Universities are endangering the construction industry of Hong Kong.
There is no reason to expect the quality of any key personnel in construction engineering and management to be any less than that of a medical practitioner.
However, some universities including those in U.K. are admitting students who are below par or without sufficient relevant technical background to some so
-called Master of Science Degree in Construction Project Management programs. The most horrible thing about these Msc. degree holders is that many of them
do not have sufficient understanding of structural theories and this is obviously dangerous!!!!!!
Also, I find the standard of English of many of such graduates is
horrendously low. They are unable to understand and use long or complicated sentences. (Caution: Do not use long or complicated sentence, unless you really
understand the grammar!) Thanks to the lenience of these universities, our construction industry is being packed with incompetent people, who only know how
to wave their "flashy badges" granted by these universities. Maybe some universities are facing some financial difficulties or wish to raise more
funds for their own research projects. But, if the Englishmen still wish to claim to be decent men, please do not jeopardize our construction industry by
producing low quality graduates (including building and civil engineering), who consider themselves to be competent enough to do their jobs properly but
actually cannot. Some people tend to think that the top management should concentrate on management only and let only the technical people deal with technical
issues. This is wrong. Some rich people just want to use this as a reason to authenticate that they can stay on top without sufficient technical background. These rich people,
basically, just use money to control the people under them and the projects, but they are not controlling the projects with sound technical knowledge. With
respect to the construction industry, dealing with technical issues are the critical jobs and management skills are to enable them to achieve their targets
properly and effectively. No construction project can be managed properly without sufficient technical background, simply because one cannot manage
technical things properly without sufficient understanding of the technical issues involved. One big misconception about management is that management and
technical knowledge are two separate things. Management skill is for reinforcing technical skill. Management skill alone is nearly useless and meaningless.
Indeed some contractors are employing low quality staff with Msc. degrees without sufficient technical knowledge, as they are unable to discern the difference between the good and the bad for reason that the employers themselves do not have sufficient academic qualifications.
I had a colleague who has a so-called Master degree in construction management. Once he asked me whether I know certain academic subjects. I nearly burst
out laughing because what he refer to is just some kind of stuff in introductory courses in the universities. If this guy just want to show off what he has
learnt in his Master degree course, I would advise he should better shut up to save his face. There is a lot more he need to learn than those he learnt in
his degree courses. Construction management is not as simple as just producing critical path analysis program with softwares. It involves the interweaving
of knowledge in different areas including design, structural theories, building services, finishing works, surveying, economics, law, politics and management etc.. It
seems this guy has the wrong attitude. Our knowledge should not be bounded by what we learnt in the universities and we must be able to extend our knowledge
on our own and, when necessary, prove that our propositions are reasonable or correct to others, who are in reasonable doubt. I believe no lecturers in the
universities can go through all the textbooks or research papers in their lectures.
Another day the same guy said that his previous superiors told him he should avoid using long sentences in his letters. I nearly bursted out laughing again,
but did not have the time to argue with him. If he still think that he is correct, I would advise him to seriously read through some contract documents and
insurance policies etc. (though some of them are not well written). Use of complicated sentences is absolutely necessary for precise communication in any
profession. His previous superiors told him so probably because his (or their) standard of English is not good enough. But I know that the guy does not know
English well and therefore cannot be regarded as a learnt man by any reasonable standard.
A few words about specialization. Why specialization? The necessity of specialization stems from the fact that our knowledge has been growing in such a way
that any individual would be unable to learn them all within limited time. But we should not let this be an excuse of confining oneself within a
specialized area only, because, unfortunately, different "branches" of knowledge in construction are deeply interwoven with and dependent on one another. Those who
cannot see this are just naive or incompetent. We must strike a good balance between acquiring knowledge in specialized area and general knowledge.
In short, construction project management may be roughly categorized under the four scenarios as follows:
- Construction projects managed by people with good technical background and good management skills: Good!
- Contruction projects managed by people with good technical background and but without sufficient knowledge in management skill: Construction works cannot
be effectively or properly carried out.
- Construction projects managed by people without sufficient technical background and but with so-called "good" management skills: These people should be
jailed because they put other people at unreasonable risks.
- Construction projects managed by people without sufficient technical background and without sufficient management skills: These people should be hanged.