Effective Real Estate and Infrastructure Asset Management in complex environments : A case study of an airport corporation

Abstract: Purpose: The aim is to develop a conceptual model that improves the effectiveness of asset management for an airport corporation with high pace development, with reference to critical factors such as government demands, ISO 5500X standards and key performance indicators.  Background: During the past 20 years, airports have gone from a public sector operation to being privatized or a combination of the two. This often implies that airport corporations have to finance their own expansions, which is one reason why their real estate and infrastructure assets must be seen and managed as valuable assets and not only as support for the business. However, such management is unfortunately not established in many of the large corporations today.   Methodology/approach: The thesis utilizes a case study with a qualitative approach to analyse primary data in terms of results from interviews conducted with employees working in the corporation subject to the case study. The case study examines the current structure of a complex airport corporation in order to find areas that could potentially benefit from higher effectiveness. Secondary data in form of existing literature, including reports as well as scientific articles has also been used.   Findings: The study argues that complex organizations and corporations could potentially benefit from implementing an asset management model. By successfully incorporating a strategic approach with tactical actions, challenges such as defining roles and responsibilities could be overcome and synergy effects captured, resulting in an overall higher performance and more effective asset management.     Practical implications: The thesis clearly argues for the need of corporations in the public sector to adopt a private sector governance approach regarding asset management to satisfy government demands and ensure the interests of shareholders. The thesis provides another perspective on how companies in the public sector can make their asset management more effective by a wider utilization of management-tools, frequently used in the private sector to generate higher profitability.   Suggestions for further research: It would be interesting to conduct a quantitative investigation after implementation of suggested changes in order to highlight the outcomes. This is a descriptive and conceptual thesis, why future empirical research should be conducted in order to validate the propositions made in this thesis further.