Investigating the Impact of Lean Leadership on Construction Project Success

AbstractLean has been widely practiced in construction in the last decade. Aiming to maximize value while minimizing waste, Lean tools and techniques are of utmost importance in terms of promoting construction project performance. However, the use of tools and techniques without a change in culture does not ensure the lasting change. At this point, Lean Leadership plays a crucial role for ensuring the cultural change through the integration of Lean principles with the leadership behavior. Lean leadership is a system enabling to develop leaders as well as adopting Lean principles. In the construction industry, Lean Leadership studies are scarce. Hence, this study develops novel components for Lean Leadership revealing the impact of effective leadership on the construction project success. In this respect, a conceptual framework was developed to investigate the relationship between these two factors. An online survey was designed and administered to the lean construction practitioners operating in the U.S. construction industry. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was used to verify the relation between Lean Leadership and construction project success. The analysis of data indicated that there is a direct and positive association between Lean Leadership and construction project success.Keywords: LeanLeadershipConstructionProject ManagementProject SuccessStructural Equation ModelingEMJ Focus Areas: Continuous ImprovementEngineering Management ProfessionLeadershipProgram & Project Management Disclosure StatementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).Data Availability StatementSome or all data, models, or code that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.Additional informationNotes on contributorsEmel SadikogluEmel Sadikoglu received the B.Sc. degree in civil engineering and the M.Sc. degree in construction management from Bogazici University, Istanbul, Turkey in 2018 and 2021, respectively. She is currently working toward the Ph.D. degree in construction management with Gebze Technical University, Kocaeli, Turkey.She has been working as a Research and Teaching Assistant with Department of Civil Engineering, Gebze Technical University. Her research interests include lean construction, agility, sustainability, occupational health and safety and digital technologies in the construction industry.Jonathan JägerJonathan Jäger received his B.Sc. degree in civil engineering from Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) in 2018. He got his M.Sc. degree in civil engineering from Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) in 2020. He is currently working as a project manager at DB Netz AG.Sevilay DemirkesenSevilay Demirkesen received the B.Sc. degree in civil engineering from Istanbul Technical University, Istanbul, Turkey, in 2010, the M.Sc. degree in construction engineering and management program from the Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago, IL, USA, in 2011, and the Ph.D. degree in construction management from Bogazici University, Istanbul, in 2016. Following her graduation from Bogazici University, she was a Postdoctoral Research Associate with Project Production Systems Lab (P2SL), University of California-Berkeley, from 2016 to 2018. She is currently an Associate Professor with the Department of Civil Engineering, Gebze Technical University, Darıca, TurkeyCarolin BaierCarolin Baier, research associate at the Institute for Technology and Management in Construction, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), is currently working on her doctorate in the field of Integrated Project Delivery. As a Research Associate, she leads several research projects in the field of IPD, especially focusing on the implementation of IPD in Germany. At the same time, she works as a Lean and IPD coach in various large IPD projects in Germany and Switzerland.Svenja OprachSvenja Oprach, currently working at the Institute for Technology and Management in Construction (TMB) at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), researches and teaches in the areas of lean, AI and sustainability. Her doctoral thesis focuses on AI methods in early-stage construction projects. As project manager for two major research projects, she leads the "NaiS" project, developing a digital platform for sustainability, and the "SDaC" project, exploring AI applications in construction. Previously, she worked as a lean expert on international projects at BMW AG.Shervin HaghshenoShervin Haghsheno studied civil engineering at the Technical University of Darmstadt and economics at the University Hagen. This was followed by a doctorate at TU Darmstadt. Since 2013, he has been a university professor at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) and managing director of the Institute for Technology and Management in Construction. His research focuses on project management, lean construction and integrated project delivery. Previously, he held various positions in a construction company.