portfolio of the funds is also recommended to better understand the overall performance and the allocation of assets by fund managers.

How do you ensure spare parts and standby equipment are in a service ready condition? Just-In-Time is a tempting spares holding methodology but only if your supplier can meet your spares holding and response times and your local infrastructure is capable of supporting those aspirations. There are many instances where this is not possible, particularly in the developing world, or where legislation or insurance underwriters require spares or standby equipment to be held. Here we discuss the types of failures seen in stored parts and equipment when put into service and propose countermeasures to prevent these. We will also discuss the types of failure seen in standby equipment when put into service and propose countermeasures to prevent these. This will also serve as a reminder as we have known of these failure mechanisms for nearly 90 years, yet they still occur.