TY - CONF TI - Applying Lean in Construction - Cornerstones for Implementation C1 - San Diego, California, USA C3 - 20th Annual Conference of the International Group for Lean Construction PY - 2012 AU - Pekuri, Aki AU - Herrala, Maila AU - Aapaoja, Aki AU - Haapasalo, Harri AD - Ph.D. student, aki.pekuri@oulu.fi. AD - Post-doctoral research fellow, maila.herrala@oulu.fi. AD - Ph.D. student, aki.aapaoja@oulu.fi AD - Professor, harri.haapasalo@oulu.fi ED - Tommelein, Iris D. ED - Pasquire, Chrisitne L. AB - The majority of lean transformations fail to meet their initial expectations and end up as disappointments. Excessive focus on specific tools and failure to understand the philosophy or to motivate people in continuous improvement are often blamed for this. This research explores the cornerstones for successful lean implementation in the construction business. Research results based on 39 semi-structured interviews conducted in Finland and California suggest that managers should pay attention to the following aspects: building trust, motivation, ensuring skills and competence, developing and selecting the right people, and providing leadership. In general, lean should be embraced as a comprehensive management philosophy which requires a long-term viewpoint in order to achieve competitive advantage. In construction, it is important to pay attention to the way people are recruited, emphasize their social skills, and develop them through training. Building trust and constructing project teams based on participants’ suitability and competence will help to move the industry forward, but managers should also learn to take advantage of crises, when organizations are at their most receptive. KW - Lean construction KW - transformation KW - culture KW - change KW - implementation. PB - T2 - 20th Annual Conference of the International Group for Lean Construction DA - 2012/07/18 CY - San Diego, California, USA L1 - http://iglc.net/Papers/Details/821/pdf L2 - http://iglc.net/Papers/Details/821 N1 - Export Date: 28 March 2024 DB - IGLC.net DP - IGLC LA - English ER -