Kifokeris, D (2021) Variants of Swedish lean construction practices reported in research: Systematic literature review and critical analysis. Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 147(7), ISSN 0733-9364
Abstract
Identifying lean construction (LC) practice variants can facilitate LC benchmarking and adoption, provided that national institutional influences on LC practices are acknowledged. Given that motivation, this study contributes to identifying LC practice variants in Sweden - therefore mapping that context, but also offering a research template to extrapolate in other construction sectors and thus aid in developing a versatile understanding of LC practices. Methodologically, a systematic literature review captures the related empirical studies, and their themes (industrialized construction or conventional construction), process coverage (design, production, partnering and stakeholder collaboration, planning, strategy, supply chain), paradigms (systems theory, business economics, behaviorism, interpretivism), and content, are analyzed. Through this analysis, the variants of industrialized construction, production processes, production strategy, design, planning, and logistics and supply chain, were derived - largely indicating that Swedish LC practices primarily focus on improving technical process parameters. But aside such improvements, subpar results of Swedish LC practices have also been observed - which can mean that besides processes, the effect of LC on organizational needs, culture, value streams, development, growth, and human interaction, should be further investigated.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | industrialized construction; industry practice; lean construction; research paradigms; Sweden |
| Index terms: | benchmarking, Sweden, empirical study, production process, value stream, interaction, construction sector, lean construction, collaboration, industrialized construction, interpretivism, motivation, systematic literature review, systems theory, partnering, mapping, paradigm, production strategy, strategy |
| Subjects: | research evaluation and metrics, spatial and geospatial analysis, behavioral psychology, Geography, industry analysis, partnership management, construction type, psychology, business, education and knowledge transfer, management, theoretical framing, performance measurement, research methods, building construction, manufacturing engineering |
| Topics: | Construction Technology, Site Management, Research Practice, Quality Management, Human Resources, Organizational Design, Value Management, Geographical Context, Business Strategy, Stakeholder Management, Engineering Principles |
| Descriptive scope: | 5 PCTEA |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here