Singapore: Past Perfect, Future Tense?

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Case Details:

Case Code : BENV008
Case Length : 27 Pages
Period : 1959-2006
Pub Date : 2006
Teaching Note : Available
Organization : -
Industry : Diversified
Countries : Singapore

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This case study was compiled from published sources, and is intended to be used as a basis for class discussion. It is not intended to illustrate either effective or ineffective handling of a management situation. Nor is it a primary information source.

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"Singapore's strengths lie in its strong intellectual property protection, pro-business attitude, talent pool, and a worry-free, stable environment."¹

- Chan Yeng Kit, CEO, Infocomm Development Authority (IDA), in 2006.

"Singapore is not the shining light it once was. There is a growing disparity between rich and poor and a corruption scandal at the country's largest charity…Nor is Singapore performing as well economically as it once did, with its gross domestic product growth rate slipping to 5 per cent, 1 per cent below the Asia-Pacific average."²

- An article in the South China Morning Post, in 2006.

"Singapore is micromanaged by a state that has the look and feel of a very large corporation. There's a certain white-shirted constraint, an absolute humorlessness in the way Singapore Ltd. operates; conformity here is the prime directive, and the fuzzier brands of creativity are in extremely short supply."³

- William Gibson, American science fiction writer, in 1994.

Introduction

In September 2006, Singapore hosted the annual general meetings of the IMF and the World Bank. Rodrigo de Rato, Managing Director, IMF, said, "Singapore itself has long been one of the symbols of Asia's economic emergence. Its industrial achievements, sophisticated infrastructure, robust financial center, and the visible prosperity of its people serve as a welcome backdrop to our meetings."⁴

Singapore's rise as a regional hub began in the early 19th century, when it was a trading post for the British East India Company⁵. Singapore became a sovereign nation in 1959 and the first government of the independent country was led by the People's Action Party (PAP).

Later in the mid-1960s, after a failed unification bid with Malaysia, the Government of Singapore (GoS) charted a roadmap for the city state's transition from a developing economy to a developed economy. The GoS adopted a national industrial policy in the early 1960s and set up several industrial estates. Singapore started off as a low-cost manufacturing hub and the pro-business attitude of the GoS made it attractive to several MNCs. Singapore's strategic location in the Asia-Pacific region also helped it become a major transit point, both for sea and air traffic.

Between 1970 and 1980, the GoS began to place emphasis on value added production, while outsourcing labor-intensive activities to neighboring countries. In the 1980s, Singapore's major products of manufacture were electronic products and oil refinery products. It was also a center for financial and other services.

However, despite its success and growth, Singapore was dependent on other economies for survival, and vulnerable to the effects of international events and changes in trade conditions. In the late 1990s, the GoS adopted a strategy to promote those sectors of the economy that were less prone to cyclical downturns and relatively immune to international trade fluctuations.

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1] "Singapore well-positioned to be a high-end BPO hub,"www.ida.gov.sg, February 17, 2006.

2] "Singapore's political restraints short-sighted,"www.asiamedia.ucla.edu, May 06, 2006.

3] "Disneyland with the death penalty,"www.wired.com, September 1994.

4] "The importance of the Singapore annual meetings,"www.sela.org, September 12, 2006.

5] The British East India Company was a joint stock company, which was granted an English Royal Charter by Elizabeth I in 1600 to trade in India. Later, the company came to enjoy significant political power in India. After the 1857 uprising in India, the Company gave up its administrative functions in India to the British government.