Low, S P and Tan, W (1996) Public policies for managing construction quality: The grand strategy of Singapore. Construction Management and Economics, 14(4), pp. 295-309. ISSN 01446193
Abstract
Unlike other economic sectors, the construction industry is characterized by activities which are discontinuous, dispersed, diverse and distinct. Quality management in the construction setting is therefore rendered more difficult not only at the national level but also at the project level for a wide spectrum of reasons. In response to these concerns, the primary purpose of this paper is to show that the vulnerability of the construction industry to fluctuations in the economy requires the involvement of the government to maintain workload stability in order to deliver high quality standards in the industry. A case study of Singapore is used to propose a range of public policies for such governmental involvement and assistance. In presenting these policies adopted by the Singapore government to achieve good quality standards in the construction industry, the Singapore experience should be of interest to other developing and developed countries in search of a similar paradigm for raising quality standards in their own construction industries.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | construction industry; government; public policies; quality management; Singapore |
| Index terms: | paradigm, construction industry, quality management, Singapore, quality standard, case study, vulnerability, public policy, construction quality, developing and developed country, strategy, stability, workload |
| Subjects: | public policy, data collection methods, quality assurance, environmental hazards, industry analysis, management, economic development, education and knowledge transfer, structural engineering, Geography |
| Topics: | Quality Management, Human Resources, International Construction, Research Practice, Geographical Context, Engineering Principles, Business Strategy, Sustainability, Governance |
| Descriptive scope: | 4 PCTE |
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