Construction project change management in Singapore: Status, importance and impact

Abstract

Changes in construction projects are inevitable. In order to minimize the impact of changes on a project, it is imperative to implement change management. This study aims to assess the status, importance and impact of change management implementation in the Singapore construction industry. To achieve the objective, a comprehensive literature review was conducted to gain an in-depth understanding of change management, and a questionnaire survey was conducted. Analyzing the data collected from 384 projects submitted by 32 companies, the implementation status was investigated at both company and project levels, followed by identification of key factors that encourage and discourage companies to practice change management. Furthermore, the importance and impact of change management in terms of project performances such as cost, time, and quality were also examined. The analysis results establish that the implementation status in the Singapore construction industry is relatively low while improvement in project cost, time and quality performances achieved by the companies that implement change management tends to be greater than the companies that do not. Recognizing the implementation status, importance and impacts of change management will be a starting point to reduce changes that negatively affect project performances, ultimately allowing the Singapore construction industry to increase opportunities for project success.