Bigger Isn&#039;t Necessarily Better

Frederick Abernathy; Kermit Baker; Kent Colton; David Weil

doi:10.5771/9780739172902

Summary

Bigger Isn’t Necessarily Better examines the performance and operation of the US homebuilding sector based on a detailed survey of large home builders conducted by the authors in the period of the great building boom of the 2000s. In contrast to the many books that have focused on the financial side of the housing sector prior to the Great Recession, the book examines the operational side of the industry and what did, and, more importantly, what did not, happen during the period of unprecedented growth. Despite the rise of very large, national homebuilders during the boom years from 1999 to 2005 and the consolidation of the industry that accompanied it, the authors find that major homebuilders often did not adopt innovations in areas ranging from information technology, supply chain practices, and work site management, nor improve their operational performance. Given this, the book discusses what homebuilders can learn from other industries as they face a challenging future.

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Bibliographic data

Copyright year: 2011
ISBN-Print: 978-0-7391-7289-6
ISBN-Online: 978-0-7391-7290-2
Publisher: Lexington, Lanham
Language: English
Pages: 119
Product type: Book Titles

1. CONTENTS No access
2. PREFACE No access
1. The Home Building Boom No access
2. The Seeds of Consolidation No access
3. The Growing Dominance of Big Builders No access
4. Conventional Wisdom about Scale No access
5. The Virtuous Circle Hypothesis No access
6. Organization of the Book No access
1. Building the Machine for Living No access
2. Focus on Entry-Level Homes No access
3. Measuring Local Market Competitio No access
4. Survey Coverage and Content No access
5. Structure of the Survey No access
1. Builder Performance During the Boom No access
2. Securing Capital for Expansion No access
3. Land Assembly Strategies No access
4. Corporate Branding and Customer Satisfa No access
5. Conclusion No access
1. The Construction Manager Model No access
2. Benefits and Costs of Improved Coordination No access
3. Coordinating On-Site Activities No access
4. Performance at the Construction Site No access
5. Conclusion No access
1. Emergence of the Third Supply Channel No access
2. Shifting Builder Priorities No access
3. Implementation of Advanced Practices No access
4. The Role of Local Market Conditions No access
5. Market Characteristics and Builder Performance No access
6. Conclusion No access
1. ICT Background No access
2. Communicating with Customers No access
3. Home Builders and Technology Use in the Back Office No access
4. Home Builders and Technology Use on the Site No access
5. Using Technology to Estimate Costs No access
6. Using Technology to Coordinate with Subcontractors and Suppliers No access
7. The Importance of Sharing No access
8. Factors Discouraging Greater Use of Technology No access
9. Conclusion No access
1. Challenges of Improving Operational Performance No access
2. The Importance of Local Markets Revisited No access
3. Disentangling the Effects of Size and Location No access
4. Can Bigger Get Better? No access
1. Improve Subcontractor Coordination and Workforce Quality No access
2. Increase Standardization and Preassembly of Components No access
3. Leverage the Power of Information Technology No access
4. Streamline Supply Chain Management and Logistics No access
5. Managing Risk in the Twenty-First Century No access
APPENDIX A JOINT CENTER ADVISORY PANELFOR THE HARVARD HOME BUILDER STUDY No access Pages 105 - 106
APPENDIX B SURVEY RESPONSES TO ICT QUESTIONS No access Pages 107 - 108
REFERENCES No access Pages 109 - 114
INDEX No access Pages 115 - 119