Formoso, C T and Jobim, M S S (2006) Challenges in improving customer focus in small-sized house-building companies in Brazil. Journal of Construction in Developing Countries, 11(2), pp. 77-101. ISSN 1823-6499
Abstract
Some important changes in the business environment in several countries are forcing house-building companies to change their competitive strategies. This paper discusses a set of customer servicing practices, which have been adopted by small-sized house-building companies in Brazil that have been involved in quality management improvement programs, emphasizing customer satisfaction measurement. Such practices are referred to a model of the customer servicing process that integrates the main customer-interaction functions from product inception to building operation. Based on multiple case studies and also on a literature review, the main difficulties faced by this sector in terms of improving customer satisfaction are discussed and some improvement opportunities are pointed out.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | customer; measurement; post-occupancy evaluation; satisfaction; servicing; value generation |
| Index terms: | satisfaction, value generation, quality management, customer satisfaction, Brazil, program, competitive strategy, building operation, case study, post-occupancy evaluation, servicing, interaction, literature review |
| Subjects: | data collection methods, Geography, maintenance engineering, data analysis and analytics, economic analysis, software systems, management, financial and cost management, service delivery, behavioral psychology, evaluation methods, project delivery, quality assurance |
| Topics: | Project Management, Cost Management, Geographical Context, Research Practice, Digital Applications, Quality Management, Stakeholder Management, Business Strategy |
| Descriptive scope: | 4 PCEA |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here