Ling, F Y Y (2018) International comparison of performance of public projects. Built Environment Project and Asset Management, 8(3), pp. 281-292. ISSN 2044-124X
Abstract
Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the performance of public projects in Beijing, Hong Kong, Singapore and Sydney to uncover which areas project managers should focus on when managing public projects in different countries. Design/methodology/approach: Based on the literature review, a structured questionnaire was designed to collect data of completed public projects. In total, 244 sets of data of completed public projects were collected. Findings: Significant cost and schedule overruns are found in all four cities. Hong Kong’s public projects have the highest cost and schedule overruns. Singapore’s public projects have the lowest cost overrun and Beijing’s projects have the lowest schedule overrun. Public projects in all four cities recorded significantly good project quality. Research limitations/implications: The findings are not easily generalizable due to the relatively small sample size in Sydney, low response rate and data being collected from only four cities. The research implication is that the plethora of project management strategies does not seem effective in preventing cost and schedule overruns in public projects. Practical implications: This study found that across the four cities, there are significant cost and schedule overruns. Projects in Hong Kong perform the worst in terms of cost and schedule, when compared to Beijing, Singapore and Sydney. The implication is that more attention should be paid to managing cost and schedule, especially in Hong Kong. Originality/value: The originality is that the study discovered which areas project managers should focus on when managing public projects in different countries. In laissez-faire or free market economies, more attention should be paid to managing project cost and schedule. When a country has lower transparency index, more attention should be paid to controlling project quality. Project team members should focus on delivering public projects to the highest level of quality in developed countries.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | China; cost efficiency; performance levels; public sector; quality; time |
| Index terms: | international comparison, project manager, Hong Kong, Singapore, public sector, schedule overrun, overrun, project cost, strategy, sample size, literature review, lowest cost, Beijing, questionnaire, developed country, public project, methodology, project team, project management, transparency, cost efficiency, China |
| Subjects: | research design and methodology, data collection methods, profession, project delivery, bidding, data analysis and analytics, research methods, economics, management, development economics, professional development, project management theory and practice, infrastructure engineering, Geography, project controls, administrative law |
| Topics: | Procurement, Roles and Professions, Research Practice, Project Management, Geographical Context, Information Management, Engineering Principles, Business Strategy, Cost Management, Time Control, International Construction, Legal Issues |
| Descriptive scope: | 4 PCTA |
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