Introduction
Change is inevitable in organizations because of the changing business environments and expectations of customers. Organizations cannot perform well if new strategies and techniques are not implemented. Organization administrators ensure that organizations remain relevant in their operations and maintain excellent customer satisfaction. Therefore, organization administrations must adopt necessary changes in their operations to meet their customers’ ever-changing needs and demands. When the needs and demands of customers change, organizations must adopt equivalent countermeasures to meet the new demands and expectations of the customers (Jick, 2011). If relevant changes are adopted and initiated in an organization’s operations, the organization remains productive and profitable in the market. This report explores the Housing Development Board, the Singapore public housing authority. In particular, the report explores the structure and status of the Housing Development Board, the challenges it has been facing, and recommendations to overcome the challenges.
The Housing Development Board was founded in 1960 and was tasked with providing quality homes to the citizens of Singapore. The Housing Development Board experienced rapid growth and development and was able to offer quality and affordable homes to approximately 81% of Singapore’s population by 2007. Since its inception, HDB has remained focused and determined to solve the issue of housing scarcity in Singapore (Jick, 2011). The operations of the Board were well organized to meet the rising demands of housing facilities in Singapore and the escalating housing demands of the increasing population in the country. HDB had well-framed strategies and programs, enabling it to construct over 984,000 apartments by 2007 (Dzwigol et al., 2019). The apartments constructed by HDB were priced, marketed, and sold according to the regulations provided by the Board.
From 2000, HDB started to experience challenges, most of which emanated from its customers. One of the challenges faced by the Housing Development Board was the change in needs and expectations of the citizens regarding the type of houses the HDB constructed. The Housing Development Board was forced to engage the customers in various policies and programs to understand their expectations and work towards fulfilling and meeting them (Matthews et al., 2018). Another challenge that faced HDB was the escalation of the price of construction materials. Construction materials had become scarce, which led to an escalation of their prices (Matthews et al., 2018). Therefore, the construction cost of the houses and apartments went high, but the customers were unwilling to pay more for the houses and apartments.
Some challenges surrounded the retrenchment of workers, and others got fired. For instance, the Housing Development Board retrenched 2630 employees in 2003, and the remaining 5200 were reorganized (Jick, 2011). HDB also witnessed a change in its top management and CEO four times during the same period. It was not until June 2006 that the current CEO took an oath of office and instituted a positive change that promised to steer the organization towards regaining its glory and meeting the needs and expectations of its customers. The frequent change of CEOs impacted the operations and efficacy of the Housing Board negatively because each CEO came into office with certain expectations, most of which did not positively impact the Board’s performance and profitability.
The Housing Development Board had remained rigid in its construction strategies and techniques. After more than half a century in operation, the customers’ needs and expectations shifted due to new environmental changes. For instance, the customers demanded more choices and varieties of houses to choose from, unlike in the past when the HDB would construct houses that they thought were suitable for the population. The customers needed houses with a “private” touch and modern technology and construction designs (Jick, 2011). Customers’ demands caught the Housing Development Board unawares, forcing them to rethink their operations and develop more definite strategies to match the changing customer needs. The public started accusing the Housing Development Board of being unable to construct houses that matched their needs (Jick, 2011). All these challenges demanded adopting change strategies that would improve operations on the Board and help the HDB become reliable to its customers and the marketplace.
Type of Change Involved
Change leadership and management are important forces that drive organizations towards achieving their goals and targets. On the one hand, change management is involved minimizing distractions and pains involved in the change process and usually have a minimal impact (Dzwigol et al., 2019). Additionally, change leadership involves identifying a problem, evaluating it to understand what caused it, and implementing appropriate strategies to solve it (Hechanova et al., 2018). Change leadership helps organizations to achieve better results than change management. Therefore, change leadership would be the most appropriate for the Housing Development Board because it would help it to solve its challenges effectively (Dzwigol et al., 2019). Although the Housing Development Board was the sole housing provider in Singapore, it had to implement certain changes to help it overcome its challenges and become more effective in its operations (Hechanova et al., 2018). The changes adopted by HDB were expected to assist the company in improving its operations and overcome the public scrutiny it faced.
The first change that the Housing Development Board adopted was the involvement of private developers in its operations. The Housing Development Board had come under scrutiny for providing old-fashioned houses that could not meet the customers’ needs and demands. To ensure that the houses constructed matched the customers’ needs and demands, the Housing Development Board involved private developers in its operations (Alqatawenah, 2018). The private developers were tasked with designing, building, and selling houses to the public. The private developers were also tasked with pricing the houses, but the buyers would receive subsidies from the Housing Development Board (Jick, 2011). The public received the involvement of private developers in operations by the Housing Development Board because the private developers could construct houses that met the public needs and expectations (Alqatawenah, 2018). Following the popularity of the private developers among the public, the Housing Development Board launched five private development projects to help solve the issue of housing scarcity in Singapore.
A leadership change involves aspiring to know the opinions and viewpoints of customers to develop better strategies for solving the issues at hand. To effectively solve the problems faced by Housing Development Board, the administration adopted the strategy of public outreach. Public outreach involves engaging the public and selling ideas and plans to garner support (Woiceshyn et al., 2020). The Housing Development Board had several policies and programs that it intended to achieve to become reliable in the marketplace (Woiceshyn et al., 2020). Therefore, the HDB embarked on outreach activities such as holding meetings in social halls and focus groups. During the meetings, the Housing Development Board would reveal its ideas and plans to the public and invite them for in-depth discussions and evaluations to identify the efficacy and reliability of the Board’s ideas and plans. The public members would give their viewpoints and opinions that would help HDB to make conclusive decisions towards the improvements needed to meet their customers’ needs and expectations.
The other change instituted in the Housing Development Board by the administration entailed improving customer service. Customer service plays a vital role and determines whether an organization succeeds in its operations or not (Jayatilleke & Lai, 2018). If customer service in an organization is poor, the performance and profitability of the organization decline. However, if customer service in an organization is maintained high, the performance and profitability of the organization increase (Jayatilleke & Lai, 2018). Therefore, the Housing Development Board identified the need to improve its customer service techniques. For instance, the HDB implemented the Great impression on Customers in 2005, ensuring that the needs and expectations were fully met, internally and externally (Jick, 2011). The Board adopted varied strategies for improving customer service. In 2007, more than 200 senior managers in the Housing Development Board attended a motivational course to improve their communication skills and convincing power to customers.
The changes adopted by the Housing Development Board were in line with its goals and target set by the government. HDB aimed at ensuring that the housing needs of the citizens of Singapore were fully met by providing outstanding services and quality houses (Rosdiana & Aslami, 2022). Despite the changes the Housing Development Board adopted, the desired results were not attained instantly (Rosdiana & Aslami, 2022). The top administration of the Board needed to identify different ways and strategies to help the Board remain relevant and reliable to the public (Rosdiana & Aslami, 2022). Therefore, the need to have alternative strategies and changes remain relevant and essential to steer the Housing Development Board towards better services and improved customer satisfaction.
Consulting Proposal for the Housing Development Board
Project Analysis
Project Definition
The Housing Development Board has faced numerous challenges that derail it from adequately solving the issue of housing scarcity in Singapore. To solve the housing issue in Singapore effectively, the Housing Development Board should merge with Goldman Sachs (Klein et al., 2022). A merger with Goldman Sachs will enhance the financial capacity of the Housing Development Board; hence, be able to construct houses that meet the expected standards of the people of Singapore.
Diagnosis of the Current Situation
The success of an organization is measured by its ability to meet its customers’ needs and expectations. An organization that cannot meet its customers’ needs and demands is deemed a failure and unreliable in the market (Anh & Tien, 2021). Although the Housing Development Board had been successful in its initial years of operation, it failed to advance to match market and environmental changes (Anh & Tien, 2021). Thus, the standard of houses it constructed became unsuitable for the people. As a result, the Housing Development Board became unreliable.
Although it might be easy to identify issues that derail organizations from becoming effective in the market, solving the identified issues has always been a challenge to many organizations. The leaders of the Housing Development Board were able to identify the challenges that affected the Board (Klein et al., 2022). The public members also realized when the Housing Development Board could no longer solve the housing needs of the people. Through the complaints raised by the public, the leaders of the Housing Development Board realized the need to change its strategies to offer more reliable services to the people (Klein et al., 2022). In a bid to solve the challenges that affected its operations, the Housing Development Board Sponsored Tan to further her studies in Colombia so that she could come up with solutions for the Board.
After identifying the challenges that derailed the Housing Development Board from achieving its goals and targets, the top administration resolved to adopt some changes that would help to ease the situation. Among the changes adopted by HDB include the involvement of private developers, instituting public outreach, and improving its customer services (Klein et al., 2022). The changes adopted by the Housing Development Board were channeled towards developing new ideas and strategies of operation so that the quality of houses constructed could improve to match the needs and expectations of the people. The Housing Development Board has shown significant interest and skills to institute changes that would impact its operations positively.
A close relationship between the Board and the people should be established to realize a reliable change in the Housing Development Board. The close relationship will enable the HDB to obtain the people’s opinions and viewpoints that will assist in identifying the improvements needed to meet the people’s needs and demands (Jick, 2011). The Housing Development Board also should merge with another financially stable corporation that would fund its projects. A financially stable corporation would enable the Housing Development Board to construct modern houses that would attract more customers, thus, increasing the profitability of the Housing Development Board.
The decision by the Housing Development Board to adopt the change of downsizing was triggered by financial constraints. Following the price hike of construction materials, the Housing Development Board incurred higher construction costs and lower returns because the people were unwilling to pay more for the apartments constructed (Matthews et al., 2018). Therefore, the Housing Development Board could not get the expected profits in its earlier operations (Matthews et al., 2018). Since the Board had been accused of being overstaffed, it resolved to downsize so that it could ease the financial burden it was facing and effectively manage the remaining employees.
The Housing Development Board was founded in the 1960s. In the 1960s, the housing demands were lower compared to early 2000. In its initial operations, the Housing Development Board effectively solved the housing issue in Singapore. However, as the population grew and technology brought new ways of doing things, the housing needs and demands of the people changed (Change, 2017). Despite the change in the housing needs and demands of the people, the Housing Development Board did not adopt effective changes to match the people’s needs (Matthews et al., 2018). The Housing Development Board relied on old ways of doing things to solve modern problems, which did not materialize (Change, 2017). However, as the pressure for better houses escalated, the Housing Development Board had to accept the expected change to help the Board become reliable and effective in the market.
The objectives of the changes adopted by the Housing Development Board were to engage the people in making crucial decisions and improve customer satisfaction. Customers play a major role in determining the performance and profitability of organizations. Organizations rely on opinions and viewpoints given by customers to know the improvements needed to meet the customers’ needs and demands (Matthews et al., 2018). The case of the Housing Development Board depicts what most business organizations undergo in the modern business world. When performance and profitability decline in an organization, customers’ opinions and viewpoints become essential.
The assessment of strategic options would be the most appropriate consulting strategy to positively impact the Housing Development Board. The assessment of strategic options will entail assessing several strategic options aimed at improving the performance and profitability of the Housing Development Board, which include mergers, acquisitions, globalization, and a new strategic direction, among others. The consulting strategy with a higher probability of enhancing the performance and profitability of the Housing Development Board should be adopted by the administration of the Board (Dzwigol et al., 2019). Thus, the best option selection should be based on the number of profits and the extent of performance improvements the Board will realize.
Recommendations
Suggestions
The Housing Development Board should merge with Goldman Sachs, a global investment banking, securities and investment management firm. Goldman Sachs offers a wide range of financial support to governments, financial institutions, and corporations to fund projects and activities that require huge finances. Therefore, Goldman Sachs would be the best corporation for the Housing Development Board to merge with to overcome its financial constraints. Since technology has become increasingly used in the modern world, the Housing Development Board should incorporate technology in all its operations (Dzwigol et al., 2019). The use of technology would help the Housing Development Board to develop unique construction techniques that will help it to come up with standards buildings that will be in high demand among the people.
Since Tan has obtained reliable knowledge and skills from her studies in Colombia, she should be at the forefront of advocating for new and reliable changes in the Housing Development Board. Chew Ling Tan should lead the Housing Development Board to develop communication strategies that will help to keep their customers informed of any developments in the organization. Since the idea of involving private developers might lower the motivation of employees in the Housing Development Board due to fear of losing jobs, the organization should assure the employees of their job security. Training and acquiring new skills yield positive organizational results (Dzwigol et al., 2019). Therefore, the Housing Development Board should institute knowledge and skills acquisition programs to enhance the efficacy and performance of its employees.
Implementation Plan
The implementation plan’s first step should define each employee’s duties and roles in the Housing Development Board. Chew Ling Tan and other top officials in HDB should oversee the definition and specification of each employee’s roles and duties. Secondly, the organization should hold talks with Goldman Sachs and enter into a contract if the talks materialize. Thirdly, the standards and quality of houses constructed should be improved to match the needs and demands of the people of Singapore (Dzwigol et al., 2019). Lastly, the Housing Development Board should prioritize research to regularly identify the needs of the people, which will help improve operations to meet the needs and expectations of the people.
Summary
The Housing Development Board has been influential in addressing the housing demands in Singapore. However, failure to adopt reliable changes led to the downfall of the Housing Development Board. In efforts to revive the Board and make it reliable in the country, three changes were adopted. The adopted changes included the involvement of private developers, increasing public outreach, and improving customer service. However, the best solution to the issues faced by the Housing Development Board would be to merge with Goldman Sachs, which would improve its financial strength and steer it toward meeting the people’s needs and expectations.
References
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