Lee Kay Hwa, Albert (2026) Beyond technical mastery: Investigating how engineers adapt business management skills to the workplace in the built environment industry in Singapore. DBA thesis, Golden Gate University, USA.
Abstract
This study investigates how engineers in Singapore’s Built Environment Industry (BEI) adapt Business Management Skills (BMS) in response to evolving workplace demands that extend beyond technical competence. As engineers are increasingly expected to lead projects, manage budgets, negotiate with stakeholders and make strategic decisions, the integration of managerial capabilities into technical roles has become both urgent and indispensable (WEF, 2020; Trevelyan, 2010; Chua et al., 2021). Grounded in Re-contextualization Theory (Evans et al., 2011), the Transfer of Training Model (Baldwin & Ford, 1988), the Expansive-Restrictive Learning Framework (Fuller & Unwin, 2004) and supported by perspectives on digital fluency (Brynjolfsson & McAfee, 2014) and professional identity (Trede et al., 2012), this research explored the formal and informal learning pathways through which BMS are acquired and enacted. Adopting a sequential explanatory mixed-methods design (Creswell & Plano Clark, 2018), the study integrates survey and interview data to explore how career stage, organisational support and digital infrastructure influence the acquisition, strategic use and behavioural expression of BMS. The focus is on early- and mid-career engineers operating in regulation-intensive, project-driven environments in which companies are undergoing digital transformation, particularly within SMEs. The findings extend workplace learning theory into multicultural, digitally mediated and high-stakes contexts while offering practical guidance for curriculum reform, organisational capability building and national skills initiatives such as SkillsFuture and the Industry Transformation Map (ITM). By revealing how engineers cultivate hybrid technical-managerial capabilities, the study supports Singapore’s and similar contexts’ broader strategies for developing a resilient, interdisciplinary and a future-ready workforce.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Thesis advisor: | Bobade, Anita and Lucas, Gerardus Gertjan |
| Index terms: | Singapore, organizational capability, regulation, built environment, competence, informal learning, workplace learning, integration, transformation, identity, interview, industry transformation, training model, career, acquisition, strategy, business management, engineer, survey |
| Subjects: | profession, political science, business, organization, infrastructure and transport systems, data collection methods, curriculum development, personnel development, learning methods, management, organizational analysis, professional development, sociology, Geography |
| Topics: | Human Resources, Organizational Design, Education, Geographical Context, Governance, Roles and Professions, Business Strategy, Information Management, Research Practice, Urban Studies |
| Descriptive scope: | 3 PCE |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here