Ten years ago, zero defect homes were unheard of. Ninety percent customer satisfaction ratings for home quality were thought to be unobtainable.

Do you remember high school?

The line between management control and employee empowerment is ever changing.

When is a home builder like a college football coach?

A company's long-term financial performance hinges on customer satisfaction.

Conducting project walk-throughs with two-way radios, pagers and cell phones strapped to their belts, site superintendents and subcontractors might well be expected to resist the lure of yet another digital device.

For how many years have we all been complaining about the shortage of quality labor and the competition for the labor that already exists?

Spare time? It's a concept few builders are familiar with.

The keynote speaker at the NAHB Management Team Conference in Orlando, Fla., was Mark Sanborn of Sanborn & Associates Inc.