A model for customer-focused culture change in the speculative house-building industry : executive summary

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Abstract

The UK house-building industry is increasingly criticised for the quality of its
products. Its business drivers are less focused on the needs of customers
compared with much of the manufacturing sector. Recent surveys have revealed
considerable dissatisfaction among buyers of newly built homes, particularly
with the finished product and after-sales service quality. However, this cannot be
viewed in isolation from the general business culture that prevails. In light of
increasing calls for industry-wide changes, this research uses Westbury Homes
as a typical example to examine existing practices in the industry that act as
barriers to a change in culture. In determining a way forward, a review of extant
change management models including Total Quality Management, Business
Process Re-engineering, Balanced Scorecard and Hoshin Kanri provides new
insight into the relative strengths of each and the role they can play in the
formation of a holistic approach to successful customer-focused culture change.
A four stage Strategy Deployment Maturity Journey for culture change is
proffered that guides the deployment of policy through the introduction of i) a
balanced set of headline performance measures, ii) operational performance
indicators as drivers for change, iii) a participative programme for change, and
iv) mechanisms for development, feedback and review of strategy. Early results
indicate that implementation will lead to successful deployment of long-term
objectives; specifically, a customer-focused culture that views service and
product quality as contributing to future sales and profitability, instead of simply
in terms of costs.

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