Purpose The long-term operation, dynamic environment, and increased legislation of major infrastructure projects promote the transition to a sustainable operation and maintenance management model. However, the sustainability transition is proving insufficient, which may be because of the lack of theoretical understanding of transitions and how they evolve, as well as strategies to steer the transitions. This study aims to fill this research gap by developing a dynamic model, exploring the dynamic driving mechanism, and identifying optimal strategies to improve transition efficiency. Design/methodology/approach This study combines a literature review with theoretical analysis to construct a driving mechanism theoretical model of sustainable operation and maintenance management transition in major infrastructure projects. Then, the partial least-squares structural equation model (PLS-SEM) is employed to examine the driving path and quantify the driving degree. Based on this framework, the system dynamics (SD) model is developed and used for simulation and strategy analysis to explore the evolution characteristics of the driving process and optimal strategies to improve the management level. Findings The research results show that the driving process involves four key aspects: the external pressure driving process, the organizational resource allocation process, the organizational capability deployment process, and the management-level evolution process. The evolution characteristics manifest as a transition from slow to fast improvement over time. The strategy simulation demonstrated that enhancing the external pressure plays a more significant role in promoting the transition, than optimizing internal strategies. The scenario analysis results also showed that intensifying market competition is the optimal path. Originality/value This study demonstrates originality through the development of a novel PLS-SEM-SD analysis model. This framework advances the dynamic understanding of the driving mechanisms that enable sustainability transitions in major infrastructure projects. It further establishes optimal strategies to enhance transition efficiency through strategic analysis, an area that has received limited attention in prior research.
Luo et al. (Wed,) studied this question.