Study of organizational structure & empowerment profile of construction companies in Singapore

Abstract

Since 1965, Singapore has undergone vast transformation from a Third-world young nation to a First-world country. In the modern world where change is the only constant, Construction Industry must be able to adapt and even take advantage of change for highest benefit. In fact, when capital is no longer a deciding factor of success; superior project management is and will be the cutting edge, separating individual firms from the herds. Two major aspects in Project Management include Organization structure which defines various hierarchical natures of power and deciding how the enterprise should be run, and Empowerment determining how much autonomy and authority of an individual. In construction industry, most project managers must take full responsibility for project implementation and outcomes. However, they might not have full authority to execute the jobs which in turn reduces the project efficiency and effectiveness, suggesting a possible causal-effect relationship of Organization Structures, Empowerment profiles with success of construction projects. Motivated by the relationship of Organization Structure and Empowerment, this dual-Final Year Project aims to investigate organizational behaviors of contractors of various financial grades (A1 to B2) through survey questionnaires and statistical analysis. With collaborated effort between two student-researchers, the report shares common features in Background Studies and Research Method. To make the research more meaningful, study results are presented independently by each student in light of Organizational Structures or Empowerment Profile. In addition, possible statistical correlations between related management dimensions are discussed and further enriched by a Case study done with four construction firms, which aimed to give the most genuine insights on Project Management in the 21st century. This report focuses on the Empowerment Profile part of the study.