TY - CONF TI - The cultural dialectics of standardization and innovation from the Japanese ethos to the global practice of Lean Construction C1 - Singapore, Singapore C3 - Proceedings of the 34th Annual Conference of the International Group for Lean Construction (IGLC 34) SP - 594 EP - 605 PY - 2026 DO - 10.24928/2026/0123 AU - Wang, Zhong AU - Davis, Walter AU - Bock, Thomas AU - Mei, Qipei AU - Lee, Gaang AU - González, Vicente A. AD - PhD Candidate, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Alberta, Canada, zhong15@ualberta.ca, orcid.org/0000-0002-7113-3439 AD - Associate Professor, Department of Art & Design, Faculty of Art, University of Alberta, Canada, wdavis1@ualberta.ca AD - Chair of Building Realization and Robotics, Technical University of Munich, Munich, Germany, bockrobotics@web.de, orcid.org/0000-0002-1278-7440 AD - Assistant Professor, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Alberta, Canada, qipei@ualberta.ca, orcid.org/0000-0003-1409-3562 AD - Assistant Professor, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Alberta, Canada, gaang@ualberta.ca, orcid.org/0000-0002-6341-2585 AD - Professor, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Alberta, Canada, vagonzal@ualberta.ca, orcid.org/0000-0003-3408-3863 ED - Hamzeh, Farook ED - Poshdar, Mani ED - Garcia-Lopez,, Nelly P. AB - The global construction industry faces a persistent productivity crisis, often attributing the failure of "Lean Construction" implementation to technical rather than cultural misalignments. This paper investigates the cultural dialectics of standardization and Kaizen as Lean principles move from Japan’s collectivist culture to Western individualistic and transactional construction environments. Using a PRISMA 2020 systematic literature review and comparative cultural analysis, the study examines Wa (harmony), Monozukuri (craftsmanship), and Shu-Ha-Ri (mastery stages). It examines the indigenous Japanese concepts of Wa (harmony), Monozukuri (craftsmanship), and Shu-Ha-Ri (stages of mastery) to elucidate how Japanese culture harmonizes strict standardization with continuous innovation, challenging the Western binary view that standardization stifles creativity. The study reviews related works on Kaizen implementation and Standardized Work (SW) in construction, identifying that Western resistance often stems from a "craftsman" identity that views autonomy as the absence of rules. The analysis concludes that successful Lean adoption requires reframing standardization not as a bureaucratic constraint, but as the necessary cultural foundation for innovation and psychological safety. KW - Standardization KW - continuous improvement/Kaizen KW - innovation KW - Lean culture. PB - T2 - Proceedings of the 34th Annual Conference of the International Group for Lean Construction (IGLC 34) DA - 2026/06/22 CY - Singapore, Singapore L1 - http://iglc.net/Papers/Details/2451/pdf L2 - http://iglc.net/Papers/Details/2451 N1 - Export Date: 19 June 2026 DB - IGLC.net DP - IGLC LA - English ER -