24th Annual Conference of the International Group for Lean Construction - Boston, Massachusetts, USA - 2016

Teaching Lean Construction: A Survey of Lean Skills and Qualifications Expected by Contractors and Specialty Contractors in 2016

Thaís da C. L. Alves1, Marcelo M. Azambuja2 & Bander Arnous3

1Associate Professor, J. R. Filanc Construction Eng. and Mgmt. Program, Dept. of Civil, Constr., and Env. Eng., San Diego State University, San Diego, CA, USA, [email protected]
2Associate Professor, Dept. of Construction, Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville, Illinois, [email protected]
3Former graduate student, J. R. Filanc Construction Eng. and Mgmt. Program, Dept. of Civil, Constr., and Env. Eng., San Diego State University, San Diego, CA, USA, [email protected]

Abstract

Early studies conducted by researchers and Lean practitioners have reported strategies, methods, and content used to teach Lean Construction. However, none of the publications address the demands from the construction industry. What skills and qualifications are necessary to qualify for a job at companies that implement or are in the process of adopting Lean practices? What topics should be emphasized in the classroom? This study intends to answer these questions. Our main goal is to identify the set of Lean skills and qualifications that are considered important by construction companies. The researchers conducted a survey of job descriptions on the websites of general contractors and subcontractors listed as members of the Lean Construction Institute (LCI). Recent graduates from construction programs usually pursue jobs as project engineers, assistant project managers, project managers, schedulers, and superintendents. For this reason, only descriptions associated with these roles were collected and analyzed. The findings of this research identify major lean competencies required by the construction industry and provide guidelines for development or improvement of lean construction courses offered at universities.

Keywords

Teaching, Lean Construction, Lean skills and qualifications, survey, curriculum

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Reference

Alves, T. C. L. , Azambuja, M. M. & Arnous, B. 2016. Teaching Lean Construction: A Survey of Lean Skills and Qualifications Expected by Contractors and Specialty Contractors in 2016, 24th Annual Conference of the International Group for Lean Construction , -. doi.org/

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Founded in 1993, the IGLC is an international network of researchers from practice and academia in architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) who feel that the practice, education, and research of the AEC industry have to be radically renewed in order to respond to the global challenges ahead.

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