Construction Industry Improvement Initiatives: Are We Really Translating Rhetoric into Reality?

Abstract

For more years than we may care to admit, we have been urged to radically reform the way we work in construction industries across the world. Identified core issues range from adversarial approaches that dissipate energies and waste valuable resources in some jurisdictions, to distorted priorities, poor management and even corruption elsewhere. Such root causes manifest themselves in higher risks, low productivity, depressed ‘value’ to all concerned, disputes and disappointments to construction clients and end-users. Worse, widely accepted reform agendas in Hong Kong, Singapore, Sri Lanka and the UK for example, have yet to yield some of the significant benefits that were envisaged. This paper provides overviews of the main thrusts and interim outcomes from the construction industry reform initiatives in Hong Kong and Singapore in the last decade, based on interviews of a cross-section of industry experts in each jurisdiction. Parallels are drawn and some common issues identified. The eventual findings of three recently launched interlocking research projects in Hong Kong, Singapore and the UK, are expected to provide pointers to identifying constraints/ barriers, as well as useful enablers/ facilitators in implementing such industry improvement initiatives in general, including in some other similar jurisdictions. Meanwhile, the initial findings should also provide a framework for discussion and feedback from other countries as well.