PurposeHigh-level labor waste is a major challenge in construction projects. This paper aims to identify, quantify and categorize labor waste in the context of Iranian housing construction projects.Design/methodology/approachThis research uses a case study approach, with empirical data collected through direct observations and semi-structured interviews.FindingsHaving triangulated the findings from the literature review and empirical studies, a list of eight types of waste was derived for the thirteen observed laborers in ten case study projects. The empirical studies allowed the labor waste identified from the literature to be verified and refined by considering it in the context of the observed activities, and led to two new types of waste being identified which were not considered in the literature. Findings indicate that nearly 62% of laborers' time is spent on non-value-adding activities. It appeared that “unnecessary movement,” “waiting” and “indirect work” make up the highest labor waste.Research limitations/implicationsThis research focuses only on onsite resource flows in a housing construction site. It does not include offsite flows such as material delivery to site.Originality/valueThe findings have provided substantial evidence on type and amount of labor waste and provide a solid basis to stimulate construction actors to participate in reducing labor waste and improving productivity.
Developing countries are facing sever productivity problems in their construction sectors. Lean Construction has proven to be an effective solution for such situations. However, when it comes to lean implementation, the operational attributes of the countries can cause significant impacts on the priorities, tools and techniques. This paper took Iranian construction as a sample and sought to identify and prioritise the factors that could significantly contribute to the success of the lean implementation in its context. A comprehensive literature review identified 44 critical success factors (CSFs) in a global setting. The factors were classified into four groups and were presented to industry and/ or academic professionals in the form of semi-structured open-ended interviews that enabled collecting experts' opinion about the priorities to be given. A thematic analysis of the results indicated that lack of awareness and knowledge of lean construction is the main obstacle for the Implementation. It was also established that more priority should be given to Organisational and Project Management Factors when creating Lean Construction implementation roadmap of the country. This is the first study of its type in Iran and is expected to shed light on the factors that can turn the implementation of Lean Construction a successful story, even in this unfavourable context.
International trades rely on robust supply chains. However, supply chains are vulnerable to disruptions. Before implementing lean construction, identifying construction supply chain vulnerabilities (CSCV) is crucial to avoid failure. Meanwhile, an unfavorable macro-environmental context (e.g., challenging economic and political situations) can potentially affect the behavior of CSCV. This paper aims to identify and prioritize CSCV under an unfavorable macro-environmental context in a real-world case and then analyze the changes in CSCV in a period coinciding with the Covid-19 outbreak. A literature review led us to extract 26 variables that were then prioritized using the responses from questionnaires distributed among 72 participants in the studied country. A descriptive statistical approach was used to analyze the results, which showed that unlike the normal contexts mentioned in previous studies, under an unfavorable context, such CSCV as "price and exchange rate fluctuations", "supply-demand volatility", "financial issues", and "political challenges" gained priority. Moreover, analyzing the changes in CSCV indicated that the studied construction supply chain has become more vulnerable in the mentioned period. Considering the identified CSCV, this paper suggests that managers focus more on tools such as the Last Planner System and value stream mapping when implementing lean.
The reliability of research is substantially linked with its methodology and design. The use of surveys is one of the methods that has been commonly used in research projects. Therefore, identifying the active state and classification of the mechanisms used by the survey studies can help increase the quality of future research. Accordingly, this study reviews the survey literature on Lean Construction to identify their common components along with their configurations. To achieve this goal, a total number of seventy studies were randomly sampled from the publications pool and reviewed. Afterwards, their bibliographic and content characteristics were extracted and analysed and a total of seven common components as well as three dominant configurations were found. Through a thematic analysis, twelve main themes were identified which were further sorted by their observed frequency. The result shows the relationship between the themes and the configurations applied by the studies so far. It also discloses an overall status of the survey research in Lean Construction which can be used as a valuable lead for researchers to decide for the orientation and design of their future research projects.
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