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PurposeImproving construction supply chain collaboration and performance is central for achieving short‐term business objectives as well as long‐term competitive advantage. Lean thinking is an approach that has been adopted in many different industrial settings as a means for improving supply chain performance. In the project‐based construction industry, lean thinking has, however, not yet been widely adopted. The purpose of this paper is to increase the understanding of how various aspects of lean thinking can be implemented in a construction project and how they affect supply chain actors and their performance.Design/methodology/approachAction research was performed in a case study of a lean construction pilot project. Empirical data were collected through three surveys and follow‐up workshops, document studies, and interviews of 12 project participants.FindingsThe findings show that many of the lean‐related aspects identified in the literature review were utilized in the pilot project. These aspects have mostly focused on increasing the cooperation among supply chain actors, for which reason the pilot project is very similar to a partnering project. Hence, much work remains in order to obtain full‐fledged lean construction, but the pilot project may serve as a starting point for continuous improvements and development of lean construction in future projects.Research limitations/implicationsThe research results are based on one empirical case study for which reasonable generalisations could be made, albeit cautiously.Practical implicationsThe frame of reference can serve as an illustration of important aspects and core elements of lean construction and the case study findings show how various lean related aspects can be implemented and how they affect supply chain actors and their performance in a construction project context.Originality/valueThe action research approach based on both qualitative and quantitative data collection in a lean construction pilot project provides a valuable opportunity to study both the process of implementing lean construction and its outcomes.

The interest in construction partnering has increased during the last decade. Much research has, however, found that cooperation and its benefits are not easily obtained, partly due to a lack of understanding of the partnering concept and when and how to implement it. The aim is therefore to increase this understanding by investigating three research questions: (1) What is partnering? (2) When should partnering be used and to what extent? (3) How should partnering be implemented? A thorough literature review and four case studies are utilized to develop a definition of partnering and discuss when and how partnering should be implemented through cooperative procurement procedures. Partnering is defined as a cooperative governance form that is based on core and optional cooperative procurement procedures to such an extent that cooperation-based coopetition is facilitated. Mandatory core procedures are: soft parameters in bid evaluation, compensation form based on open books, and usage of the core collaborative tools start-up workshop, joint objectives, follow-up workshops, teambuilding, and conflict resolution techniques. Complementary optional procedures are: early involvement of contractors in concurrent engineering, limited bid invitation, joint selection and involvement of subcontractors in broad partnering teams, collaborative contractual clauses, incentives based on group performance, usage of complementary collaborative tools (e.g. partnering questionnaire, facilitator, joint risk management, joint project office, and joint IT tools), and increased focus on contractors' self-control.Partnering, procurement, cooperation, governance, case study,