Assessing lean conformance by first-grade contractors in the Jordanian construction industry

Purpose - There is little information existing about the spread of lean among Jordanian construction companies. Building on a report by Diekmann et al. (2004), this paper aims to perform a similar investigation among first-grade Jordanian construction companies to assess the extent of implementation of lean techniques. Design/methodology/approach - For this purpose, a quantitative approach to measuring contractors' conformance to lean practices was adopted. A survey of 61 contractors was conducted using both e-mails and personally delivered surveys that were completed on the spot. The results were analysed, and a practice value index, which indicates the level of implementation, was figured out for lean practices. In addition, an analysis of variance was conducted to determine whether there were differences among respondents from different construction fields. Findings - The survey indicated that some procedures used by Jordanian contractors were consistent with lean construction practices. However, there was no proof that lean concepts were used on a company-wide basis. Furthermore, the survey revealed that the Jordanian construction industry lacks a "continuous improvement" mentality, suffers from the absence of error proofing devices and provides minimal training at several levels of the organisation. Originality/value - The outcomes of the study are valuable for contractors and developers of management practices, as it will encourage them to adopt lean construction holistically and identify features that are not exploited in the Jordanian construction industry.