Study on the construction workforce management based on lean construction in the context of COVID-19

Abstract

PurposeThe construction industry is facing challenges not only for workers' mobility in the pandemic situation but also for Lean Construction (LC) practise in responding to the high-quality development during the post-pandemic. As such, this paper presents a construction workforce management framework based on LC to manage both the emergency goal in migrant worker management and the long-term goal in labour productivity improvement in China.Design/methodology/approachThe framework is created based on the integrated culture and technology strategies of LC. A combination of qualitative and quantitative methods is taken to explore factors influencing the mobility of construction workers and to measure labour productivity improvement. The case study approach is adopted to demonstrate the framework application.FindingsFor method application, a time-and-motion study and Percent Plan Complete indicator are proposed to offer labour productivity measurements of “resources efficiency” and “flow efficiency”. Moreover, the case study provides an industry level solution for construction workforce management and Lean Construction culture shaping, as well as witnesses the LC culture and technology strategies alignment contributing to LC practise innovation.Originality/valueCompared with previous studies which emphasised solely LC techniques rather than socio-technical system thinking, the proposed integration framework as well as implementation of “Worker's Home” and “Lean Work Package” management models in the COVID-19 pandemic contribute to new extensions of both the fundamental of knowledge and practise in LC.

Mediating role of lean management on the effects of workforce management and value-added time in private hospitals

“…The positive impact of workforce management on lean management found in this study is consistent with the prior findings of Akmal et al (2022b) and Jiang et al (2022), where scholars have shown and highlighted the impact of workforce management on lean management. Although the findings of Jiang et al (2022) were applicable to the construction sector, this study opens up new avenues of implications in the health-care sector and enhances the theoretical depth in the existing literature related to health-care settings. Besides, this study revealed a positive association of workforce management on value-added time, which is also consistent with the prior findings of Almeida et al (2022) and Ahmadpour et al (2021).…”

“…These findings suggest that if the hospital could properly implement the lean approach along with the workforce management then it will significantly influence the value-added time which will results the better health services to the patients. The positive impact of workforce management on lean management found in this study is consistent with the prior findings of Akmal et al (2022b) and Jiang et al (2022), where scholars have shown and highlighted the impact of workforce management on lean management. Although the findings of Jiang et al (2022) were applicable to the construction sector, this study opens up new avenues of implications in the health-care sector and enhances the theoretical depth in the existing literature related to health-care settings.…”

Diagnosing and quantifying post-COVID-19 fluctuations in the architecture billings indices

“…Since the lifestyle shifts such as online retail, remote working, and more sustainable communities are likely to become engrained and normalized in customer preferences permanently, it is crucial to understand and keep abreast of the customer preferences for the swift recovery of the construction industry (Bi€ orck et al, 2020). The Lean Construction culture and technology were also discussed for the construction workforce management and productivity improvement in the post-COVID-19 pandemic (Jiang et al, 2022).…”

“…, 2020). The Lean Construction culture and technology were also discussed for the construction workforce management and productivity improvement in the post-COVID-19 pandemic (Jiang et al. , 2022).…”

Workforce scheduling efficiency assessment in construction projects through a multi-objective optimization model in the COVID-19 context

“…On the other hand, diverse efforts have been made to generate models to sustainable allocate the construction workforce for work resumption during COVID-19 [ 15 ] or to apply multi-objective optimization approaches in areas such as transport engineering to recover from COVID-19 disruption [ 16 ]. Other examples are found in terms of understanding the impact of COVID-19 on construction projects in developing countries [ 17 ] or how to manage the construction workforce based on lean construction in the context of COVID-19 [ 18 ]. However, there is limited evidence that aspects such as the relationship between workforce scheduling with potential extra costs, derived from pandemic contexts, have been assessed in contrast to normal operating conditions.…”