A multidimensional performance measurement model from customer complaint records for residential building companies

Customer complaint databases can be used to assess project performance and provide feedback to quality management systems. However, many companies face difficulties in managing customer complaints: those databases are poorly structured and incomplete, and it is challenging to process text data, generated by a customer complaint. Moreover, previous studies have focused on performance evaluation based on isolated quality metrics and have not provided a comprehensive project assessment that consider different perspectives. This study aims to develop a multidimensional performance measurement (MPM) model from customer complaints records to provide feedback to quality management systems of residential building companies. Using Design Science Research as the methodological approach, this investigation was conducted in partnership with a Brazilian residential building company. The MPM model contains several elements, including a complaint database structure, data processing procedures, solutions to data limitations, and a set of quality indicators: defect frequency, cost impact, severity, recurrence, and customer’s purchase intention. The main contribution of this model is to combine metrics that represent different impacts and considers the perspective of both customers and companies. From a practical perspective, recommendations on how to improve the quality of customer complaint information are proposed, in order to create opportunities for quality improvement.