Achieving whole-life value: The challenges of service-led construction

Major construction clients are increasingly looking to procure built facilities on the basis of added value, rather than capital cost. Recent advances in the procurement of construction projects have emphasised a whole-life value approach to meeting the client’s objectives, with strategies put in place to encourage long-term commitment and through-life service provision. Construction firms are therefore increasingly required to take on responsibility for the operation and maintenance of the construction project on the client’s behalf - with the emphasis on value and service. This inevitably throws up a host of challenges, not the least of which is the need for construction firms to manage and accommodate the new emphasis on service. Indeed, these ‘service-led’ projects represent a new realm of construction projects where the rationale for the project is driven by client’s objectives with some aspect of service provision. This vision of downstream service delivery increases the number of stakeholders, adds to project complexity and challenges deeply-ingrained working practices. Ultimately it presents a major challenge for the construction sector. This paper sets out to unravel some of the many implications that this change brings with it. It draws upon ongoing research investigating how construction firms can adapt to a more service-orientated built environment and add value in project-based environments. The conclusions lay bare the challenges that firms face when trying to compete on the basis of added-value and service delivery. In particular, how it affects deeply-ingrained working practices and established relationships in the sector.

Dual semiosis analysis model managing customer-focused service innovation

Customers will not continue to pay for a service if it is perceived to be of poor quality, and/or of no value. With a paradigm shift towards business dependence on service orientated IS solutions [1], it is critical that alignment exists between service definition, delivery, and customer expectation, businesses are to ensure customer satisfaction. Services, and micro-service development, offer businesses a flexible structure for solution innovation, however, constant changes in technology, business and societal expectations means an iterative analysis solution is required to i) determine whether provider services adequately meet customer segment needs and expectations, and ii) to help guide business service innovation and development. In this paper, by incorporating multiple models, we propose a series of steps to help identify and prioritise service gaps. Moreover, the authors propose the Dual Semiosis Analysis Model, i.e. a tool that highlights where within the symbiotic customer / provider semiosis process, requirements misinterpretation, and/or service provision deficiencies occur. This paper offers the reader a powerful customer-centric tool, designed to help business managers highlight both what services are critical to customer quality perception, and where future innovation