Introduction
The importance of stakeholders asset management refers to systematic and coordinated efforts that help organisations optimise their assets for sustainable business operations. Without a successful asset management plan, organisations cannot realise the true potential of their investment and use it in driving business strategies and innovation. Although it might seem a little generic, this definition of asset management is still relevant in any industry.
When defining asset management and its importance in the industry context, stakeholder engagement is an important concept to consider. The industry needs to deal with a variety of stakeholders, including internal and external stakeholders.
However, there is a lack of a practical framework that organisations can refer to involve stakeholders with effective management and maintenance of assets strategically. Therefore, research needs to be done in this context to design a customisable framework that considers the dynamics and complexity of the industries and maps internal and external stakeholders strategically to organisational asset management and asset maintenance for better optimisation and sustainable operations. In this research, stakeholder engagement strategies for the industry will be identified concerning its different stakeholder groups.
Background of Stakeholders importance
Companies should have proper planning for managing their assets without reliable asset management. Companies can’t excel in their day-to-day business operations. Therefore, having an appropriate asset management plan is crucial for successful mining operations. Asset management planning involves the identification and adequate maintenance of assets.
Involving stakeholders strategically with available organisational assets is one of the essential requirements for better utilisation of corporate assets. They are considering the complexity and dynamics of the industry and the vast amount of purchases that companies need to deal with daily, successful engagement of stakeholders is of prime importance. Stakeholders, especially internal stakeholders, are responsible for operating and maintaining organisational assets according to business requirements. Therefore, the stakeholders need to have a good idea regarding how assets work on an operational level as the strategic level. Suppose stakeholders are appropriately involved and make accountable for managing and maintaining assets. In that case, it is possible to retrieve the best value from each organisational asset for driving innovation and change in an organisation for optimised business operations. Corporate social responsibilities definitely address the stakeholders interest.
Overview of stakeholders in the industry
Industry organisations have to deal with a variety of stakeholders. Therefore, it is essential to identify the most critical stakeholder and categorise them in terms of their influence on the organisation, focusing on strategic asset management. In this context, the stakeholders are identified and organised in terms of internal and external stakeholders for a better overview of their influence on the impact of organisational strategy and management capabilities in asset management.
Employees
They are the internal stakeholders and are responsible for executing day-to-day business operations and dealing with contractors and business partners.
Contractors and business partners
It is essential to consider this group of stakeholders, but the company has to interact with them regularly. This is important because this group of stakeholders provide the primary point of contact with various community members. Therefore, having a positive relationship with this group of stakeholders makes it easier for the company to have direct communication with the community members and make them aware of the benefits and impact of different projects that the company is executing. It helps acquire land and labour support, which often play a critical role in the success of projects as they are valuable resources and assets for the company.
Importance of stakeholders as Local community
Projects affect people who are living in the community close to the mining site. Therefore, people living close to the industry site are opposed to projects done by the company because they think projects will affect the environment due to pollution, land irrigation, and other issues. Therefore it is essential to have a good relationship with the local community, and they are a crucial external stakeholder group for the company.
Government
Government is an important stakeholder group for many companies. This group of stakeholders consists of letters and various policy-making organisations. To acquire land or initiate new projects, companies have to take legal permission from government agencies for completing land acquisition processes and operate heavy equipment and machinery for mining activities. The company is also involved in rail and port facilities. The company must work closely with government and law-making agencies to clear import and customs duties required for importing and exporting goods and materials. Therefore this company needs to maintain a good relationship with the government or there. Business operations and also managing various effects properly.
Discussion on Importance of Stakeholders
Organisations invest in creating assets for business resources. They fail to properly utilise those assets because they don’t have a proper plan for allocating roles and responsibilities regarding asset management. Successful asset management is not all about creating a pool of resources but ensuring better utilisation and distribution. Therefore, people responsible for managing those assets must have a clear idea regarding where each asset is located, how they are operated and how they add value to organisational business operations. When talking about stakeholder engagement, the primary responsibility of asset managers is to make stakeholders aware of the importance of managing assets properly for enhancing the quality of their daily activities and executing their assigned roles and responsibilities. Stakeholders have to be trained regarding their roles and responsibilities and explain how to make resources more effective so that assets can be utilised appropriately and maintained strategically. The primary requirement for informing stakeholders in asset management is to create a proper communication protocol so that it is possible to maintain transparency and accountability throughout the assets management process. When communication is transparent, and responsibility is clearly defined, stakeholders can involve so that they are available at the right place at the right time, which is another crucial aspect of effective asset management. Successful asset management is also about making resources available when required and ensuring that stakeholders need to be aware of the organisational and business needs and projects that the organisation is doing. Internal stakeholders are responsible for procuring assets, maintaining them through proper strategies and making them available for various projects the organisation is undertaking. Some stakeholders are accountable for asset procurement, some are responsible for allocating the resources, and some are responsible for maintaining effort by defining proper quality standards. Therefore, creating a line of communication between the stakeholders and ensuring coordination of efforts between the stakeholders is extremely important for effective asset management. Sometimes organisations need to change their strategy or business plan to rearrange their assets to extract their values. If the value of this change is not communicated with the stakeholders, they might resist this change. Therefore, sharing the impact and benefit of changes in organisational policies or strategies for resource management is required for actively involving stakeholders and ensuring continuous support for the successful implementation of resource management strategies.
Stakeholder engagement plays an essential role in engineering asset management. Organisations who need to deal with assets properly should have a systematic approach for asset planning, allocation of assets and proper maintenance plan for managing effects. Organisations need to identify their stakeholders quickly because if they are not recognised correctly in terms of their roles and responsibilities and impact on the organisational process, it is impossible to engage those stakeholders for asset management. To involve stakeholders in asset management, the first and foremost requirement is proper communication with the stakeholder. In this context identifying the right stakeholders and applying them at the right time in a project is extremely important for effective utilisation of resources. Organisations need to define a straightforward communication procedure that ensures transparency and clarity in communication because delivering the correct information to the stakeholders regarding efforts is an essential requirement for ensuring coordination between different stakeholders and engaging them in asset management plans in the most effective way possible.
Making changes in effort management planning is required for effective resource utilisation and need to changes successfully on a strategic level of the organisation. It is essential to ensure support from every stakeholder that are involved in this process. If the stakeholder does not support the changes, the plan might not successfully implement and deliver success. Therefore, educating stakeholders and creating awareness regarding the importance of changes in asset management planning is also essential. This is something that the organisation has to consider.
Another important theme that has been identified is that external stakeholders are also important from the perspective of effective asset management planning. In any industry, the organisation has to deal with various legislation for managing their assets like machinery equipment land. This organisation must obtain legal permission before setting up the new plant, initiating the new project, and participating in economic activities. Suppose those external stakeholders are appropriately engaged, and requirements for legal permission are communicative. In that case, it often becomes more accessible for organisations to get legal approval from governments and prospective legal organisations.
Conclusion
The importance of stakeholders in asset management is essential for organisational success. When an organisation appropriately manages assets. It becomes easier for them to implement their business planning and enhance their business processes as well. However, identifying and involving stakeholders is extremely important to work properly and ensure consistency with business requirements. Stakeholders are responsible for providing inputs and suggestions regarding better managing effects by enhancing the quality effectiveness of resource estimation and resource planning. Internal stakeholders involving external stakeholders are also crucial in an industry where legislation and government permissions are essential for procuring and using assets in different projects and economic activities. To inform stakeholders in asset planning and asset management, defining a proper communication protocol is necessary because it helps to communicate the roles and responsibilities of stakeholders and make them accountable for maintaining resources according to business requirements so that they can make available whenever required projects. Asset management, including stakeholders and sustainable aspects, is important, which should follow climate change rules. Having proper communication with stakeholders, making them aware of different assets of the organisation, their impact on today’s business operations, and productivity is also essential because it helps stakeholders make informed decisions regarding how to manage other effects according to business requirements properly.