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Tertiary education institutions (TEIs) are constituting TQM to aim for quality teaching, learning and research work. In the laboratories, practical learning and research are carried out, and they have to be backed up by quality support services. The Laboratory Centre of the Faculty of Science & Technology, City University of Hong Kong (FLC) is the support services provider for the Faculty laboratories. As a pilot, two support services: maintenance of the network of fume cupboards and equipment calibration were selected to apply for the ISO 9002 certification. In April 1997 the Certificate was awarded. This paper discusses the importance and shows the feasibility of implementing quality management system to laboratory support services in TEIs. The differences with similar certification in the private and public sectors are compared, and the benefits derived are outlined.

Since 1960, many public–private partnership (PPP) projects have been implemented in Hong Kong. Some projects have been considered as very successful, whereas others are seen as less successful. Unfortunately, these success outcomes have remained abstract because they are not in quantifiable terms. This paper aims to develop a model that can quantify the success outcome of PPP projects in Hong Kong.

Both quantitative and qualitative research approaches were adopted for the study. First, a questionnaire survey was conducted with PPP practitioners in Hong Kong, and thereafter, the fuzzy synthetic evaluation technique was used to develop a project success index for PPP projects in Hong Kong. The Hong Kong Cross-Harbour Tunnel project was used as a case study to demonstrate the applicability of the pragmatic model.

The success index model developed consists of four unrelated success criteria groupings: cost effectiveness, quality of services and technical specification, environmental impact and long-term partnership. Further, the computed success index for the Cross-Harbour Tunnel project is 4.06, which indicates that the tunnel project has been highly successful.

The outputs of this study will enable PPP practitioners in Hong Kong to reliably evaluate the success levels of their projects. In addition, local practitioners can now compare the success levels of two or more PPP projects on the same basis.

This paper aims to empirically investigate the differences and similarities on the implementation constraints in public–private partnership (PPP) in developing and developed economies/countries, represented by Ghana and Hong Kong, respectively.

A questionnaire survey was conducted with relevant experienced PPP practitioners in Ghana and Hong Kong. One hundred and three completed questionnaires were received for analysis. Kendall’s coefficient of concordance analysis, mean score ranking, Mann–Whitney U test and quartile grouping were used for data analysis.

The results show six implementation constraints with significant differences. Constraints related to the general investment climate of PPP projects (i.e. ecological conditions of PPP) are ranked higher in Ghana than in Hong Kong, whereas constraints related to the organisation and negotiations of PPP projects are higher in Hong Kong than in Ghana. Further, two constraints, lengthy delay in finalising negotiations and lengthy delay due to political debate, are very critical in both jurisdictions, whereas “negative public perceptions on PPP transactions” and “high use of unsolicited proposals” are of less challenge in the implementation of PPP in both jurisdictions.

The findings of this study contribute to knowledge on the international best practices of PPP. In addition, international private bidders would be informed of the mitigation measures to adopt when engaging in PPP arrangements in any part of the world, whether in a developing or developed economy country.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the similarities and differences of critical success factors (CSFs) for public-private partnership (PPP) projects in developing and developed countries, using Ghana and Hong Kong as examples.

An empirical questionnaire survey was conducted with experienced PPP practitioners in Ghana and Hong Kong. Survey responses were analysed using Kendall’s concordance analysis, mean score ranking, quartile groupings analysis and Mann-Whitney U test.

The results indicate that a favourable legal and regulatory framework is very critical in both jurisdictions. Further, technology transfer, technological innovation, public/community participation and coordination and government providing financial support are of low importance in both jurisdictions. The non-parametric test shows that 16 CSFs are of different importance in Ghana and Hong Kong. Specifically, CSFs related to the socio-political and economic conditions of PPP projects are very critical in Ghana, whereas CSFs directly related to the organisation and relationship of PPP projects are very critical in Hong Kong.

The outputs of this study add to the international best practice framework for successful PPP implementation. Further, international private investors and governments who are yet to adopt the PPP concept would be considerably informed of the investment strategies to employ when engaging in PPP arrangements.

The increasing demand for public infrastructure has caused a rise in the global adoption of the public–private partnership (PPP) concept. However, over the past years, most of the developing countries have failed to attract more private investments as realised in the developed countries. This paper aims to investigate the critical factors that attract private investments in the PPP markets of developing countries.

An empirical questionnaire survey was conducted with targeted international PPP experts from the academic and industrial sectors. The inter-rater agreement analysis, mean score ranking and Mann–Whitney U test were used to analyse the survey responses.

Results indicate that the three most critical factors are political support and acceptability for PPPs, government positive attitude towards private sector investments and political stability. On the other hand, factors including government guarantees, competent PPP unit and tax rebate on imported equipment are of low importance. The Mann–Whitney U test reveals that experts from the academic and industrial sectors view the importance of three factors differently: adequate public sector experience in PPP, government providing guarantees and government providing tax rebate on imported equipment.

The research outputs contribute to the existing but limited knowledge on PPP practices in developing countries by providing empirical evidence and cross-cultural perceptions on the conditions that are critical to the expansion of PPP markets in developing countries. It is therefore expected that governments and policymakers seeking to adopt the PPP concept would take into consideration the results and implications to enhance PPP growth.

The purpose of this paper is to empirically compare the risk factors in public-private partnership (PPP) projects in developing and developed countries, represented by Ghana and Hong Kong, respectively.

A structured questionnaire survey was conducted with PPP practitioners in Ghana and Hong Kong. In total, 103 valid responses were received for analysis. Kendall’s coefficient of concordance and mean ranking were used for data analysis.

The results show that respondents from Ghana ranked country risk factors higher, whereas their Hong Kong counterparts ranked project-specific risks higher. The top five significant risks in Ghana are corruption, inflation rate fluctuation, exchange rate fluctuation, delay in project completion and interest rate fluctuation. In Hong Kong, the top five significant risk factors are delay in land acquisition, operational cost overruns, construction cost overruns, delay in project completion and political interference.

The results of the study inform international investors of the appropriate risk mitigation measures and preventive actions to use when engaging in PPP arrangements in any part of the world. Further, governments who are yet to use the PPP concept would be informed of the prevailing risk factors in other neighbouring countries (i.e. developing or developed countries).

The construction industry plays a significant role to the economy of Hong Kong not only in terms of output but also the employment. The sector, however, has been severely hit by the economic downturn in recent years resulting in serious unemployment. Employment planning becomes one of the critical aspects for the recovery of the economy. The main objective of this paper is to establish a labour demand model for the Hong Kong construction industry. The unique characteristics and the current conditions of the construction labour market are reviewed. Regression analysis based on 123 construction projects was used to compute the relationship between expenditure and site workers employed. The best predictor of average labour demand of construction projects in Hong Kong is found to be DL = 463 C 0.934, where DL is the actual labour demand in man‐days, C is the final cost of contract in millions. The labour demand‐cost relationship can be applied as a manpower forecasting model to estimate the total labour required for a given type of project. The developed model enables a more reliable and accurate planning of manpower requirements in the construction industry.

The public sector plays a critical role in the successful implementation of public–private partnership (PPP) projects. Thus, there is a need to holistically explore the public sector’s view on the implementation practices of PPP. This paper aims to explore and compare the public sector’s views on PPP practices in Ghana and Hong Kong.

Semi-structured interviews were conducted with PPP practitioners of senior authority in public institutions in both Ghana and Hong Kong. The interviews covered critical issues of PPP implementation practices such as motivations for engaging in PPP, success criteria/indicators, critical success factors (CSFs), external stakeholder management and training and education in PPPs.

The findings show that quick delivery of public projects and private sector efficiency are the reasons considered by both groups of interviewees. On the success criteria, interviewees from both jurisdictions mentioned user satisfaction, budget, time and quality. The CSFs mentioned by both groups include capacity building and training, project viability, proper planning and good feasibility studies. Sensitization programs, including open forums and community meetings, were mentioned by both groups as measures for managing external stakeholders. On the training and education, both groups mentioned international study tours and organizing courses and seminars.

The outputs of this study offer strategies that are very useful to international private developers who are interested in PPP practices in Africa and Asia. Further, the findings contribute to the knowledge on the international best practices for PPP.

This paper aims to explore the perceptual differences on the factors that contribute to the successful management of public-private partnership (PPP) projects at the operational stage among stakeholders.

An international questionnaire survey was conducted with purposively sampled PPP experts from the private, public and academic sectors. Survey responses were analyzed using Kendall’s coefficient of concordance (W), mean score ranking analysis, Kruskal–Wallis test and Mann–Whitney U test.

The research findings show that each stakeholder group considers an efficient and well-structured payment mechanism as the most important operational management critical success factor (CSF). Moreover, the public sector considers open and constant communication among stakeholders as the second most important CSF, whereas the private and academic sectors consider effective operational risk management and well-structured legal dispute resolution mechanism, respectively. Further analysis using non-parametric tests (i.e. Kruskal–Wallis and Mann–Whitney U statistics) reveal significant differences in the importance of three operational management CSFs – “open and constant communication among stakeholders”, “effective changes of shareholdings in private consortium” and “stable macroeconomic indicators”.

The generalizability of the research findings is limited considering the low sample size and non-participation of users/general public in the study. Hence, it is recommended that future research should be conducted in a specific country using both face-to-face and email questionnaire distribution approaches. This would likely increase the response rate and facilitate the inclusion of the general public/users.

The results of this study highlight and provide significant insights into how different PPP stakeholders perceive the critical conditions that are required to ensure the operational efficiency of PPP projects. This would, therefore, enable a better cooperation and collective effort from all stakeholders towards achieving the overall project success. In addition, the study offers new and additional CSFs which would enhance the comprehensiveness of the existing list of CSFs for the general implementation of PPP projects.