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Improving Lean Construction Implementation in the Construction Industry: Framework for Addressing the Human Capital Related Barriers

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Thesis(5.72 MB)

Date

2024

Authors

Supervisor

Naismith, Nicola
Poshdar, Mani

Item type

Thesis

Degree name

Doctor of Philosophy

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

Auckland University of Technology

Abstract

Lean construction is one of the attempts made to apply lean production principles to the construction industry. It aims to minimize non-value-adding activities in its construction processes and maximize the value provided to clients. Non-value adding activities generated in a construction process are recognized as one of its significant disadvantages since they adversely affect its efficiency and produce unnecessary costs. Implementation of Lean Construction is a tested strategy avoiding additional costs for the final product of the construction. Recently, Lean Construction has been widely practiced globally by implementing several tools and techniques. However, literature review and ad hoc studies show that Lean Construction Implementation is not widely applied in many construction settings for various reasons. Therefore, exploring the barriers to implementing Lean Construction is timely and important. It is evident that half of the barriers are related to Human Capital, such as skill, knowledge, and capacities. Lean Construction is still new to many in the construction industry globally as well as New Zealand’s construction industry. According to the published literature, limited publications are found in New Zealand construction industry. Therefore, the outcome of this research of developing a framework to improve Lean Construction Implementation from the Human Capital perspective would be an innovation for the country. A preliminary literature review was conducted to identify the research gap. The barriers to Lean Construction Implementation were explored through a detailed literature review. Furthermore, a systematic literature review was done to examine how these barriers relate to Lean Construction Implementation from a Human Capital perspective. A conceptual framework was developed based on the literature findings. Qualitative methods were also used in this study in the latter part of the framework development. Firstly, twenty-four New Zealand construction industry construction professionals were interviewed through semi-structured questions and revealed some strategies to implement Lean Construction from the Human Capital perspective to overcome the barriers related to human capital. The framework was developed based on those strategies. Secondly, expert opinions were obtained from industry professionals with experience in Lean Construction Implementation and used to refine and validate the framework developed. The findings reveal that attitude, awareness, interest, leadership, training, education, teamwork, and communication within a Lean Culture are most significant in the construction industry in New Zealand to improve efficiency and productivity in construction activities.

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Keywords

Human Capital, Lean Construction Implementation, Lean Culture

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Permanent link

http://hdl.handle.net/10292/17138

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Doctoral Theses