S'pore ranked 6th for management practices

SINGAPORE - A survey showed that Singapore is ranked sixth for management practices among 22 countries.

The findings of the World Management Survey (WMS) in Singapore, were announced by the National Productivity and Continuing Education Council (NPCEC) on Friday.

The survey assessed the management quality of 408 manufacturing firms located in Singapore using standard scoring criteria across countries, the study took stock of 18 management elements, classified into four dimensions.

The dimensions were Operations Management; Monitoring Management; Targets Management and People Management.

Singapore's position puts it just behind USA, Japan and Germany, and showed it is on par with other developed countried such as England and Australia, with the relatively large presence of multi-national corporations (MNCs) in the manufacturing sector contributing to the republic's high score.

Singapore’s firms achieved the highest ranking in People Management, coming in 4th among all the countries that were surveyed. This dimension entailed optimising the workforce quality and maximising human capital.

It was also ranked among the top for the other dimensions. The practice of lean manufacturing helped it achieve a favourable score in Operations Management.

For monitoring management, Singapore managers could effectively identify employees' weaknesses and send them for skills upgrading through training. They were also able to communicate well-defined targets to their employees.

But the study revealed weaknesses in local SMEs. SOme of these included instilling a talent mindset among senior management, better tracking and communicating of key performance indicators (KPIs) and setting goals that strike a balance between financial and non-financial objectives.

Acting Minister for Manpower, Mr Tan Chuan-Jin, said: “The findings suggest that firms in Singapore scored well in all aspects of management especially in promoting high achievers. However, more needs to be done for other indicators such as setting holistic targets.

"Good managers will be the forerunners for game-changing ideas which form the basis for the company’s next competitive advantage. Therefore, improving the quality of management is just as important as undertaking other productivity improvements in order to entrench a productive culture. It is against the backdrop of economic challenges that it has become more pressing, locally and globally, for SMEs to step up and review their business and management models.”