THE FACTORS IN INFLUENCING THE SUCCESS OF A VIRTUAL OFFICE IN CIVIL ENGINEERING DESIGN INDUSTRY IN SINGAPORE

Abstract

Virtual offices are becoming increasingly popular in wide range of industries which comes by virtue of its various economic benefits and increased accessibility to the marketplaces. Virtual offices are eliminating the space and time constraints making it possible to work anytime from anywhere. Alongside, it is also helping the environment in multiple ways by cutting down the transportation need, reducing energy wastages. However, virtual office concept is very new to civil engineering design industry in Singapore. This specific industry is depending almost entirely on the traditional office culture where human resource management problems persist typically. Highly competitive working culture in Singapore demands qualified employees and an effective output delivery, keeping the cost incurrence as less as possible to thrive in a business. There is not much research done in the past to build successful virtual office models in Civil engineering design industry in Singapore. This study examines the factors influencing the success of a virtual office in this industry in Singapore. It can be concluded that it is always good to have physically located staffs. Virtual office in civil engineering industry must be present partially which could bring economic and administrative profits.