ABSTRACT
Chapter 4 outlines the research findings for the reader. It begins with an array of descriptive statistics that cover performance, employment, productivity, ownership and operational indicators. Then, the results of the six drivers of Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) are examined in sequence with a comprehensive graphical display and a detailed narrative discussion. The reader is presented with a series of arguments around the positive aspects of P&I practice in Singaporean SMEs and, most importantly, around those aspects of failure or under-performance that attract immediate policy recommendations. These include a lack of advanced production technologies e.g., robotics and CNC machinery, restricted benchmarking activity, low skill levels, lack of incentives for innovative solutions, sticky career progression, little employee training or management development, low investment in R&D, and a heavy reliance on foreign labour. The chapter concludes by illustrating how a composite index of SME performance on its productivity and innovation practices is developed from the six drivers to form a composite index for each firm as an input into a dynamic web portal. Composite scores are developed for each sub-sector in Singapore’s manufacturing sector, followed by its retail and Food and Beverage sectors. In Singapore, the research shows that the pharmaceuticals sector is the highest performing one, while fabricated metals and machinery and equipment (both of which contribute a large share of Singapore’s manufacturing output) have relatively low composite scores. Then, the reader is shown how the six drivers of TPP vary across each sector of manufacturing e.g., computer and electronics, food and beverage and pharmaceuticals having the highest levels of innovative culture while technology and capital utilisation is lowest in food and beverage, machinery and equipment and chemicals. This data informs the policy recommendations to Government, specific to each firm’s composite score.
