Lean Construction Implementation Barriers

The provided content comprises a collection of articles, reports, books, and conference proceedings related to lean construction. The papers explore various aspects of lean construction, including its definition, benefits, barriers to implementation, and application in different countries such as China, Malaysia, and the UK. Additionally, they discuss the relationship between lean construction and sustainability. Overall, the content provides a comprehensive overview of the concept of lean construction and its potential to improve productivity and reduce waste in the construction industry.

Barriers to implement lean construction practices in the Saudi Arabian
construction industry
Abstract
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has witnessed the huge scale of construction during the last
decades. However, many projects experienced time delay, cost overrun and generated
massive wastes. To address these challenges, lean construction has been introduced to the
Saudi construction industry, however, is still at its infancy stage. This study aimed to
investigate the current state of lean construction and specifically current barriers associated
with the implementation of lean practices in the Saudi construction industry through a broad
questionnaire survey. Through extensive literature review 22 potential barriers were
identified and analysed using statistical tools. Results show that “Influence of traditional
management on construction” is the top ranked barriers identified by questionnaire survey
from Saudi construction firms. On the other hand, “Use of non-standard components” and
“uncertainty in supply chains” are ranked at the bottom of the list of potential barriers in the
Saudi construction industry. User end preferences and lack of training and tools are also
important barriers to be eliminated for successful implementation of lean practices in the
Saudi construction industry.
Keywords: Lean construction, Barriers, Saudi construction industry, Implementation,
Principal component analysis

1. Introduction
Poor performance of the construction industry is the result of inefficiency and ineffective of
traditional managerial approaches (Sambasivan and Soon, 2007). Lean construction has
emerged as an innovative concept based on ‘lean thinking’ to minimize waste and enhance
the value for the customer (Howel, 2001). The first Lean concept was derived from the
Toyota production system (TPS) and got huge appreciation, and its evolved form are used
in the construction industry which is bringing efficiency. Every stage in a construction
project is important and lean practices emphasis on increasing efficiency of work at every
stage (Banawi, 2013). Lean construction also minimizes the direct cost of effective project
delivery management and assists in making informed project decisions at all levels of the
project. In addition, lean construction practices ensure a continuous learning environment
and lesson learned are useful for future implementation of overall construction process in a
firm (Lehman & Reiser, 2000). As a result, there is an increased awareness among
construction industries about the benefits of using lean practices as the modern way to
enhance productivity and project performance (Abdel-Razek et al., 2007). The application
of lean construction principles, techniques and methods have the potential to address the
needs of construction at industry level.
However, adoption of new management approach is not an easy process because of resistance
from practitioners and traditional system maturity. Various studies (e.g. Johansen, 2007; Jin,
2008; Alinaitwe, 2009; Abdullah, 2009; Sarhan, 2013; Husaain, 2014;) have identified a
number of barriers involved for implementation of lean construction in this respect. Some of
the evident barriers are improper understanding and implementation of this concept. This
raises concern in adapting the method with other methodologies such as total quality
amangement and six sigma. Additionally, country specific characteristics such as culture,
professional practices etc. play a very vital role. The individuals of different countries are
prepared to work on their own unique style. Therefore, the implementation of methods that
require them to adapt to new practices usually calls for conflicts (David and Fahey, 2000).
The construction industry of Saudi Arabia is facing problems in measuring and improving the
performance (Bannah, 2012). Common problems are not limited to time delays (Assaf, 2006),
cost overruns (Harris, 2014), poor safety and quality issues (AMEInfor, 2014). Some issues
like fragmentation andsubcontracting are prevalent in most of the construction activities
(Sarhan and Fox, 2013). To adderss these problems, lean construction has been introduced

into the Saudi construction industry and there was no actual evidence of such practice prior to
2013 (AlSehaimi et al, 2014, p. 2). Al-Sudairi (2007) reported that lean practices have
significantly improved the project performance, especially at trade level by reducing waste
involved in production. Desipte so, lean construction in Saudi Arabia is still in its infancy.
The implementation of lean construction concepts in complex projects hasn’t taken place yet.
Neverthelss, no research has been performed to date to investigate the barriers involved in the
implementation of lean construction in Saudi construction industry.
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Therfore this paper aims to understand what hinders the implementation of lean construction
practices in the Saudi construction industry. Using a broad questionnaire survey, different
barriers and challenges will be identified. The findings of this research will help different
stakeholders better understand and overcome such barriers, specifically those highly

important. Eventually, the benefits of lean construction practices can be achieved effectively
by the Saudi Arabian construction industry in the wide spectrum.
2. Overview of barriers for lean construction implementation
Recent years have seen a growing international academic interest in lean construction
(Koskela, 1992; Alarc¢n, 1997; Howell and Ballard, 1998), mainly seeking to investigate the
extent to which the Japanese model of lean production can be applied to the construction
industry. The term 'lean production’ is commonly used to describe the Toyota manufacturing
system as applied within the car industry (Womack et al., 1990). The concept of lean has its
foundation in the deployment of reproduction activities by Fredrick Winslow Taylor
(Taylor’s theory) and its best historical implementation was based on Henry’s Ford’s
conveyor belt invention that led to mass production observed in the 19th century (Vieira
&Caehadinha, 2011). In the UK, the ideas of `lean thinking’ have been strongly endorsed in
the influential ‘Egan Report’ (DETR, 1998).
Flanagan et al. (1998) and Saad and Jones (1998) have advocated the application of lean
thinking to construction. They have asserted that the inclusion of lean thinking to the
construction bring appreciable changes in the way things are carried out on the ground. The
application of lean thinking impacts the existing procedures and brings efficiency if followed
properly.
The barriers concerning culture and human attitudes, finance, and reliance on traditional
methods are evident (Sarhan and Fox, 2013). Researchers all over the world are concerned
with investigating the different barriers and hurdles in the successful implementation of lean
practices in the construction industry. The successive sections discusses the various areas that
are under consideration.
Management and leadership
Adopting new techniques and implementing it successfully much relies on the commitment
of top managment as they are policy maker for any firm. Since top management in any
construction firm is much more concerned about profit of the company, they may not be
aware of the current practices and trend in construction. Support and commitment from top
management has been considered very important for lean implementation (Radnor, 2010;

Suárez-Barraza and Ramis-Pujol, 2010), and specifically necessary element in implementing
Just in Time (JIT) and Total Quality Management (TQM) in construction (Low and Teo,
2004; Low and Chan, 1997). Otherwise, some management policies may hinder in successful
implementation of proper lean practices, which has been observed and discussed in Germany
and Finland construction industry (Johansen & Walter, 2007; Koskela, 1997).
Organizational culture
Organizational culture is of great importance to people and they normally don’t want to
change it. They prefer staying in the comfort zone for long (Hornstein, 2015). The inclusion
of lean methods would call them to get out of their comfort zone and adapt to something new.
Such changes are bound to face resistance from these employees or people. A lean culture has
specific dimensions that define the behaviour of the employees (Womack and Jones, 1996)
This requires a different attitude and can be sometime difficult to follow through if one is
unaware of the importance and activities under consideration.
People don’t want change and it’s difficult to convince someone to adopt a new practice and
leave what they used to do for a very long time. In order to adopt lean practices workers are
asked to follow new production systems, working relationships, expectations about
productivity, quality. All of these can be scary and uncomfortable for workers (Sim and
Rogers, 2009; de Souza and Pidd, 2011). There are many stakeholders in a complex
organizational hierarchy of any big construction firm.
Techincal knowledge
Lean construction is a relatively new concept and it needs proper understanding and
sufficient konwldge for its implementation..It has been observed in many construction firms
that they want to adopt lean construction practice, but not skilled enough and did not have
enough training to adopt new tools in their firms. In order to successfully implement lean
construction in any construction firm, there should be a proper understanding of the technical
issues and all the steps involved. Special training and skills are required, for example to run a
software for better implementation (Liker, 2004). Lack of technical knowledge is one of the
greatest barriers identified by the Lean Enterprise Institute (LEI) in its 2007 survey. If a
construction firm adopts lean construction practice, but there are deficiencies in technical
sector and they are not adopting complete technical tools, then the results will not be much
fruitful (Liker, 2004). The traditional design and construction approach is very much different

and does not go along with lean concept. Thus it is difficult to implement lean concepts with
accordance to traditional practices (Liker, 2004; Tam et al., 2011).
Communication
Effective communication within different teams is very important for successful
implementation of lean construction practices. But it has been observed that there is a
communication gap between different teams as there is no proper channel and strategy for
this purpose. This barrier has been identified and discussed in the Malaysian construction
industry (Ong, 2013).
Performance measurement
Lean construction principles require a proper check on the performance levels. Most of the
companies lack in this area and adopting lean construction ineffectively (Sarhan, Fox, 2013)
Stakeholder involvement
Lean construction requires proper planning, training, skills and tools for every stage of
construction. The involvement of stakeholders in an effective manner becomes imperative for
the project success. Moreover, the implementation of lean construction method will require
time and many firms don’t want to spend this much time period for turning to something new
and unknown (Sim and Rogers, 2009; de Souza and Pidd, 2011). There has been observed a
lack in interest of client and suppliers and they are less involved in the whole process.
Clients are non-technical people and sometimes there is a communication gap which will
cause problems in later stages of the project. And it is also observed sometimes clients
change their requirements during the construction phase and it alters the whole scope of the
project. These types of barriers also impact implementation of lean construction (Jha & Iyer,
2006; Shang & Sui Phen, 2014). Benchmarks are important to set the proper pace in the work
and achieving levels of success required. There is lack in providing proper benchmarks in the
project and causing mismanagements in the resources (Ong, 2013). Moreover, it helps the
stakeholders in assessing the project success based on the predefined benchmarks. In order to
implement any new practice, support from government is very important and plays a vital
role. The government makes new polices and sometimes proper fund issues for government
organizations for such purposes. Lack of support from government is identified as a barrier in

successful implementation of lean concept in construction firms (Olatunji, 2008; Alinaitwe,
2009).
Cost for implementation
Lean practices need quick response from officials for fast paced desk in making on different
problems and implementation of tools for success of lean concepts (Womack and Jones,
1996).
Initial cost required for tolls, skills, training and change in the whole system is required for
successful implementation of lean concept in any construction firm. Firms are much
concerned about this additional cost and high inflation rate to adopt a lean concept (Jha &
Iyer, 2006). Sometimes limited resources are available in a construction project. Deficiency
in proper resource management will result in a hurdle in the whole process (Ong, 2013).
There is an uncertainty about the outcomes of the whole process. There is no surety that
certain system will yield the result which are expected (Koskela, 1997). In order to
implement concepts of lean construction successfully, it is imperative that the poper budget
has been prepared and followed accordingly. Nonstandard components may be easy to use,
but they will not yield expected results and hinders the whole process (Shang & Sui, 2014).
Supply chain should be without interruptions and on time. If there is unreliable in the supply
change, then it will affect the overall process of lean construction in any construction firm
(Johansen & Walter, 2007).
Sarhan and Fox (2013) did an investigation about lean construction practices in the UK and
reported that there are a number of structural and cultural barriers that are created hindrance
in successful implementation of lean practices in the construction industry. Fragmentation
and subcontracting is a barrier due to which there is no proper incentive for every participant
of the project and they cannot learn effectively. Traditional procurements and contract
methods undermine the principles and needs of lean construction. There are cultural and
human nature issues to adopt a new technique. There is management and commercial
pressure, which creates a barrier in implementing new concepts effectively. Lack of funding
to provide proper tools equipment for the implementation of lean practices. Top management
is usually focused on generating profit and not concerned about providing funding and time

to develop a new and effective practice. Lack of proper awareness and knowledge is one of
the main barriers highlighted in this research work.
Hussain, Nama & Fatima (2014) did an investigation about barriers in implementing lean
construction in the Indian construction industry. They identified and ranked different barriers
and also provided some solutions to overcome these barriers. The top ranked barriers
identified by researchers include Lack of exposure on the need for lean Construction,
Uncertainty in the supply chain and Cultural and human nature issues. People usually don’t
want to change and disturb their traditional methods employed in construction. But in the era
of construction boom lean construction should be practised with proper tools and for this
proper awareness and knowledge is required.
Jin (2008) identified different barriers in implementing lean construction in the Malaysian
construction industry. They did investigation to recognize barriers separately in different
stages of construction, During Construction phase highly probable barriers include Quality
assessment focus on conformance and the Fragmentation of the supply chain. Barriers during
the management phase of projects include Lack of customer and production focus, lack of
training, fragmentation of profession, absence of long term planning and Ineffective
management practices. Similarly, Barriers identified for implementing lean construction
during design phase include Procurement method, inaccurate design among the profession
(Civil & Structure, Mechanical & Electrical, and Architectural). These barriers were
evaluated by conducting questionnaire survey from different construction firms in Malaysia.
Respondents include practitioner, researchers, and medium and large construction firms.
Johansen & Walter (2007) outlined some barriers in progress of adaptation of lean
construction practices in Germany. This research identified awareness about lean
construction is the main hurdle. People are not aware and they are reluctant to adopt new
techniques. Another important barrier is procurement methods and the management of
construction projects. Owing to traditional contracting and certain planning methods large
amounts of waste are still inherent in the German construction industry. The most difficult
barrier to overcome appears to be the mental change process towards a production-system-
view of construction.
Main contractors in the Singapore construction industry (Dulaimi & Tanamas, 2001) realise
the benefits of lean construction, but have reservation in full implementation in reference to a

unique feature of the industry. Furthermore, the resistance to change derives from a cultural
perspective and applicable to other countries as well.
3. Research Methodology
This study aimed to investigate barriers associated with the implementation of lean
construction in the Saudi Arabian construction market. A list of 22 general barriers was first
identified from a comprehensive literature review. A questionnaire was then developed
based on all relevant barriers idenfied. The questionnaire was designed to include two major
sections. The first one concerns the general information of respondents including their
designation, knowledge about lean construction and experience in lean practices, and the
second (main) part examines “the current barriers and challenges associated with the
implementation of lean construction practices in the Saudi Arabian construction industry”.
Respondents had to choose one option from agreement scale based on likert scale from 1=
Strongly Disagree to 5= Strongly Agree. A ‘don’t know’ option was also provided.
After that, a broad questionnaire survey was conducted with respondents in the Saudi
construction industry. A total of 800 questionnaires were dispatched to respondents in the
construction industry, and 282 responses were received, representing a response rate of 35%.
The survey was started in March 2015 in Saudi Arabia. The respondents were reached using
two ways. First, an online questionnaire survey using Survey Monkey was conducted with
members of the Saudi Council of Engineers that included Suppliers, Specialty Contractors,
General Contractors, subcontractors, Architects, Project Managements, and the Clients.
Invitation letter and questionnaire was sent to Saudi Council of Engineers first to seek for
their assistance for the questionnaire survey. Thereafter, the Saudi Council of Engineers
helped send the survey request to its members, and 155 respondents returned their responses.
Second, hardcopy questionnaires were sent out to 300 respondents from contracting
companies, consulting companies, academics, government, and clients. This strategy received
127 respondents.
Ranking is used to transform the data according to the ranks. Spearman’s rank correlation
coefficient and other statistical useful tests rely on this aspect. Analysis of variance helps in
the analysis of the group means. Factor analysis is used to express the data in the form of
number functions as per the importance level.

4. Results
4.1 Profiles of respondents
Table 1 presents the background information of 282 respondents, including their
organizations, experience, education background, the sizes of their companies based on the
number of employees, the approximate annual revenue of year 2014, and the status of ISO
certification in their organization.
Table 1. Profiles of respondents
Profile Categories Frequency Percent (%)
Organization Project management 111 39
General contractor 66 23
Architect 28 10
Specialty contractor 25 9
Client 13 5
Academia 14 5
Government 13 5
Subcontractor 9 3
Supplier 3 1
Experience 1-5 years 71 25
5-10 years 69 24
10-20 years 84 30
Over 20 years 58 21
Education Diploma 18 6
Bachelor’s degree 208 74
Master’s degree 49 17
Doctor’s degree 7 3
Size of organization
(based on number of
employees)
Small (1-200) 68 24
Medium (201-1000) 57 20
Large (More than 1000) 131 46
Don’t know 26 10
Annual revenue of the
companies (year 2014)
Less than 15M SAR 26 9
15 M -75 M SAR 49 17
More than 75 M SAR 102 36
Don’t know 105 38

ISO certification Yes 137 49
No 49 17
Don’t know 96 34
In order to get a balanced view of research topic, respondents from diverse areas were
involved in the process of the survey. The respondents include all parts of a construction
project, namely client, contractors, architects, project managers and also Academics were
involved in the process. Analysis of respondents showed that mostly they were from
construction management companies (39%) and general contractors (23%), followed by
design consultant companies (10%) and Specialty contractors (9%). The majority of the
respondents were from a highly educated background good work experience. Most them were
with a bachelor’s degree (74%) and have five years of experience working in construction
projects.
The analysis of the status of ISO certification of the Saudi Arabia construction companies
shows that nearly half of them have acquired certificate, significantly higher than those have
not acquired the certificate (17%). Companies with more than 1000 employees were
categorized as “large”, companies with 201-1000 employees were categorized as “medium”
and companies with less than 200 employees were categorized as “small” in this research.
The result showed that 24% of the respondents were from small companies, 20% from
medium companies, and 46% form large companies. Additionally, the size of companies
were also analysed according to their approximate annual revenue (Financial year 2014). The
result revealed that 9% of companies had less than US$2 million, 17% had between US$4
million – US$20 million, and 36% companies with revenue more than US$20 million. These
results confirm with the fact that Saudi Arabia construction industry was dominated by large
companies.
4.2 Analysis of results
Table 2 shows the ranked barriers associated with the implementation of lean construction
practices in Saudi Arabia construction industry. All the barriers have mean values ranging
from 3.01 to 3.8 with standard variation values from 1.2 to 1.5. Top barriers identified
include the influence of traditional management on construction, Organisational culture, and
Lack of technical skills, lack of training and poor understanding and awareness of lean
techniques.

Table 2: Current barriers associated with the implementation of lean construction practices in
the Saudi Arabia Construction industry.
Barriers Overall
Mean
Std.
Deviation
Rank Small to
medium
companies
Rank Large
companies
1. The influence of traditional management practice 3.8404 1.20175 1 3.7177 1 3.9237
2. Organisational culture 3.7447 1.26775 2 3.7016 2 3.7481
3. Lack of technical skills, training and
understanding and awareness of lean techniques.
3.7340 1.26976 3 3.6774 3 3.8626
4. Lack of committed leadership of top management. 3.5922 1.29068 5 3.5161 7 3.6489
5. Ineffective communication channels between the
construction Teams
3.5922 1.23430 6 3.5645 5 3.6183
6. Lack of robust performance measurement system 3.5390 1.28787 7 3.5000 8 3.6183
7. Lack of technological adaptations. 3.5106 1.32115 8 3.3952 13 3.6870
8. Difficulties in understanding the concept of lean
construction.
3.5106 1.26613 9 3.4919 9 3.6107
9. Traditional design approach 3.4965 1.31579 10 3.4839 10 3.4885
10. Long implementation period of lean concept in
construction processes.
3.4929 1.34520 11 3.4839 11 3.5649
11. Lack of client and supplier involvement. 3.4823 1.19966 12 3.4516 12 3.5954
12. End user preference 3.4645 1.28798 13 3.3871 14 3.6183
13. Additional cost and high inflation rates. 3.4610 1.32062 14 3.5323 6 3.4351
14. Slow decision making process due to complex
organizational hierarchy
3.3511 1.37368 15 3.3468 16 3.4198
15. Improper resource management 3.3475 1.36549 16 3.2823 20 3.4962
16. Lack of clear job specification from the client 3.3333 1.41001 17 3.3548 15 3.2977
17. Lack of provision of benchmarks performance 3.3227 1.22784 18 3.3468 17 3.3588
18. Lack of support from government for
technological advancements
3.2872 1.45114 19 3.3065 19 3.3817
19. Uncertainty in the production process. 3.2872 1.27909 20 3.3306 18 3.3511
20. Use of non-standard components. 3.0851 1.39133 21 2.9355 22 3.3435
21. Uncertainty in the supply chain. 3.0177 1.49127 22 3.0806 21 3.0611

Note: 1= Strongly Disagree to 5= Strongly Agree
Management and related issues are very important in every matter of any project so they are
more important when it comes to implementing lean practices (Arnheiter and Maleyeff,
2005). That’s why it’s on the highest ranked barrier identified. Similarly, lack of training,
skills and awareness to lean concept are causing hindrances in the successful implementation
of lean practices in Saudi Arabia. Use of non-standard components and uncertainty in supply
chains comes at the last but still have the mean score over 3.0. Another important barrier
includes end user preferences and traditional construction system, as it is also identified by
other researchers that changing the mind of people and asking them to adopt a new practice
creates much hassle in the whole process. The results of this research work are similar to
those in other countries like UK, Malaysia and Australia (Buckett, Martson, Saville-Smith,
Jowett, 2007; Jha & Iyer, 2006; Johansen & Walter, 2007). The studies conducted in these
countries have found that the barriers to lean construction are existent in different forms and
identification of these are important for the project success. As there are common hindrances
like management problems, cultural change and lack of skills and tools etc.
ANOVA statistical tests were also employed to examine whether the barriers of lean
construction are significantly different between “large” and “small and medium” construction
companies. Table 2 shows that except for ‘non-standard component’, P-values for other
barriers of lean construction are greater than the significant value of 0.05, showing that the
null hypothesis is valid, which means there is no statistically significant difference in barriers
of lean construction between large and small-to-medium companies. As the P-values for
‘non-standard component’ is 0.005 , respectively, and less than the significance level of 0.05,
the null hypothesis is thus rejected. This states that the organizations whether it is small or
big, faces similar kind of barriers to the implementation and utilization of the lean
construction method.
4.3 Principal component analysis: categorizing the barriers
A principal component analysis (PCA) or factor analysis (FA) with varix rotation was used to
determine the underlying structure of the barriers to lean implementation in Saudi Arabian
construction industry.

Prior to the factor analsyis, suitability of factor analysis was determined. According to
George and Mallery (2006, p.256), the KMO value (Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin Measure of
Sampling Adequacy) should be greater than the acceptable threshold of 0.5 and a value
greater than 0.6 is mediocre, > 0.7 is middling, > 0.8 is meritorious and > 0.9 is marvellous
for a FA to proceed. In this study, the KMO-value was equal to 0.909, which is well above
the acceptable threshold indicating that the data is appropriate for factor analysis (Fields,
2000). The overall Cronbach’s Alpha value is 0.929, indicating that there is a good internal
consistency reliability between factors as a value of 0.70 or above is acceptable as desired
value of the Cronbach’s Alpha (George and Mallery, 2006 p. 231; Cooper and Phillip, 2004).
Table 3: Significant barriers to the successful implementation of lean practices in the Saudi
Arabian construction industry
Barrier
Factors
Significant Barriers Variance
Explained
(%)
1 2 3 4 5 6
Factor 1 “Traditional practice” barriers 13.493
2 Organisational culture 0.827
1 The influence of traditional management on
construction
0.736
6 Ineffective communication channels between
the construction teams
0.694
5 Lack of committed leadership of top
management
0.673
10 Traditional design approach 0.522
Factor 2 “Client involvement” barriers
12.164
18 Lack of provision of benchmarks performance 0.783
17 Lack of clear job specification from the client 0.756
12 Lack of client and supplier involvement 0.731

13 End user preference 0.501
Factor 3 “Standardization” barriers 11.075
20 Uncertainty in the production process 0.685
21 Use of non-standard components 0.683
15 Slow decision making process due to complex
organizational hierarchy
0.673
22 Uncertainty in the supply chain 0.638
Factor 4 “Technological challenges”
barriers 10.007
19 Lack of support from government for
technological advancements
0.778
11 Long implementation period of the lean
concept in construction processes
0.580
8 Lack of technological adaptations 0.571
9 Difficulties in understanding the concept of
lean construction
0.549
Factor 5 “Performance and knowledge”
barriers 8.877
7 Lack of robust performance measurement
system
0.769
4 Lack of knowledge of the lean construction
approaches
0.559
3 Lack of technical skills, lack of training and
poor understanding and awareness of lean
techniques
0.553
16 Improper resource management 0.520
Factor 6 “Cost” barrier 5.657
14 Additional cost and high inflation rates 0.680
61.273
Table 3 presents the rotated factor structure matrix for the given barriers to lean
implementation in Saudi Arabian construction firms. According to the factor analysis result,
the barriers can be further categorized into six factors:
Factor 1: Traditional practises” – it covers five barriers to lean adoption: organizational
culture (B2), the influence of traditional management on construction (B1), ineffective

communication channels between the construction teams (B6), lack of committed leadership
of top management (B5), and traditional design approach (B10). This factor clearly
demonstrates the resistance evolve through a high focus on traditional practice by
stakeholders. A number of non-value adding activities are involved in both design and
construction processes due to ineffective communication. Poor leadership of top management
with fragmented organizational network resist implementation of lean practices.
Factor 2: “Client involvement”– it covers four barriers to lean adoption: lack of provision of
benchmark performance (B18), lack of clear job specification from the client (B17), lack of
client and supplier involvement (B12), and end user preference (B13). This factor indicates
the importance of clinet involvement for lean practices. Thus a lack of client’s capacity
influence the overall decision making process. Similar will happen if client are unable to
translate the desirable performance through benchmarking or share the risk with contractors
and suppliers. In addition, current practices overlook the end user preference rather focusing
on stakeholders’ deliverables.
Factor 3: “Standardization” – it covers four barriers to lean implementation: uncertainty in
the production process (B20), Use of non-standard components (B21), slow decision making
process due to complex organizational hierarchy (B15), and uncertainty in the supply chain
(B22). The lack of standardization in construction practices results in rework and poor
quality. The construction industry mainly depends on human resources and without standard
practices, skills and demographics (young and energetic individuals), the productivity is
uncertain. Furthermore, variation in materials and methods adds on in poor productivity.
Managing the workforce depends on organizational structure which is unique for each
project. The supply chain concept is still infancy in construction which is very much
highlighted by uncertain and risky environment.
Factor 4: “Technological challenges” – it covers four barriers to lean implementation: lack of
support from government for technological advancements (B19), long implementation period
of the lean concept in construction processes (B11), lack of technological adaptations (B8),
and difficulties in understanding the concept of lean construction (B9). Advancements in
technology requires revitalization of construction processes. The consent from government
to support new construction technologies in local market is thus highly needed. The
construction industry is lagging behind in adapting advanced technologies in comparison to

other industries such as manufacturing industries. Furthermore, the true implementation of
lean from concepts to process takes a longer time because of understanding and willingness
from stakeholders.
Factor 5: “Performance and knowledge” – it covers four barriers to lean implementation:
lack of robust performance measurement system (B7), lack of knowledge of the lean
construction approaches (B4), lack of technical skills, lack of training and poor understanding
and awareness of lean techniques (B3), and improper resource management (B16).
Measuring performance of construction processes and projects is not effective as it does not
show a clear picture of achievement or status. Looking at the overall picture of the project
progress can be deceiving as internal issues do not shows on the report which usually lead to
the increased challenge for the project success. People in the construction industry have no
proper skills and knowledge to implement lean practices. Furthermore, there is no clear job
description for construction employees as some of them are involved in parallel tasks or are
utilized in different capacities and trades. Most of the people are employed in various
positions without consideration of their skills and ability.
Factor 6: “Cost” – it covers only one barrier to lean implementation: additional cost and high
inflation rates (B14). This factor has only 5.675 factor loading which is the least in
comparison to other factors. Cost barriers in the lean construction may cause/require
additional cost to implement. That’s why it is regarded by the respondents as the barreirs to
lean construction implementation. Lean practices has the capacity to reduce the cost through
applying simulations on alternate construction methodologies.
5 Discussion
. The factor analysis reveals six underlying dimensions of the barriers to lean implementation
in Saudi Arabian construction industry.
‘Traditional practices’ is the foremost factor which causes resistance in implementing lean
construction. This factor is comprised of barriers indicating traditional practices both in
design and construction. This also leads to improper communication among project parties
which cause coordination issues having effects on project performance. Furthermore,
communication problems cause rework which creates waste in work flow. Lean construction
is mainly dependent on leadership which intent to implement innovative practices.

Traditional approaches lacks integrated project delivery, which needs top management
involvement and commitment. In practices, it is very hard to force the parties involve in
project to adopt the lean practices inter or intra organizational perspective. Organizational
initiatives for lean construction has more effect on individuals and processes. Native culture
mainly cause resistance to implementation of lean construction practices, this may refer to
change from traditional practices. This factor is most common in different studies from
various parts of the world with diversified cultures such as Singapore (Dulaimi & Tanamas,
2001), Malaysia (Abdullah, Razak, Bakar & Sarrazin, 2009), Germany (Johansen & Walter,
2007), Uganda (Alinaitwe, 2009), and India (Hussain, Nama & Fatima, 2016).
‘Client involvement’ factors contributes in non-implementing of lean construction on
projects. Project performance is mainly dependent on satisfaction of the client. In
construction client plays a vital role through the project life cycle. The client is in a strategic
position to take both daily and long term decisions. Wrong decision or delay in decision may
cause many complexities in operational perspective. Clarity of scope and robust monitoring
system has the potential to do rapid decision making. On the other hand, lack of involvement
of client and supplier creates many non-value adding activities. Most of the construction has
been done without considering the end user preferences rather immediate client is more
focused in order to fulfil the contractual obligations. Furthermore, in intra-organizational
perspective, the client is not specified a clear job description so that the employees are
somehow doing parallel or more in terms of their capacity. One of the main reasons is
temporary job contracts which always create uncertainty in terms of work force availability.
This factor is not considered as main barrier in previous studies (Alinaitwe, 2009; Hussain,
Nama & Fatima, 2016) but for Saudi construction industry client role is very vital in terms to
implement lean construction in true means.
Lack of standardization is one of the key factors comprising various barriers for lean
construction implementation. Client requirements are not deemed to be standard so there are
many variations in components which hinder the role of standardization which has the
potential to reduce the quality issues. Production processes are mainly design based on
project specification provided by client (or consultant) but there is no surety about the
proficiency of the methods and techniques to be adopted. Furthermore, diverse workforce in
construction results in to varied productivities. The project is temporary entities and due to
involvement of diverse parties the hierarchy of the project becomes complex which cause

communication and decision making problems. Project uniqueness also affect the supply
chain for which parties have adversarial relationships due temporary nature. Lack of
standardization, as barrier, has been reported in previous studies (Abdullah, Razak, Bakar &
Sarrazin, 2009; Alinaitwe, 2009) but not given more weightage generally. Internationalisation
nature of Saudi construction demands standardization in wider aspects in tune to implement
lean construction.
Advancements in technology requires revitalization of construction processes. This factor
entails barriers focusing on knowledge, support and adaptation of advance technologies in
construction. Any technology and management technique are inducted through professional
community but the governments played a vital role to attain maximum benefit of the innovate
approaches. In reality governments are much reluctant to change the conventional systems
which require unlearn, and learn the advanced technologies. Without in depth knowledge the
practitioners are unable to implement technology and management approach such as lean
construction.
In addition to knowledge, lack of performance measurement plays vital role in non-
implementing of lean construction. Furthermore, construction people are not fully aware
about techniques and methodologies of lean construction which is the primary reason, but the
organizational impact may not be ignored. Studies from developed countries indicate
‘technology’ as potential barrier (Dulaimi & Tanamas, 2001; Johansen & Walter, 2007) but
the peculiar nature make it the biggest challenge for developing countries where adoption and
learning of innovative technologies in construction is at slow pace.
The cost incurred in the implementation of lean construction method is substantial. Though
the futuristic impacts brings positive results, yet the organizations stay aloof from this method
due to the initial costs. Moreover, the required change management for the lean construction
also calls for additional costs. These costs barriers and some of them mentioned above are
important to be considered while moving ahead with the implementation of this method.
6 Conclusion
Lean construction is a comparatively new concept in the construction industry to enhance
productivity and efficiency. This paper explains different barriers associated with the
implementation of lean construction in Saudi Arabia construction industry. Results obtained

represents the opinion of Saudi construction industry about most agreeable barriers in
implementing lean construction practices. Top barriers identified include the influence of
traditional management on construction, Organisational culture and Lack of technical skills,
lack of training and poor understanding and awareness of lean techniques. It can be
concluded that the implementation of lean construction amid these barriers is challenging and
might scare the companies from moving towards it.
This research will impact the Saudi construction industry in a positive manner as it help
identify and understand barriers regarding implementation of lean practices. The construction
companies would prefer to know the likely barriers concerning lean construction so that they
can implement successfully. The associations would prefer to know the lean practices to
understand whether it is beneficial for their people. By knowing high ranked barriers and
hurdles, practitioners can work accordingly to make lean practices more usable for the
construction industry. Moreover, academics will get insights into the topic and it will
encourage to research more effectively about implementation of lean practices in the Saudi
construction industry.
However, it should be noted that the finding were mainly based on the results of a broad
questionnaire survey. As the survey was conducted for a specific time period targeting
specific construction firms, results may not represent the whole Saudi Arabian Industry.
There is an earnest need to do case study base research which will create guidelines to
implement in the Saudi construction industry. In order to get more representative outcomes
other methods like interview, meetings, polls, seminars, observations etc. should also be
conducted.
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