Lean project delivery system as a strategy for project success in Africa : a case of Uganda’s construction industry

Abstract

Lean technology has been one of the high rising concepts that came when nations and the world at large were in need of a solution against high costs, too much wastes, and delivering projects successfully within agreed time in the construction industry. Lean techniques which started in Japan by the 1950s, spread across the developed world of Europe, America and Asia. Despite the positive claims, companies in the developing countries like in Africa, particularly in Uganda are yet to adequately adopt the lean techniques to improve on their levels of project realisation and success. This study therefore assessed lean project delivery system as a strategy for project success in Africa, particularly a case of Uganda’s construction industry. Five objectives were set to guide the study which included to; determine the level of implementation of lean techniques; determine the degree of success and realisation of projects; relationship between lean and project success; and to examine the general perception of the proposed strategy in Uganda's construction industry. In order to underpin the study, different theories including Last Planner theory of management were used to administer data which was collected from 316 participants from 56 construction companies. Survey questionnaire and interview guide were used to collect data from the field which were analysed using multiple methods that included AMOS, Chi-square, ANOVA, multiple regression, Cochran’s Q test, Kendall’s Coefficient of Concordance Test Agreement for quantitative data and content analysis for the qualitative data. The study established that there is limited form of knowledge of lean construction techniques and its design. This makes the implementation fall short among the companies. Secondly, the study found that lean technology has the ability to determine improved degree to success despite the limitations. The study also discovered that there is a significant positive relationship between lean techniques and project success. Positive results were similarly obtained from perceptions towards the last planner system as an important lean approach in the construction industry. The study concludes that, despite the constraints in applying or implementing lean construction techniques by Uganda's construction industries, it is of great value in terms waste reduction and cost decrease. The main recommendation was for companies to adopt lean construction techniques, particularly LPS, as an adequate approach to reducing challenges faced by the construction companies in order to achieve greater success.