COLLABORATIVE CONTRACTING IN SINGAPORE: BARRIERS, CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTORS AND SOLUTIONS

Abstract

As Singapore enters into a phase of economic transformation, Industry Transformation Maps (ITMs) for individual sectors are being rolled out in 2018 to prepare the way for the future. One of the key components of the vision in the construction ITM is ‘to build progressive and collaborative firms’. Collaborative Contracting is one major change in procurement practice that is soon to be implemented in Singapore. However, little research has been done on collaborative practices in Singapore’s construction industry. Thus, this dissertation sets out to investigate the opinions of the industry with regards to Collaborative Contracting (CC) in particular, focusing on the barriers, critical success factors (CSF) and solutions in its adoption. The study found that only a mere 32.23% of respondents have participated in projects with collaborative contracting form/principles in the past three years. The top barriers are (1) Inherent difficulties in attempting to change organizational cultures to support collaborative approaches (2) Lack of incentives from the government at a 99% confidence level. (3) Lack of legislative regulations (4) Resistance to change/comfortable with the current way of working and (5) Difficulties in converting such strategic decision to operational levels came out to be the next in ranks at a 95% confidence level. With regards to the CSFs, (1) Mutual trust and (2) All parties to commit fully came out to be significant at a 99% confidence level. The next in ranking (3) Openness between the parties (Share resources such as information and technology) (4) Commitment to win-win attitude and (5) Availability of resources came out to be the next in ranks at a 95% level of confidence. The top solutions are (1) Government to provide funds to offset initial uncertainties for projects with Collaborative Contracts (2) Implement a structured framework /building codes for Collaborative Contracting (3) Management to take the lead in ensuring a collaborative company culture/atmosphere is built (4) Increase awareness of the benefits of collaborative contracting (5) Collaborative contracting to involve consultants and subcontractors (6) Select Project stakeholders with a collaborative mind-set. This research hopes to increase the awareness of the government and industry leaders. Enabling them to improve the adoption of collaborative contracting in Singapore. By surfacing the most important barriers and CSF, resources can be utilized effectively during implementation.