A new quality theory for UK private housebuilding based on definable quality principles, impression management and the control of cognitive dissonance

This is an investigation into the concept of quality and how it relates to the private housebuilding industry. The aim of which was to find out why the house buying public were not getting the level of quality and thus end product they wanted. It considers the classic quality theories; how they are applied to the manufacturing industries, service industries and the commercial construction industry and their lack of transferability to the private housebuilding industry. The research considers the measurement and management of quality, and how strategies such as Total Quality Management have equated quality to conformance to customer requirements and therefore customer satisfaction. The research employs both qualitative and quantitative methods, using a combination of questionnaires and semi-structured interviews for data collection. Case studies are then used to analyse the current approaches to quality from a leading private housebuilding company, comparing this with what has been achieved by a leading company in the commercial sector and the quality approach used by a pioneering American housebuilder. As the research progressed it gave rise to several conceptual models of the quality process, these models help to explain why quality has not always been achieved using these quality systems. Combining the disciplines of quality management and applied psychology and based on quality concepts from other sectors and their analysis the research has combined them to produce a new quality theory and model for the UK housebuilding industry. The theory and model are distinctive by addressing the principles of Cognitive Dissonance and incorporating Impression Management to improve the representational accuracy of definable quality achieved in customer satisfaction surveys.