Colloquia

Summary

Despite the acknowledged importance of continuous improvement in maintenance engineering, the literature lacks structured approaches for establishing a shared strategic vision within inter-organizational ecosystems. Addressing this gap, this study develops and validates a participatory methodology for laying the foundation of a roadmap by co-creating a shared strategic vision across organizational boundaries.

Grounded in the Strategic Asset Management Plan (SAMP) framework and informed by the IAP2 Spectrum of Public Participation, the research integrates stakeholder engagement, design thinking principles, and qualitative data analysis to assess current capabilities, identify improvement opportunities and develop a shared strategic vision. The methodology comprises four sequential, stakeholder-centered steps: (1) Capability Assessment through semi-structured interviews and card-sorting techniques to diagnose the maturity of maintenance management capabilities and cluster improvement opportunities; (2) Opportunity Prioritization via an impact-effort survey and Action Priority Matrix to identify high-leverage initiatives; (3) Shared Vision Co-Creation using design-thinking tools including worst-idea generation, forced connections, and convergent brainstorming to synthesize a unified strategic direction; and (4) Vision Formalization and Transfer, consolidating the outcomes into a reusable artefact and facilitation guide for autonomous replication.

The methodology was applied in a real-world case study involving Rijkswaterstaat (RWS), the Dutch public infrastructure agency and private contractors. This application yielded a validated Opportunity Framework comprising ten initiatives across five categories, a ranked portfolio of improvement themes, a co-created strategic vision, and a facilitation guide for repeat workshops. The findings demonstrate that participatory visioning enhances strategic alignment, ownership, and capability development across organizational boundaries.

This research contributes a replicable structure for initiating strategic alignment and continuous improvement in maintenance management within inter-organizational ecosystems, offering both theoretical insights and practical tools for researchers and practitioners.