An Assessment of Critical Success Factors for Physical Asset Management at Water Boards in Malawi

The success of any physical asset-intensive organization
relies on how best its physical assets are utilized over its
entire life cycle. Determining factors that influence the
success of physical asset management (PAM), is a topical
issue in modern business. Critical success factors (CSFs)
significantly improve the chances of realizing of goals of
any activity. This research applied data from a survey of
managers of water supply systems in all (five) Water Boards
(WBs) in Malawi to investigate the CSFs for PAM, based
on a list of 40 potential CSFs that were identified through
literature review and ‘experts’ opinions. Using a natural
cut-off point, the results revealed 17 CSFs for PAM in WBs
in Malawi, such as top management support, availability of
financial resources, and portfolio intelligence. Exploratory
factor analysis revealed four themes with eigenvalues
greater than 1 from the 17 CSFs. The strategic planning
and budgeting component played the most dominant
role in determining the success of PAM in WBs in Malawi.
Therefore, WBs should prioritize factors under this theme.
The identified CSFs can be a starting point for further
studies such as determining how each success factor
affects asset performance in WBs. When the identified
key success factors are prioritized and practiced, they can
further improve PAM in Malawi WBs. The results could be
applied to improve asset performance, which in turn could
lead to good business performance in other industries as
well.
Keywords: Physical asset management, Critical success
factors, Water Boards (WBs), Life cycle.