Method Using Metric-Based Performance Feedback to Predict Client Satisfaction—A Hospital Case Study

The lack of meaningful performance metrics, infrequent assessment of project deficiencies and inaccurate prediction of client satisfaction result in misaligned design/construction project management strategies. This misalignment results from ‘bad' performance monitoring practice according to recent research in applied microeconomics using global manufacturing firms. ‘Good' practice was shown to be strongly associated with higher firm performance measured by productivity, profitability and survival rates. No such evidence was found in the AEC industry. We develop a frequent metric-based feedback method to predict client satisfaction. The metrics and method are theoretically founded and empirically derived using one major longitudinal case study with a healthcare organization. Management effectiveness literature on construction KPI's and strategic management literature on Total Quality Management help us define the predictor metrics. Preliminary analysis based on the first ten months of data collected show that our proposed metrics could reliably predict client satisfaction. Historically, organizational behaviorists have found that feedback effects on performance to be quite variable - not always positive. Our results show that there is higher predictability in client satisfaction with performance feedback than without. Our findings provide initial insight in guiding project execution teams to tactically manage client satisfaction.