33rd Annual Conference of the International Group for Lean Construction (IGLC 33) - Osaka and Kyoto, Japan - 2025

https://doi.org/10.24928/2025/0128

Where Is the Evidence of Performance Improvement in the Lean Construction Literature?

Ashan Senel Asmone1, Aritra Pal2, Danny Murguia3, Asitha Rathnayake4 & Campbell Middleton5

1Research Associate, Department of Engineering, University of Cambridge, UK, [email protected], orcid.org/0000-0002-2173-3890
2Assistant Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India, [email protected], orcid.org/0000-0002-1644-7400
3Senior Research Associate, Department of Engineering, University of Cambridge, UK, [email protected], orcid.org/0000-0003-1009-4058
4Research Associate, Department of Engineering, University of Cambridge, UK, [email protected], orcid.org/0000-0002-1389-7801
5Professor, Department of Engineering, University of Cambridge, UK, [email protected], orcid.org/0000-0002-9672-0680

Abstract

This paper critically evaluates the evidence of performance improvement within the lean construction literature. Through a systematic review of 1,351 papers presented at the International Group for Lean Construction (IGLC) conferences between 2013 and 2024, we identify a significant gap in evidence-based studies explicitly addressing performance improvement, with only 52 papers (3.8%) focus on this critical issue. Our findings highlight a predominant focus on building projects, while infrastructure and industrial sectors remain largely overlooked. Additionally, we classify the various performance metrics used in the literature, revealing a lack of standardisation in measuring project outcomes, which complicates benchmarking efforts. We advocate for the adoption of a consistent performance measurement framework to enable meaningful comparisons across similar projects, facilitating the identification of performance improvement and waste reduction. We argue that a structured, industry-wide approach to benchmarking and performance evaluation is essential for the sustained adoption of lean construction and the realisation of its full benefits.

Keywords

Lean construction, performance improvement, productivity, measurement, standardisation.

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Reference in APA 7th edition format:

Asmone, A. S., Pal, A., Murguia, D., Rathnayake, A. & Middleton, C.. (2025). Where Is the Evidence of Performance Improvement in the Lean Construction Literature?. In Seppänen, O., Koskela, L., & Murata , K. (Eds.), Proceedings of the 33rd Annual Conference of the International Group for Lean Construction (IGLC 33) (pp. 1–12). https://doi.org/10.24928/2025/0128

Shortened reference for use in IGLC papers:

Asmone, A. S., Pal, A., Murguia, D., Rathnayake, A. & Middleton, C.. (2025). Where Is the Evidence of Performance Improvement in the Lean Construction Literature?. IGLC33. https://doi.org/10.24928/2025/0128

 

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