Lean constructions barriers in Jordan's building sub-sector: A comprehensive knowledge framework

Abstract

Lean Construction (LC) is a managerial approach to tackle productivity concerns. Minimize waste and address prevalent challenges in the construction industry. Despite that, this approach is still fresh in developing countries. This research aims to explore the barriers to LC implementation in the Jordanian building sub-sector, and develop a suggested framework that helps to connect these barriers. To achieve these objectives, 27 barriers were extracted from the literature review and modified based on academic professionals' opinions. The research methodology depends on the quantitative approach, where these barriers form the content of a questionnaire survey distributed to Jordanian building professionals; a total of 207 responses were returned and analyzed by different statistical analyses: Mann-Whitney U, Principal Component Analysis (PCA), and Linear Regression. The results indicated that the building professionals in Jordan needed a higher awareness and knowledge of the LC. Furthermore, the main finding of this research demonstrates that knowledge barriers are the ones preventing the implementation of LC in the Jordanian building sub-sector; these barriers are: lack of training in LC, lack of knowledge of LC concepts, and lack of knowledge about LC implementation. In addition, the remaining barriers were grouped into three groups based on PCA results: government, attitude, and resource. Moreover, the results include a suggested knowledge framework that helps overcome the knowledge barriers after studying the connection between them and the other groups of barriers.