Running head: HOUSING DEVELOPMENT BOARD CONSULTING PROPOSAL
Housing Development Board: A Consulting Proposal
HOUSING DEVELOPMENT BOARD CONSULTING PROPOSAL 2
Housing Development Board: A Consulting Proposal
Definition of the Project
The Housing Development Board of Singapore is a unique organization to study because
of its quasi-governmental status. It is fully funded by the government and is under the
governmental supervision of the Ministry of National Development. At its founding in 1960, its
mission was to provide affordable, cost effective public housing solutions for the citizens of
Singapore. In its early stages, the organization was responsible for meeting just 6% of the total
populations housing needs. By 2007, as the population increased, pricing for private housing
increased, and land became more scarce, the Housing Development Board became responsible
for meeting the housing needs of 81% of Singapore’s 3.7 million total population (Jick &
Peiperl, 2011, p. 430). To accomplish this tremendous undertaking, the organization’s 5,200
employees were responsible for building, pricing, marketing, sales, after-sale service, and lease
administration of its 984,000 units. With increased public demand for greater variety, lower
priced public housing options, the government of Singapore applied pressure on the Housing
Development Board to become “much more customer focused, more efficient, and innovative in
meeting the changing needs of the population it serves” (Jick & Peiperl, 2011, p. 430).
Current Situation
The biggest change challenge for the Housing Development Board is effectively initiating
and sustaining the change vision that they have planned. In the past, the organization was
successful because they efficiently handled developing public housing in areas that had limited
land availability. “Due to land scarcity, its high-rise, high density living provided an effective
solution to meeting household needs in Singapore” (Jick & Peiperl, 2011, p. 430). This high-
rise, high density solution met the government and public requirements at the time, but by 2009
HOUSING DEVELOPMENT BOARD CONSULTING PROPOSAL 3
society had become more open and diverse. “The profile of the customer served was more
affluent and vocal than before, necessitating the agency to engage its customers more often in its
various policies and programs. Customers also expected to pay less for more” (Jick & Peiperl,
2011, p. 431). The timing for this mental shift for consumers could not have come at a worse
time for the Housing Development Board. Recent political trade bans caused the price of some
building materials to nearly double which resulted in rising construction costs and a lag in
project completions. For the public, it caused frustration and the call for the Housing
Development Board to adjust their organization to remain effective in the new market norm. The
Housing Development Board identified three critical changes that would reverse current trends.
The changes identified were increased involvement of private developers, generating greater
public support through public outreach, and improved customer service. These measures were
what the current CEO identified to address past shortcomings and posture the organization for
increased success in the future.
To enact these change strategies, Chew Lin Tan meets all the prerequisites to understand
and address the changes that the public demands. She has developed the experience, schooling,
reputation, and professional network that will afford her a great chance at success. Her
initiatives of streamlining work processes and systems, achieving customer service excellence
through “Making A Great Impression on Customers” (MAGIC), and engaging interest groups in
policy formulation and preparation nest well with the CEOs organizational change strategies. It
is important to note that identifying areas of needed change is only the first step, Tan’s significant
challenge will be developing ways to reinforce and institutionalize the initiated cultural changes.
“Results often fall short of target, and managers blame the difficulty on ‘teaching old dogs’ new
tricks’” (Jick & Peiperl, 2011, p. 433). She will be successful if she can implement strategies
HOUSING DEVELOPMENT BOARD CONSULTING PROPOSAL 4
that continuously refine procedures based on bottom-up feedback, enforce value accountability,
recognize success, and sustain the institutionalization of the organization’s new values.
Recommendations
To stay competitive in today’s market, you must be more innovative, cooperative,
communicative, and customer-focused (Jick & Peiperl, 2003, p. 257). To achieve those ideals,
organizations must provide a clear vision. “Vision is a key component in transformational and
charismatic leadership theory as it provides meaning and context to employees about the purpose
of the organization” (Kirkpatrick, 2017, p. 87). A clear strength in Chew’s plan was her
understanding the importance of this concept and a drafted mission statement for her division in
line with the HDB vision for “an outstanding organization with people committed to fulfilling
the aspirations for homes and communities all are proud of” (Jick & Peiperl, 2003, p. 435).
Kantabutra (2010) captures the importance of vision by highlighting how it is fundamental for
leadership and strategy implementation and forms an important tool for decision making during
periods of change or transformation. At its core, vision provides a sustainable, competitive
advantage to the organization.
A concern I have with Chew’s plan is the lack of planned involvement from the middle
and junior manager level. She alluded to having some promising young officers being involved
in the strategy and implementation but failed to provide the any level of detail that was available
for the other roles in her strategy. The plan revolved around Deputy Directors in the departments
taking the leadership role as Resource People, in order to generate the required support and
backing from the lower level. Her view was that “there is a clear hierarchical structure in the
organization- if change comes from above, the bottom would be more receptive” (Jick & Peiperl,
2003, p. 435). While that it is important for senior managers to demonstrate the example of
HOUSING DEVELOPMENT BOARD CONSULTING PROPOSAL 5
change, their ability to continuously enforce value accountability, recognize success, and sustain
the institutionalization of the organization’s new values is limited. CEOs do not have the
personal time or resources to determine if that vision is being enforced and communicated down
to the lowest levels of the organization. Research suggests that organizations should look more
closely at the role of middle managers in modern companies and reassess how change processes
are enacted (Koene, 2017). Chew should ensure that effort is placed on senior directors
developing the middle and junior managers in the organization as a stimulus for solutions, not
because they are viewed as the primary cause for faults (The Four How’s in Implementing
Change).
Implementation Plan
Outlining clear corporate values as part of organizational change is an important first
step. These statements, when communicated in a deliberate fashion to employees and customers
can reduce confusion and stress, while generating excitement and renewed commitment. A tool
that could improve her implementation plan could be the incorporation of a Housing
Development Board in-house consulting teams. The individuals would be selected based on
their knowledge of the organization, ability to build long-term internal relationships, and having
the capacity to leverage and utilize informal and formal organizational structures (Schumacher &
Scherzinger, 2016, p. 300). Their focus would be to help Chew and the Estate Administration
and Property Department achieve their three change goals; streamlining work processes and
systems, improving customer service, and increase engagement with interest groups in policy
formulation and programs.
In-house consulting can go beyond consulting the individual Estate Administration and
Property Department project to develop the organization-wide change proposal that the Housing
HOUSING DEVELOPMENT BOARD CONSULTING PROPOSAL 6
Development Board is being mandated to accomplish. This whole of organization consulting
concept would improve the implementation plan because it mobilizes all available organizational
and governmental resources available such as structures, cultures, organizational members, and
practices to Estate Administration and Property Department. It also affords the Housing
Development Board the opportunity to employ best practices learned to all divisions at a rate that
successfully outpaces the evolution of environmental conditions such as consumer preference
and private developer involvement (Schumacher & Scherzinger, 2016, p. 299).
Driving change from a lower to middle management position in a governmental
organization has unique challenges. Well-run government agencies and private companies have
similarities such as clearly communicated and defined goals, established and understood
processes, unbiased enforcement of standards, and effective leaders; however, the culture,
organizational purpose, and operational restrictions in government create very unique challenges
for lower and middle managers to enact change. The greatest challenge in bringing about
successful change and sustained improvement is not simply identifying solutions, but rather,
learning to work within the unique restrictions.
All change processes require time; for managers in the government sector that is typically
not something afforded. Senior level leaders typically only have 18-14 months to achieve their
legacy of reform, as such, many of the change initiatives that are developed and resourced only
last as long as the tenure of the senior level leader. The biggest challenge that must be
understood for managing change in the government is that everyone has a rightful stake in a
proposed change to include other agencies, oversight committees, public-interest watchdog
groups, lobbyists, the media, and most importantly the public. As such, almost every change
initiative is bound to meet with someone’s disapproval (Ostroff, 2006). The most successful
HOUSING DEVELOPMENT BOARD CONSULTING PROPOSAL 7
governmental change agents are masters at identifying and maintaining the support of critical
stakeholders, continuously reorienting the organization on its mission through communicating a
vision, and developing change strategies that are developed in a way that incorporates a team so
that progress continues when leadership changes hands.
Summary
The leadership at the Housing Development Board invested wisely by sending Chew
Ling Tan to Columbia Business School. The professional business concepts she learned will
now be applied to an organization in which she has a keen understanding (Jick & Peiperl, 2003,
p. 439). By ensuring the change strategies are clearly and deliberately communicated to
employees and consumers alike, Tan will maintain trust from the people who will make the
change a success. Her talent for change plan development along with input and continued
guidance from the in-house consulting team and junior and middle level managers will allow all
best practices to rapidly be applied within the Estate Administration and Property Division as
well as the Housing Development Board as a whole.
Biblical Integration
The Bible characterizes change management as transformation. Much like in business,
biblical transformation is not successful because of the organization but rather because of the
individual. As disciples of Christ who are testimonies of his love, our change process starts with
our hearts. Christians who are committed to the transformative process outlined in scripture
must actively seek out the knowledge of God’s principles found in the Bible. Paul is one of the
greatest biblical examples of the change process. His faith and example caused change in
people, the people caused change in the churches, the churches caused change in the
communities.
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From a Biblical perspective, these concepts become essential in the continued
development of faith and change. Taking up the leadership focus of Paul, Christians must focus
on the transformation of people if enduring change is going to occur in churches and
communities. The book of Joshua tells Christians to “keep the Book of the Law always on your
lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then
you will be prosperous and successful” (Joshua 1:8, New International Version). By following
Paul’s example in Corinthians of focusing on reconciliation with God and then with one another,
Christians in all organizations will begin to experience what Paul writes about in 2 Corinthians
3:18, “and we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into
his likeness with ever-increasing glory” (New International Version). Much like business
change, lasting spiritual change must occur with individuals and can be nurtured within the
organization of the church.
References
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Jick, T. D., & Peiperl, M.A. (2003). Managing Change: Cases and concepts. New York:
McGraw Hill
Kantabutra, Sooksan (2010). The power of vision: statements that resonate. Journal of Business
Strategy, Volume 31, Issue 1.
Kirkpatrick, S.A. (2017). Toward a grounded theory: a qualitative study of vision statement
development. Journal of Management Policy and Practice, 18(1), 87-101. Retrieved
from: https://search-proquest-com.ezproxy.liberty.edu/docview/1926955005?pq-
origsite=summon&accountid=12085
Koene, B. (2017). Why middle managers, rather than senior leaders, should initiate
organizational change. Forbes. Retrieved from:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/rsmdiscovery/2017/11/27/why-middle-managers-rather-
than-senior-leaders-should-initiate-organisational-change/#588618e92188
Liberty University. (2019). Presentation: The Four Hows in Implementing Change:
Module/Week 3 – Implementing Change. Retrieved from:
https://learn.liberty.edu/webapps/blackboard/content/listContent.jsp?
course_id=_504821_1&content_id=_30790373_1
Ostroff, F. (2014). Change Management in Government. Retrieved from
https://hbr.org/2006/05/change-management-in-government
Schumacher, T., & Scherzinger, M. (2016). Systemic in-house consulting: An answer to building
change capacities in complex organizations. Journal of Change Management, 16(4), 297-
316. doi:10.1080/14697017.2016.1230932
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