Case Studies in Public Governance

Building Institutions in Singapore

This book makes available original case studies on how institutions developed in Singapore. Up until now, these case studies have been used exclusively in Singapore to teach public governance, and have been well-received in the Singapore Civil Service College’s milestone programmes. With this publication, more will be able to access this material. Students, researchers and policy-makers can now use these case studies for pedagogy or to derive insights on Singapore’s approach on governance. Designed around the theme of "building institutions", the case studies also present facets of how institutions developed which are universal to management studies.

These case studies highlight a core aspect in the development of institutions, namely, how people and organisations change the culture of institutions, how leaders influence their organisations, and how policies define the systems that build institutions. The book contains 5 case studies, each profiling a unique sector and key institution in Singapore. They present how public agencies and leaders helped to build Singapore institutions over the last forty years.

Although there are more cases studies on management and strategy than public policy and administration, there is growing interest in Asian case studies, and more specifically, case studies on Singapore public governance. This collection of case studies on Singapore institutions provides the perspective from Singaporean case writers themselves, on the role of government in Singapore’s development.