Lean construction: arenas of enactment, models of diffusion and the meaning of ‘leanness’

A ‘Strategy-as-Practice’ exploration of lean construction strategizing

“…Thirdly, the language seemed to steer away from some more specific, and longer term commitments for the organization. CONCO's articulation of lean principles were broadly in keeping with modes 1 and 2 as defined by Green and May (2005). Notably CONCO seemed to reject the kind of increased R&D expenditure, training and interindustry relationships (e.g.…”

“…Increasingly however various studies of the construction industry have shown how strategies, such as Lean Construction, are more open to mutation than often recognized, and indeed may be prefigured for local transformation (Green and May, 2005). Drawing on a Foucauldian perspective for example, enables these strategies to be viewed as dynamic discourses that both legitimize and conceal a complex, mutable, milieu of socialized interests, ideologies and power relations (Green and May, 2005;Green, 2006;Ness, 2010).…”

“…Whilst various studies have shown how construction strategies are translated (and transformed) across reports and elite actors at the level of the firms or sector (e.g. Green and May, 2005;Kao et al 2009;Leiringer et al 2009;Ness, 2010) and around individual actors on building sites (Applebaum, 1982;Bresnen, 2007; 2009; Fletcher and Watson;Green, 2006;Styhre, 2006;Watts, 2007), these studies only rather indirectly examine the meso-level events, practices, objects and people (such as training meetings, change initiative posters, improved planning tools, business improvements managers, local champions) that bridge these two spaces in the context of construction. In this paper we argue that a focus on this level of strategizing is required because it provides a vital understanding of how strategies such as those pursued in lean construction are translated (and transformed) between the level of firms and organizations and the everyday practices on building sites.…”

“…Drawing on a Foucauldian perspective for example, enables these strategies to be viewed as dynamic discourses that both legitimize and conceal a complex, mutable, milieu of socialized interests, ideologies and power relations (Green and May, 2005;Green, 2006;Ness, 2010). Whilst various studies have shown how construction strategies are translated (and transformed) across reports and elite actors at the level of the firms or sector (e.g.…”

Lost in transition: the transfer of lean manufacturing to construction

“…Success stories reporting significant and even revolutionary results following the application of lean approaches, tools, and systems from volume manufacturing are common in the construction sector, although in many cases documentation is weak or absent. At the same time the proponents of lean construction have continued to ignore the extensive critical literature on lean manufacturing, a point repeatedly made by Green (1999a;1999b; and Green & May (2005). The failure to recognise the potentially dark side of lean (to borrow a phrase from Green) in the construction debate should be a cause for concern; the danger being that both researchers and practitioners are misled by an overly optimistic literature.…”