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Set-based design (SBD) is a lean tool widely adopted for improving design processes and providing value maximization to clients. The purpose of this paper is to present the development and testing of a lean simulation game that incorporated point-based and SBD principles. The objective of the game was to enhance learning of lean design management among construction students.

After a thorough and comprehensive literature review consisting of secondary data in journal papers, books, thesis references and primary data in the form of interviews with lean practitioners, the simulation game prototype was developed. The testing of the game was carried out with a study group. Data were collected during the gameplay with the help of a questionnaire survey on a confidence scale and Likert scale and assessed using the Wilcoxon signed-rank test, histogram, one-sample t-test and false discovery rate (Benjamini–Hochberg) correction method.

The data collected both pre- and post-simulation showed an increase in average confidence in understanding from 3.33 to 3.89, a 16.7% rise. The data was further interpreted by using Wilcoxon signed-rank test, indicating that the post-simulation learning experience was significantly better than the pre-simulation one. Promising positive results were obtained for the questions on game design, engagement and understanding of point-based design and SBD concepts.

The simulation game helps bridge the gap between knowledge building and real-life by effectively imitating the process. The game facilitates a dynamic and critical approach toward developing new educational simulation games and their successful incorporation in propagating lean principles in the construction industry.

This study aims to emphasize the integration of lean start-up and design thinking approaches and investigate how they may be used together.

The report uses a systematic literature review methodology to analyze and summarize previous research on combining lean start-up and design thinking. Inferences were discovered and analyzed after relevant publications were chosen based on predetermined inclusion criteria.

The research shows that combining lean start-up and design thinking significantly impacts entrepreneurship. Start-ups can efficiently uncover consumer needs, reduce risks and improve their product or service offerings by combining the client-centricity of design thinking with the iterative and data-driven concepts of lean start-up. This integration promotes an innovative culture, gives teams the freedom to try new things and learn from mistakes and raises the possibility of start-up success.

The dependence on pre-existing literature, which might cover only some potential uses and circumstances, is a weakness of this research. It is advised that more empirical research be conducted to determine the precise circumstances in which the integrated strategy performs best. Future studies should also explore the difficulties and drawbacks of using these approaches to offer suggestions for overcoming them and maximizing their advantages.

The findings have significant ramifications for business owners and other professionals working in the start-up environment. The combination of lean start-up and design thinking emphasizes the relevance of early customer interaction and empathy-driven design. To foster creativity and hasten the expansion of start-ups, practitioners are urged to create a comprehensive strategy that integrates the advantages of both techniques. Through this integration, business owners may develop solutions that appeal to their target market, increasing adoption rates and market competitiveness.

This study is interesting in comparing lean start-up and design thinking, emphasizing the overlaps and benefits of their application to entrepreneurship. This study discusses successful start-up methods by offering suggestions for future research and practice. It also provides a basis for further developing and adopting the integrated approach.

This study describes how two organisations transitioned to teaching Lean online during and post Covid-19. This study aims to establish how Lean teaching and training can be designed and delivered effectively online without adverse effects on the student’s learning experience of Lean concepts.

A case study approach was used to review the design, application and results of the transition to online Lean teaching and training. Qualitative and quantitative methods were deployed to assess the results.

Online Lean learning and application were assured via the design of practical problem-based teaching environments, aided by using the virtual classroom as an obeya room and as a kaizen environment where students worked in teams. Students were enabled to learn and apply Lean tools practically and reflect on their learnings.

This study demonstrates that effective online design can ensure. Lean methods are understood without affecting the student's learning, classroom experience and grasp of concepts.

To the best of the author’s knowledge, this is one of the first studies on implementing Lean training and education online during COVID-19 under the lens of both a training provider and university education viewpoint. The changes validated best practices for virtual Lean education and training in the organisations under study, maintained post-COVID.

The construction industry worldwide is looking for overall efficiency in the entire project life cycle. Lean construction and Building Information Modeling (BIM) are together, key constituents in this quest. This study looks to reinforce the contribution of BIM to deliver applied lean principles to enhance productivity and performance.

The study adopts mixed methodologies of Ethnographic Action Research (EAR) and crisp set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (csQCA). The mosaic of case studies provides a descriptive and instrumental approach. While a descriptive approach investigates the interventions and phenomenon relating BIM to Lean, an instrumental approach constitutes exemplars of the interrelated phenomenon of BIM and Lean.

The themes of Elimination of Waste, Kaizen, Respecting the Human Elements, Poke-a-Yoke and Jidoka are contributed to the maximum by BIM. All the case studies discussed evidence of the contribution to Lean, as they enhance end-customer value.

The contribution of BIM towards Lean could encourage collaborations amongst stakeholders for mutual benefits. BIM could enhance decision making, predictive simulation, risk analysis, etc. with many other exciting possibilities of delivering productivity and performance. The study is limited by the insights offered by the individual cases.

The study provides insights into potential developments and research. It is expected to encourage reflective professional practice triggered by innovative thinking for the gainful utilization of BIM to deliver Lean.

The purpose of this study is to carry out a comprehensive systematic review of lean implementation frameworks and roadmaps developed over the past decade and report the key findings along with the limitations and the way forward.

A systematic review methodology proposed by Tranfield (2003), was followed to identify the relevant works on the research topic. Articles were searched using a set of inclusion criteria in various databases including Google Scholar, Web of Science and Science Direct over a period of 30 years.

The high failure rate of lean system implementation, reaching a range between 70 and 90% in almost all industries, is a matter of concern. This failure rate is still high even though numerous frameworks and roadmap models exist to streamline lean implementation. There is no standard framework or roadmap identified in the literature and many organisations are implementing lean in their unique ways. However, it would be desirable to develop a practical and systematic roadmap on lean-looking into the cultural and leadership dimensions rather than focusing on a set of tools. Moreover, most frameworks and roadmaps lack the sustenance aspects of lean implementation.

This research only identifies the fundamental gaps with the existing frameworks and roadmaps on lean implementation. The next phase of the research is to develop a roadmap and validate it with a number of organisations in different cultural contexts and leadership styles.

The authors argue that this is one of the most comprehensive systematic review on lean frameworks and roadmaps, ever produced in the literature to date.

The aim of this paper is to review metrics and develop a framework for measuring leagile supply chain. Metrics that are applicable in the lean, agile and leagile strategies are identified in the literature and are then combined into a framework that can reflect both agile and lean strategies – the leagile supply strategy.

This work is based on the systematic literature review. Literature was collected, then lean and agile metrics were extracted, analysed, counted and grouped into the framework. Findings are compared against literature on leagile supply chain.

Findings indicate that there are sets of metrics specific to lean strategy, such as are process-focused, cost, productivity, inventory and delivery-based metrics, and specific to agile such as flexibility, responsiveness, information sharing and cooperation. There are also metrics common for both strategies; they are related to time, quality and customer satisfaction. Lean measures are tangible and focused on internal processes and products, while agile measures are targeted at external environment.

The framework could be used by practitioners as a starting point for performance system design.

There is a need to stop looking at lean and agile as separate and distinct supply strategies. Results of this research indicate that lean and agile are interlinked, both are focusing on customer satisfaction and quality. Applying a proposed set of metrics enables to design supply chain measurement system that reflects both strategies to measure leagile supply chain. The framework could be used by practitioners as a starting point for performance system design.

Increased waste during projects execution has led to time and cost overruns within the Zimbabwean construction projects industry. However, contextual barriers to lean construction implementation are yet to be established for derivation of effective remedies. The purpose of this paper is to report on a study that sought to determine barriers to lean construction implementation and assess the existence of statistically significant differences because of gender, designation and educational levels of respondents.

A questionnaire survey was administered on construction professionals for the collection of quantitative data. Factor analysis was used to reveal interrelated significant sets of barriers to lean construction implementation. Non-parametric statistical methods were also used to determine significant differences because of demographic variables.

Integration- and performance-related, human capital management–related, quality management–related barriers were determined as the highest-ranked of the nine significant components. Significant differences because of gender, designation and educational levels were non-existent for aggregated barriers, generally indicating consensus on the barriers. However, individual barriers showed inadequacies in management requirements for lean construction implementation from architects and those with diplomas and degrees.

The determination of barriers establishes the knowledge for construction policy evaluation for enhanced performance of the construction industry. However, because of the exploratory nature of this study, the insights of clients were not considered.

Context-specific barriers to lean construction implementation were determined for consequent construction policy improvements in the construction industry.

The construction industry is inefficient in terms of quality products, productivity and performance worldwide, including in Australia and New Zealand. The construction industry is becoming more innovative, competitive and complex; and more participants are involved in construction projects. There are new attempts to implement the Lean construction philosophy, integrated project delivery method and building information modelling (BIM) technology in construction industry to improve productivity and efficiency. This paper aims to identify Lean and BIM integration benefits in construction industry globally and in the New Zealand.

A systematic literature review and case studies were used to identify various benefits of the integrating Lean and BIM in construction industry. It focused on articles published between 1995 and 2021.

Lean and BIM benefits identified in the study were documented such as benefits over the traditional approach, critically increased efficiency and visualization, better building process, better building performance, mitigating risk and reduce cost. Also, several factors were identified as major benefits such as improved onsite collaboration, better coordination, improve onsite communication, increase productivity, mitigating risk, reducing waste and reduced cost. The study showed integrating Lean and BIM in construction management practice will help reduce several challenges which affect expected goals and customer anticipation. The research outcome ultimately will assist different stakeholders in applying Lean and BIM in construction management practice.

This study practically focused on using the integration of BIM and Lean principles to improve the construction industry productivity and performance.

The paper tests if and to what extent lean management system adoption generates abnormal profitability, and how it accrues over time. Configurational approaches to lean management systems and “S-curve” effects in lean implementation are used to ground the paper's hypotheses and interpret its findings.

Using the emerging view of lean as enterprise-wide management systems, this quasi-experimental study uses a difference-in-differences approach to estimate the abnormal profitability (ROIC) attributable to lean management system adoption. The paper leverages a unique data set of lean adopters nested in a panel data set (19 years) of 2,088 industrial firms matched by industry and firm size. It applies a variety of regression methods (two-way fixed effect panel estimator, propensity score matching, instrumental variable two-stage-least squares) to estimate the size of the abnormal profitability attributable to lean management systems, addressing endogeneity issues related to non-random sampling, omitted variable bias and reverse causation. It also analyzes the cross-firm variability of such abnormal profitability and how it accrues over time.

For the average non-adopter in the sample (44.3 million euro revenues), lean adoption generates abnormal ROIC ranging from 1.4% to 3.9%. These results come into effect approximately three years after starting lean adoption and peak after eight years. While the average abnormal profitability attributable to lean adoption is sizable, it varies significantly across firms and over time. This significant variation is compatible with firms' diverse ability to understand the complex inner workings of lean systems, and to design and implement them so that they improve profitability.

The conceptualization of lean as enterprise-wide management system can be further refined to more effectively categorize the components of lean systems and investigate the nature of their relationships. Lean system adoption measurement can be fine-tuned to better capture cross-firm and longitudinal heterogeneity. Future work can explore other dependent variables of interest to different stakeholders including shareholders' value, employment and environmental and social sustainability.

The financial benefits of adopting lean can be reaped to the extent to which managers embrace lean as a philosophy and implement it pervasively in the organization. A firm can use the study's estimates as a basis for making calculations about the returns of investment in lean adoption. The paper also shows that “getting the lean system right” makes a significant difference in terms of abnormal profitability, which is twice as large for the best lean adopters..

Compared with the promises of many lean proponents and supporters, the paper provides a more realistic view of what to expect from lean adoption in terms of profitability. Adopting lean as a comprehensive, enterprise-wide management system is not a universal panacea, but a complex endeavor, characterized by multiple complex decisions that require considerable capabilities, coordinated efforts and consistency of action.

Differently from extant research, this study does not study the correlation between the adoption of lean operation practices and financial performance but focuses on the abnormal profitability generated by the adoption of lean as a pervasive, enterprise-wide management system. Its research design allows to identify the differential profitability attributable to lean adoption and documents that it accrues non-linearly.

This study aims to investigate the implementation of lean human resource management (HRM) practices in manufacturing small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and explore how various factors interact to influence their successful adoption. By exploring the interplay among these factors, the research seeks to identify key drivers affecting the adoption of lean HRM in manufacturing SMEs. Ultimately, the research intends to provide insights that can guide organisations, practitioners and policymakers in effectively implementing lean HRM practices to enhance operational efficiency, workforce engagement and competitiveness within the manufacturing SME sector.

The study combined total interpretive structural modelling (TISM) and Matrice d'Impacts Croisés Multiplication Appliquée à un Classement (MICMAC) analysis. TISM helped in understanding the hierarchical relationship among different factors influencing lean HRM implementation, whereas MICMAC analysis provided insights into the level of influence and dependence of each factor on others.

The research revealed that “top management support” emerged as the most independent factor, indicating that strong support from top management is crucial for initiating and sustaining lean HRM practices in manufacturing SMEs. On the other hand, “employee involvement and empowerment” was identified as the most dependent factor, suggesting that fostering a culture of employee engagement and empowerment greatly relies on the successful implementation of lean HRM practices.

While the study provided valuable insights, it has certain limitations. The research was conducted within the specific context of manufacturing SMEs, which might limit the generalizability of the findings to other industries. Expert opinions introduce subjectivity in data collection. Additionally, the study may not cover all critical factors, allowing room for further exploration in future research.

The findings have practical implications for manufacturing SMEs aiming to implement lean HRM practices. Recognising the pivotal role of top management support, organisations should invest in cultivating a strong leadership commitment to lean HRM initiatives. Furthermore, enhancing employee involvement and empowerment can lead to better adoption of lean HRM practices, resulting in improved operational efficiency and overall competitiveness.

This research contributes to the field by offering a comprehensive exploration of the interplay among factors influencing lean HRM implementation. The use of TISM and MICMAC analysis provides a unique perspective on the relationship dynamics between these factors, allowing for a nuanced understanding of their roles in the adoption of lean HRM practices in manufacturing SMEs. The identification of “top management support” as the most independent and “employee involvement and empowerment” as the most dependent factors adds original insights to the existing literature.