TY - JOUR
T1 - Lean construction as a strategic option : testing its suitability and acceptibility in Sri Lanka
AU - Senaratne, Sepani
AU - Wijesiri, Duleesha
PY - 2008
Y1 - 2008
N2 - Lean Construction is a concept still new to many construction industries in the world. According to Ballard and Howell (2003) countries such as UK, Australia, USA and Brazil have gained significant benefits by adoption of Lean Construction concepts. However, this concept is still new to the Sri Lankan construction industry. Lean Construction can be argued as a strategic option when implementing in a new setting, where certain tests such as its suitability and acceptability needs to be done prior to its implementation. Hence, this study aimed to explore the suitability and acceptability of Lean Construction in Sri Lanka. The study adopted an opinion survey using Delphi Method to collect empirical data. The findings reveal frequent flow activities that generate waste and their causes in the Sri Lankan construction industry. The research further finds that the domestic construction industry workforce is ignorant of these flow activities that create waste and their causes. When tested majority accept the core principles of Lean Construction and are having a Kaizen mentality, which is central to lean thinking. Thus, the study concludes that Lean Construction is suitable and acceptable in the Sri Lankan context. Overall, the study offers an approach to test Lean Construction in a new construction industry using an opinion survey.
AB - Lean Construction is a concept still new to many construction industries in the world. According to Ballard and Howell (2003) countries such as UK, Australia, USA and Brazil have gained significant benefits by adoption of Lean Construction concepts. However, this concept is still new to the Sri Lankan construction industry. Lean Construction can be argued as a strategic option when implementing in a new setting, where certain tests such as its suitability and acceptability needs to be done prior to its implementation. Hence, this study aimed to explore the suitability and acceptability of Lean Construction in Sri Lanka. The study adopted an opinion survey using Delphi Method to collect empirical data. The findings reveal frequent flow activities that generate waste and their causes in the Sri Lankan construction industry. The research further finds that the domestic construction industry workforce is ignorant of these flow activities that create waste and their causes. When tested majority accept the core principles of Lean Construction and are having a Kaizen mentality, which is central to lean thinking. Thus, the study concludes that Lean Construction is suitable and acceptable in the Sri Lankan context. Overall, the study offers an approach to test Lean Construction in a new construction industry using an opinion survey.
KW - construction industry
KW - lean construction
KW - Kaizen mentality
KW - Sri Lanka
UR - http://handle.uws.edu.au:8081/1959.7/527924
UR - http://www.leanconstruction.org/media/docs/lcj/2008/LCJ_07_006.pdf
M3 - Article
SN - 1555-1369
VL - 2008
SP - 34
EP - 48
JO - Construction Management and Economics
JF - Construction Management and Economics
ER -