Value generation

Abstract

Since Koskela’s early publications on value generation, a quarter of a century has passed and many contributions have been made to advance the understanding of value generation and value management in the Lean Construction literature. The aim of this chapter is to review and discuss key contributions and their implications for project management in construction. A literature review was carried out on papers published at the International Group of Lean Construction (IGLC) conferences and the Lean Construction Journal (LCJ), including also cited publications from other knowledge domains. The main findings are summarised as: (i) Lean thinking highlighted the importance of the customer perspective to project management practices and the exploration of concepts from other disciplines has contributed to a better understanding of the implications that value poses to the construction industry; (ii) a working definition of value generation in construction projects was offered, which distils some of the concepts reviewed; (iii) a comprehensive list of contributions to understand the perspective of external customers was reviewed and presented, along with techniques and methods to support a greater focus on the customers’ perspective. Within the Lean Construction community, the term value has been used in different contexts and it is still subject to multiple interpretations. Further conceptual clarification is needed. Additionally, many tools and techniques have contributed to the practical application of value generation. Perhaps, in the near future, advancements will be seen about how technology adoption can further support these efforts. Opportunities for future research in this area are abundant.