Analysis of Barriers Impeding Lean Construction in Saudi Arabia

This report investigates the barriers to implementing lean construction practices within the Saudi Arabian construction industry. The study, based on a broad questionnaire survey, identifies and analyzes 22 potential barriers, highlighting the influence of traditional management as the top-ranked obstacle. The research explores challenges such as user end preferences, lack of training, and supply chain uncertainties. The study also reviews existing literature on lean construction, discussing the benefits of lean practices, the origins of lean thinking from the Toyota production system, and the impact of various barriers like fragmentation, cultural issues, and funding limitations. The findings aim to provide stakeholders with insights to overcome these obstacles and effectively achieve the benefits of lean construction, ultimately improving project performance in Saudi Arabia.

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
The poor performance of the construction sector is the result of inefficiency and
ineffective of traditional managerial approaches (Kashiwagi et al., 2009; Ssegawa-Kaggwa et
al., 2013). As an innovative concept, lean construction has emerged based on ‘lean thinking’
to minimize waste and enhance the value of the customer (Howel, 2001). The first Lean
concept was derived from the Toyota production system (TPS) and it entails the perception of
continuous development that scientifically evolves to attain small, incremental variations in
progressions to advance proficiency and quality which is used in the construction industry
currently. Lean construction practices emphasis on increasing efficiency of work at every
stage in a construction project (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. Additionally, lean construction practices ensure a
continuous learning environment and lesson learned are useful for future implementation of
the 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 the industry level.
However, adopting 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 the implementation of lean construction in this
respect. Some of the evident barriers are improper understanding and implementation of this
concept. According to Abdullah (2009), union contracts might oppose changes on the
implementation of lean tools and would not permit the reduction of maintenance task by
workers.. In addition, the application of the lean tools could make employees counterattack
the changes to their present work setting. According to Alinaitwe (2009), the lean
construction barriers entail a lack of; structural beliefs supporting collaboration, the
indulgence of the customers’ wants, organization management skills, communication skills,
incessant perfection, precise pre-planning and prefabrication.
The construction industry of Saudi Arabia is facing problems in measuring and
improving its performance (Bannah, 2012). Common problems are not limited to time delays

(Assaf, 2006), cost overruns (Harris, 2014), poor safety and quality issues (AMEInfor, 2014).
To address these problems, lean construction has been introduced into the Saudi construction
industry in 2008 (AlSehaimi, Tzortzopoulos & Koskela, 2009). Al-Sudairi (2007) reported
that lean practices have significantly improved the project performance, especially at trade
level by reducing waste involved in the production. Despite so, lean construction in Saudi
Arabia is still in its infancy. The implementation of lean construction concepts in complex
projects has not taken place yet. The organization problems, social change and deficiency of
skills and lean tools could lead to problems when engaging lean concepts. Nevertheless, 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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Therefore, 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
various stakeholders better understand and overcome such obstacles, specifically those highly
valuable. Eventually, the benefits of lean construction practices can be achieved effectively
by the Saudi Arabian construction industry in the broad spectrum.
2.0 Literature Review-Barriers to 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 to the automotive sector (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 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.
Sarhan and Fox (2013) did an investigation about lean construction practices in the
UK and reported that some structural and cultural barriers 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 are management and commercial pressure, which
creates a barrier to 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 efficient 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 obstacles. The top-ranked
barriers identified by researchers include Lack of exposure to 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. However, in

the era of construction boom lean construction should be practiced 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 an investigation to recognize barriers separately in
various stages of construction, During Construction Phase likely 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, the 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)
realize the benefits of lean construction, but have a reservation in full implementation about a
unique feature of the industry. Furthermore, the resistance to change derives from a cultural
perspective and applicable to other countries as well.
In summary, the barriers as noted above entail: The Fragmentation and
subcontracting, Traditional procurements and contract methods, cultural and human nature
issues, management and commercial pressure, Lack of funding, knowledge, exposure,
customer and production focus, training and lastly inaccurate design among the profession.
Various studies have identified some barriers involved for implementation of lean
construction in this respect, and they include:

Management and leadership. Adopting new techniques and implementing it
successfully much relies on the commitment of top management as they are a policymaker for
any firm. Since top management in any construction firm is much more concerned about the
profit of the company, they may not be aware of the current practices and trend in
construction. Support and commitment from top management have been considered essential
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 the 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. Organization culture is of great importance to people, and
they normally do not want to change it as people want the things as they use to be (Mann,
2014). Culture is equally an outcome and enabler for environmentally friendly and profitable
lean processes. It features the functionality of a model, that directs the personnel during the
organizational transformation to the beliefs of lean retrospection. Overtop is the
accomplishments achieved by employing lean most the objectives and outcomes of lean
retrospection for the high end. The end results are linked to finest quality, very low cost,
quickest lead time frame, great staff moral, safety operating concerns, top organization
outputs. A lean culture has specific dimensions that define the behavior of the employees
(Womack and Jones, 1996). People do not want change, and it is hard to convince someone to
adopt a new practice and leave what they used to do for a very long time. 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.
Technical knowledge. Lean construction is a relatively new concept, and it needs
proper understanding and sufficient knowledge 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 businesses. 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 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 the industrial sector, and they are not adopting comprehensive 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 the 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 imperative for
successful implementation of lean construction practices. However, it has been observed that
there is a communication gap between the various 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. As lean construction requires proper planning, training,
skills and tools for every stage of construction, it will require time for implementation as
stakeholders do not desire to spend such period for turning to something new (Sim and
Rogers, 2009; de Souza and Pidd, 2011). When undertaking any new advancement in
technology, an organization ought to involve their shareholders. Their involvement entails
understanding the new path which their investment will be taking this includes the lean
construction practices. There has been observed a lack of 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
between stakeholders and the clients which will cause problems in later stages of the project.
Moreover, 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). The
benchmarks set by the stakeholders are important to establish the proper pace in work and
achieving levels of success required by the firms. There is a 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 paramount
and plays a vital role. The government makes new policies and sometimes proper fund issues
for government organizations for such purposes. Lack of support from government is

identified as a barrier to successful implementation of the lean concept in construction firms
(Olatunji, 2008; Alinaitwe, 2009).
The cost for implementation. Lean practices need a quick response from officials for
fast paced desk in the making on different problems and implementation of tools for the
success of lean concepts (Womack and Jones, 1996). Initial cost required for tools, skills,
training and change in the whole system is needed for successful implementation of the 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 for a construction project. Deficiency in proper resource management will result
in a hurdle in the whole process (Ong, 2013). There is uncertainty about the outcomes of the
entire process. There is no surety that certain system will yield the result which is expected
(Koskela, 1997). To implement concepts of lean construction successfully, the budget
planned should be effectively followed. Nonstandard components may be easy to use, but hey
will not yield expected results and hinders the whole process (Shang & Sui, 2014). Supply
chain should be without interruptions and on time. If it is unreliable in the supply change,
then it will affect the overall process of lean construction in any construction firm (Johansen
& Walter, 2007).
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 their 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.
The data was then analysed using statistical package for social sciences (SPSS)
software (version ###). First, it ranked the barriers to entry on the basis of the mean value of
responses, and compared their mean value between large and small-to-medium companies
with an analysis of variance (ANOVA). Second, factor analysis was conducted to explore the
underlying dimensions of these barriers. Factor analysis (FA) helped to study the underlying
rules or relationships for a large number of variables, and to decide whether or not the
information can be condensed or summarized into a smaller set of factors or component
(Norusis, 1992). The principal component analysis (PCA) for factor extraction was used in
the analysis. It takes the total variance in the data, and determines the minimum number of
factors that will account for the maximum variance in the dataset.
4. Results
4.1 Profiles of respondents
In order to get a balanced view of research topic, respondents from diverse areas were
involved in the survey. Table 1 presents the background information of 282 respondents,
comprising their organizations, experience, education background, the sizes of their
companies based on the number of employees, the approximate annual revenue of the 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
The respondents are from various organiztions, such as construction management companies
(39%) and general contractors (23%), followed by design consultant companies (10%) and
Specialty contractors (9%). The majority of the respondents have high education background
(with 74% of them have bacheloar’s degree) and extensive work experience. Table 1 aso

shows shows that nearly half of respondents’ companies have acquired ISO certificate,
significantly higher than those have not acquired the certificate (17%).
In this research, 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”. 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 in 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. The mean values of barriers range from 3.01
to 3.8 with standard variation from 1.2 to 1.5. Top barriers identified include the influence of
traditional management on construction, organisational culture, and lack of technical skills,
training and understanding 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
R
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 of lean techniques.
3.7340 1.26976 3 3.6774 3 3.8626
4. Lack of knowledge of the lean construction
approaches.
3.6809 1.24460 4 3.6210 4 3.7252
5. Lack of committed leadership of top management. 3.5922 1.29068 5 3.5161 7 3.6489
6. Ineffective communication channels between the
construction Teams
3.5922 1.23430 6 3.5645 5 3.6183

7. Lack of robust performance measurement system 3.5390 1.28787 7 3.5000 8 3.6183
8. Lack of technological adaptations. 3.5106 1.32115 8 3.3952 13 3.6870
9. Difficulties in understanding the concept of lean
construction.
3.5106 1.26613 9 3.4919 9 3.6107
10. Traditional design approach 3.4965 1.31579 10 3.4839 10 3.4885
11. Long implementation period of lean concept in
construction processes.
3.4929 1.34520 11 3.4839 11 3.5649
12. Lack of client and supplier involvement. 3.4823 1.19966 12 3.4516 12 3.5954
13. End user preference 3.4645 1.28798 13 3.3871 14 3.6183
14. Additional cost and high inflation rates. 3.4610 1.32062 14 3.5323 6 3.4351
15. Slow decision making process due to complex
organizational hierarchy
3.3511 1.37368 15 3.3468 16 3.4198
16. Improper resource management 3.3475 1.36549 16 3.2823 20 3.4962
17. Lack of clear job specification from the client 3.3333 1.41001 17 3.3548 15 3.2977
18. Lack of provision of benchmarks performance 3.3227 1.22784 18 3.3468 17 3.3588
19. Lack of support from government for
technological advancements
3.2872 1.45114 19 3.3065 19 3.3817
20. Uncertainty in the production process. 3.2872 1.27909 20 3.3306 18 3.3511
21. Use of non-standard components. 3.0851 1.39133 21 2.9355 22 3.3435
22. 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 ranked highest in the list. Similarly, lack of training, skills and
awareness to lean concept are hindering 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. The end user preferences and traditional construction system
have been found to be influential in changing the perceptions of people to adopt the new
practice on lean practice (Achanga, Shehab, Roy & Nelder, 2006).