Efectos del Turismo Rural en el Medio Ambiente.

In Section 2.1.1 leadership was identified as one of the four fundamentals on which AM is based. The BSI (2014a) acknowledges that Top Management

Teams (TMTs) have various responsibilities that include, but are not limited to, the development of an AM policy as well as the creation of AM objectives and ensuring that they are aligned with the organisational objectives. TMTs are expected to use their authority to promote AM in an organisation. Conse- quently the responsibilities, accountabilities and AM objectives within an AM system are defined by top management. Alignment of the AM system with other management systems and functions within an organisation also form part of the TMT’s function.

The IAM (2014) found that AM decisions are frequently limited by fac- tors such as budgetary constraints, resources and/or regulations. It is the responsibility of all the management levels in an organisation to ensure that sufficient resources are made available to support the AM system. These re- sources include adequate and proficient human resources, appropriate funding and sufficient Information Technology (IT) systems.

The BSI (2014a) states that since TMTs are expected to align AM objec- tives with that of the business, conflict that might arise between the internal organisational culture and the performance of its AM system should be re- solved by the TMT.

As mentioned in Section2.1.1, ISO 55001 outlines the requirements of AM systems (BSI, 2014b). ISO 55001 states that TMTs shall exhibit leadership and commitment to the organisation’s AM system by:

• ensuring that the AM policy, the strategic AM plan and AM objectives are created and that they can be integrated with the organisational ob- jectives;

• ensuring that the AM system requirements are integrated into the busi- ness processes of the organisation;

• ensuring that the AM system receives adequate resources;

• ensuring that the significance of effective AM as well as the importance of conforming to the AM system requirements are communicated in the organisation;

• ensuring that the outcomes that were set for the AM system are achieved; • motivating and guiding persons to ensure that the AM system is effective; • encouraging the formation and collaboration of cross-functional teams

within the organisation;

• accepting the responsibility of supporting other relevant manager roles; • ensuring that there is alignment between the risk management approaches

of AM and that of the organisation.

ISO 55002 (the guideline for implementing ISO 55001), emphasises that al- though TMTs may appoint other individuals to oversee the design, execution, operation and continual improvement of AM systems, the top management level should take ultimate ownership and accountability for AM. Top manage- ment commitment to AM can be demonstrated by:

a) ensuring that communication within the organisation reference AM princi- ples;

b) participating in the setting of AM system objectives which can be used to measure the success of people responsible for it:

- by prioritising the relevant objectives;

- by ensuring that adequate resources are provided to achieve the objectives; c) creating and maintaining a work culture that utilises collaboration to ensure

that AM objectives are met;

d) seeing to it that decisions such as capital expenditures are made using a criteria that acknowledges AM principles;

e) providing support for improvement activities that are related to AM; f) encouraging the creation and maintenance of a management-development

strategy which encourages and rewards employees who spend time in posi- tions that support AM and the operation of the AM system;

g) monitoring the performance of the AM system and adopting a continual improvement approach as well as performing corrective and preventative actions;

h) taking responsibility to ensure that AM is regarded on the same level of importance as affairs related to safety, quality, environment, etc.;

i) ensuring that risks pertaining to assets are incorporated into the organi- sation’s risk management processes and that they are addressed appropri- ately;

j) seeing to it that AM and the AM system are aligned to other functions in the organisation to promote the achievement of organisational goals; k) seeing to it that AM and the AM system are aligned to other organisa-

tional practices and management systems such as the approach taken by the organisation to manage risk.

It is evident from ISO 55001 and ISO 55002 that the responsibility of in- corporating AM into organisational decisions lies primary on TMTs. Recall that, in addition to leadership, alignment is also one of the four fundamental aspects on which AM is built (Section 2.1.1). This means that all of the deci- sions, plans and activities should be aligned with the AM objectives and will require various parts of the organisation to collaborate (BSI, 2014a).

The AM objectives will often include the collaborative coordination, ap- plication and verification of resources as well as improving their use. Further- more, BSI (2014a) mentions that both the development of AM plans as well as the evaluation of their effectiveness are aided by the information produced or provided by the AM system. However, as ISO 55000 explains, the Informa- tion System (IS) responsible for the collection, verification and consolidation of data related to assets is often very large and complex. This means that converting the captured data into usable information can be a complicated task. The next section provides a brief overview of data in AM environments.