The ISO55001 standard provides a very valuable structure, however it only defines ‘what’ needs to be done and not ‘how’ it should be done (Woodhouse 2014). For this ‘how’ part, best practises can be used to fill these gaps. But what are best practises? A variety of definitions exist.
The Cambridge Dictionary describes best practise as “a working method or set of working methods that is officially accepted as being the best to use in a particular business or industry, usually described formally and in detail” (Cambridge University Press 2016).

Gulati (2013), a delegate from the United States in the ISO committee, describes best practise as: “Best practise is an idea which asserts that there is a technique method, or process that is more effective at delivering a desired outcome than any other technique, method or process”

Wireman (2015) another delegate from the United States in the ISO committee described it as “Best practise is a series of processes that enables a company to become a leader in its respective marketplace, where best is determined by the business conditions, not by a fixed set of business practices”.
All three definitions speak of methods or processes that are the best to use, are most effective in delivering a desired outcome or enables becoming a business leader. These parts are quite in line with each other. However there are also noteworthy differences. The Cambridge Dictionary refers to that the method must be officially accepted and another difference is that Terry Wireman makes the distinction that best is determined by the business conditions. Although the definitions are not exactly the same they can coexist and make each other even stronger. In this research methods or processes will be sought for that are officially accepted in delivering the desired outcome and it will be investigated whether these fits into the bu