TY  - CONF
TI  - Lean Construction Philosophy and Individual Freedom
AU  - Polesie, Pim
AD  - Division of Construction Management, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. Chalmers University of Technology, SE-412 96 Gothenburg Sweden, Phone +46(0)70-989 04 47, pim@chalmers.se
ED  - Walsh, Kenneth
ED  - Alves, Thais
PY  - 2010
DA  - 2010/07/14
T2  - 18th Annual Conference of the International Group for Lean Construction
C3  - 18th Annual Conference of the International Group for Lean Construction
CY  - Haifa, Israel
SP  - 376
EP  - 385
AB  - Lean construction may increase efficiency, effectiveness and productivity in construction projects by minimising non-value adding activities to maximise the value added from each individual. To identify non-value adding activities, lean principles advocate increased controllability and transparency. This may limit the individuals feeling of freedom, creativity and willingness to suggest changes that lead to continuous improvement. Therefore, limiting individual freedom, ―unused creativity‖ may increase. The purpose of this paper is to challenge lean construction philosophy with focus on what individuals from the construction industry have identified as freedom. The theory of lean construction principles have been identified and evaluated in a literature review. The analysis of practice is based on 20 open-ended qualitative interviews with production managers from construction-related companies with focus on their perception of freedom and motivation. The study has led to a better understanding of practice and its relation to theoretical assumptions. It distinguishes between what is assumed and what is known. By minimizing waste through focus on principles that do not limit what individuals‘ perceive as freedom, acceptance of lean construction philosophy can be furthered at construction sites.
KW  - Lean construction philosophy
KW  - Lean principles
KW  - People
KW  - Freedom
KW  - Culture
KW  - Waste
KW  - Change.
L1  - https://www.iglc.net/papers/details/708/pdf
UR  - https://www.iglc.net/papers/details/708
DB  - IGLC.net
LA  - English
N1  - Export date: 04 October 2026
ER  -