HOW TO IMPROVE PRODUCTIVITY IN SINGAPORE CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY Introduction In this detailed project brief, we will first introduce the background of Singapore construction industry and productivity issues. We will then lay out our research aims and objectives that we intend to achieve from this group research project. It will be followed by discussing about methods of data collection and analysis, and project planning and timeline. Finally, we will discuss the tactics to address group internal problems, contingency plan and confidentiality and ethics of the work. Industry Background And Issues Singapore’s construction industry, typically one of the best performing sectors in the country, has taken a recent hit on the productivity front with challenges coming from rising costs, and a manpower crunch due to the shortage of the local labour workforce and tight foreign worker quota policy imposed by the Singapore government. One of the major challenges faced by Singapore construction industry is finding ways to improve the productivity level to counter the industry’s concerns over growing labour costs, the lack of local talents, and the restrictions on the employment of foreign workforce continuing in the near future. With the increased productivity of the industry, it will reduce the overall construction cost, shorten the project period, and increase the profitability of the industry. Despite under significant pressure from various fronts,, the Singapore construction industry has been booming in recent years and there are no signs that this trend will be ending any time soon. According to the forecast released by the Building and Construction Authority of Singapore on 15 January 2016, as presented in Figure 1 below, a continued strong demand was forecasted from both public housing and infrastructure works, and private sector for the next 5 years. It will be a challenging task for companies in the construction industry to manage its cost and completing the project on time. Research Aims And Objectives Our research will use an academic analysis to understand the productivity level of Singapore’s construction and vis-à-vis construction productivity levels in other developed countries, such as Japan and Finland. The research will also assist in understanding how to improve the productivity level of Singapore construction industry in the longer term. To answer this question, we will design our research to achieve the following objectives: - To identify and understand the underlying reasons for low productivity level in Singapore construction industry; - To identify the factors affecting productivity level in relation to the issues addressed in our research; - To design a new road map that will be able to tackle the issues in the longer term; - To further develop methods to improve productivity level. Our research will first address the key issues such as manpower constraints and low-level application of high-tech in the construction industry. The first part of research will guide us to identify a string of factors affecting productivity. Through analysis and literature review of these factors, we expect to identify the areas (for example, information technology, design and printing, robotics and prefabrication) to design a new road map. Finally, we will arrive at the methods in each area that can be applied in practice. The expected outcome of our research is to come up with solutions that will speed up the building process, less reliance on foreign workers, and improving the industry productivity level. Methods Of Data Collection And Analysis In research context, the data collection refers to the observation of real world experience, evidence, and information that will be used as observation material. This data will be interpreted to derive the meaning that is capable of answering the research objective. Our goal is to collect the data both objectively and systematically. Objectivity means that the data must not be influenced by the person who collects the information, and systematically means that the data must be collected in the same methodical way by each person involved in the collection procedure. The methods that we will use to collect information about the industry participants are identifiable and repeatable operations, that can define the major variables being studied. To analyse the factors that affect or contribute towards construction productivity, we have explored various data collection methods, and individually they will be assessed whether it fits the objective of our research. We will be using both primary and secondary data. The primary data collection methods that we have explored are observation, interviews, and questionnaires. Observation Observation is the data collection by analysing how the participants behave under specific conditions. For example, the researcher might be interested in how the construction workers perform the job under hot sun or rainy day. The research focuses on manual labour manpower constraints instead of manpower activities, as well as low adoption of high technology. Therefore we believe, observation technique is not the correct data collection technique for our research. Interviews Interviews are very useful to get required data from targeted groups depending on how the interview questions are designed. It is essential to explore new ways to increase availability of manpower due to the constrains the industry is facing, such as having a manpower pool across the industry (for manual labour manpower sharing), improvement in project management practice, or application of new technology. The group will be interviewing subjects with experience and/or subjects currently working in the construction industry. During the interview, the participants will be given a standard set of questions, in which they will explain their answer. This type of qualitative interview is important as it not only adds personal touch, it might also enable us to understand the deeper issues that may not be covered within the initial set of questionnaires. Questionnaires The use of a questionnaire focuses on the participant’s thoughts on particular issues, and in our research case, the productivity level within the construction sector. Our focus of questionnaires could be limited to management view of aspects that could boost the productivity level, such as the use of high-tech machines. The questionnaires will be distributed to construction companies in Singapore. The analysis of result of the questionnaires allows us to address the issues and measure whether the proposed solution will be largely accepted and feasible. Secondary data For secondary data, both quantitative data in terms of raw data and qualitative data in terms of processed data can be categorised into documentary data, survey data, and multiple source data. For Singapore government agency such as the Ministry of Manpower, and the Ministry for Trade and Industry hold data collected from the research of Singapore’s construction industry. These data are easily obtainable from various government websites to back up the primary data. At the same time, Singapore library archives will hold the data and research for the processed data on manpower.