The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:

www.emeraldinsight.com/1726-0531.htm

Moroccan
Lean construction implementation construction
in the Moroccan construction industry

industry
Awareness, benefits and barriers 533
Mohamed Saad Bajjou and Anas Chafi Received 26 February 2018
Revised 16 April 2018
Department of Industrial Engineering, Universite Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdallah, 24 May 2018
Fes, Morocco Accepted 29 May 2018

Abstract
Purpose – Lean construction provides innovative practices to manage construction projects while reducing
waste and improving performance. This paper aims to explore the current level of awareness of lean
construction practices among Moroccan construction professionals to assess the potential benefits derived
from lean construction practices and to identify the critical barriers hindering a successful implementation.
Design/methodology/approach – The paper opted for a quantitative approach by using a structured
questionnaire survey. A total of 330 valid responses were collected from Moroccan construction practitioners
involved in private and public construction organisations.
Findings – The results show that 61 per cent of the respondents are familiar with lean construction
practices. The findings have also pointed out that the lean construction approach adds a positive impact,
specifically on quality, safety and environmental level. In addition, the main barriers hindering a successful
lean construction deployment in Morocco are lack of knowledge about lean construction philosophy, unskilled
human resources and insufficient financial resources.
Originality/value – This study provides a new insight into the implementation of lean construction in
Morocco. It contributes to the body of knowledge, as it uncovers for the first time the level of awareness, the
potential benefits derived from lean construction practices and the barriers to implementing lean construction
in the Moroccan construction industry. Exploring the current state of lean construction implementation can
help practitioners, companies and researchers in the Moroccan construction industry to focus their effort and
resources on the significant issues necessary to assist a successful implementation of lean construction.
Furthermore, the findings of this study could prove valuable to other countries in Africa, especially those
sharing similarities to the Moroccan context.
Keywords Survey, Benefits, Barriers, Morocco, Awareness, Lean construction
Paper type Research paper

1. Introduction
The construction sector is classified among the main industries with a significant
contribution to the economic growth of both developed and developing countries (Sarhan
et al., 2017; Tezel et al., 2018). In Morocco, the construction industry contributes tangibly in
strengthening the national economy and reducing the unemployment rate. Inasmuch as, it
contributes 6.3 per cent of the total gross value added (Ministry of habitat and city Policy,
2015). In addition, it employs nearly one million people (9.3 per cent of the active population)
(Bajjou et al., 2017b). However, construction projects in Morocco are generally characterised Journal of Engineering, Design
and Technology
by a low productivity, which is mainly due to many challenges such as schedule delay, cost Vol. 16 No. 4, 2018
pp. 533-556
overrun and poor quality (Habchi et al., 2016). Furthermore, according to Bajjou et al. (2017a) © Emerald Publishing Limited
1726-0531
the Moroccan construction industry has a negative impact on the environment as it DOI 10.1108/JEDT-02-2018-0031
JEDT generates a considerable amount of solid waste during the construction processes. Nine
16,4 million tons of solid wastes are disposed of in uncontrolled landfills annually (Bajjou et al.,
2017b). There is, therefore, an urgent need to urgently seek new and more effective
management systems with the aims to reduce the impact of waste and improve the
performance of construction projects. Being the case, Moroccan construction practitioners
constantly need to improve the performance of their projects even in light of the critical
534 difficulties highlighted above. To overcome these challenges, the lean construction concept
has been introduced into the Moroccan construction industry, but it is still in its infancy
(Habchi et al., 2016). Habchi et al. (2016) tested the implementation of last planner system
(LPS) in a Moroccan construction project to explore its impacts on time project completion.
As a result, the traditional planning system has been improved especially at the level of
achieving the targeted schedule while ensuring collective planning. However, the findings of
a unique case study are not enough to have a holistic overview on the current situation of the
Moroccan construction industry with a specific concern to the implementation of lean
construction philosophy in the Moroccan construction context. Hence, by using a structured
questionnaire survey, this study attempts to cover a large population to explore for the first
time the level of awareness, the potential benefits derived from lean construction practices
and the barriers to implementing lean construction in the Moroccan construction industry.
A global overview of the current status of lean construction implementation in the
Moroccan construction industry is urgently needed as no such studies have been done in the
Moroccan context. Therefore, the purposes of this paper are to:

explore the current level of awareness of Lean Construction practices among
Moroccan construction professionals;

assess the potential benefits derived from lean construction techniques; and

outline and rank the expected barriers hindering a successful deployment of Lean
Construction in Morocco.

This study will enable professionals involved in the construction industry such as
contractors, consultants and owners, as well as the government agencies, to have a clear
understanding view of the level of maturity of lean construction in the Moroccan
construction industry. In addition, this research represents a platform that would allow
performing further contributions related to lean construction implementation in the
construction market in Morocco.

2. Literature review
Originally, the lean construction philosophy takes its origins from the lean manufacturing
concept, and particularly from the Toyota Production System (Sarhan et al., 2017; Bajjou
et al., 2017a). The successful implementation of lean principles in manufacturing and the
benefits resulting from its adoption is one of the key reasons for the adoption of lean
thinking in construction (Egan, 1998). Several authors have attempted to introduce the lean
thinking to the construction industry. These include the early discussions by Koskela (1992)
on the applicability of what he called “the new production philosophy” in the construction
industry in his Stanford report. The term “lean construction” was introduced by the
International Group for Lean Construction in the first conference on lean construction, which
was organised in Finland in 1993 (Alarc
on, 1997). Koskela et al. (2002) defined lean
construction as “a way to design production systems to minimise waste of materials, time,
and effort to generate the maximum possible amount of value”. The definition given by
Koskela et al. (2002) of lean construction reflects that this philosophy has the same objective
as lean manufacturing, which is to eliminate waste and maximise value. In the new global Moroccan
economy, there is no doubt that lean manufacturing has become a central issue addressing construction
the issue of waste minimisation and value maximisation, and it spreads gradually into all
industry
stages of construction process, as (Emmitt, 2007) stated:
The term lean construction tends to be interpreted quite widely, ranging from a term to include
design and construction activities to very narrow interpretations related to specific production
functions and/or application of tools by contractors. 535
In addition, the concept of lean construction has covered a wide variety of project types, such
as highways (Tezel et al., 2018), high-rise buildings (Khanh and Kim, 2014), industralised
housing (Yu et al., 2009, Dentz et al., 2009), prefabrication projects (Jaillon et al., 2009).

2.1 Lean construction practices

In the literature on lean construction implementation, the suitability of lean construction
practices to the construction industry has been subject to considerable discussions (Picchi and
Granja, 2004; Shang and Sui Pheng, 2014a; Salem et al., 2006; Dupin, 2014). Much of surveys
and empirical studies up to now have reported that the most adapted practices to be
implemented in the construction filed are: just-in-time (JIT), kanban system, the 5S process,
increased visualisation, standardisation, prefabrication, LPS, value stream mapping (VSM),
waste elimination, continuous improvement, first-run studies (plan, do, check, act), total quality
management (TQM), error proofing (Poka-Yoke), Ishikawa diagram, party analysis, FMECA
(failure modes, effects and criticality analysis) and five why’s (Salem and Zimmer, 2005; Salem
et al., 2006; El-Kourd, 2009; Albliwi et al., 2017). Table I summarises lean constructions
practices and tools that promote its implementation in the construction process.
According to Salem et al. (2006), there are three characteristics that distinguish the
construction industry from the manufacturing industries, which are on-site production, one-
of-a-kind projects and complexity. Salem et al. (2006) developed an assessment tool to
evaluate the transferability of lean manufacturing techniques to construction and to explore
the impact of lean construction techniques on the performance of construction projects.
Salem et al. (2006) made the following conclusions and recommendations:

LPS is ready to be applied in the construction industries with more focus on
variance analysis.

The increased visualisation is ready-to-use in construction projects, focussing not
only on safety but also on housekeeping and quality.

First-run Studies (plan, do, check, act) require some improvements before they can
be adopted.

For instance, the project manager is in charge of leading the process, establishing
the activities that should be documented and reviewing them monthly.

The 5s process requires an awareness programme, training sessions and some
disciplinary actions.

2.2 Lean construction benefits

The recurring schedule delay and cost overrun of construction projects is considered an
inherent problem in the construction and engineering field (Shang and Sui Pheng, 2014a). In
addition to that, the construction industry is also characterised by a low quality, poor safety
and negative effects on the environment (Bajjou et al., 2017a). Many countries have gained
JEDT
Lean construction
16,4 techniques/tools Definition Authors

Just-in-time (JIT)The just-in-time method, or JAT, is a supply management Bajjou et al. (2017a),
method that is driven by the customer’s demand. It aims at Tezel et al. (2018)
maintaining a construction material flow that matches the
internal/external customer requirements to optimise inventory
536 and work-in-progress
Kanban system The term “Kanban”, a Japanese word, that means signs or card Sarhan et al. (2017),
used in controlling the amount of material/ components in the Tezel and Aziz
stock. This technique is adopted in the construction industry (2017a)
as a mechanism to pull materials and components throughout
the value stream on a JIT approach
The 5s process A systematic housekeeping process which is performed by its Ansah and
five distinctive steps: Seiri “Sort”, Seiton “Set in order or Sorooshian (2017),
Straighten”, Seiso “Shine”, Seiketsu “Standardise”, and Caldera et al. (2018)
Shitsuke “Sustain”
Increased Also called “Visual management”; it helps to make the process Bajjou et al. (2017b),
visualisations of construction simple, transparent, simple and safe for all Tezel and Aziz
stakeholders on site. To increase visualisation, promote (2017b)
communication between the coordinators of construction
projects, and facilitate information flows through digital
billboards, safety signs, and visual performance dashboards
Standardisation Standardisation can be described as a set of methods, Fitchett and
components, or processes in which there is repetition and Hartmann (2017),
regularity leading to successful practices, also called Standard Tezel et al. (2018)
Operating Procedures (SOP). This technique allows building in
the shortest possible time and with the minimum of efforts
Prefabrication It consists of using modularised and prefabricated Thaís da et al. (2012),
construction components at the aims to overcome the common Bajjou et al. (2017b)
production problems encountered during on-site construction
(i.e. low output quality, low productivity, high variability, and
poor safety)
LPS The LPS is a collaborative planning technique that allows Habchi et al. (2016),
making a mutual planning by increasing the reliability of the AlSehaimi et al.
commitment of construction work trades. In construction, LPS (2014)
is considered an effective tool to control workflow and reduce
project variability
VSM An information and material flow mapping tool, which is used Yu et al. (2009),
to graphically visualising the current value stream and Bajjou et al. (2017c)
designing the future state of the construction process while
reducing all sources of waste (overproduction, waiting,
inventory, displacements. . .)
Waste elimination This technique is the core of Lean Construction concept. It Khanh and Kim
aims at spreading a culture among the employees to eliminate (2015), Zhang et al.
the various sources of waste (overproduction, quality defects, (2017)
unnecessary transportation, Over-Processing, waiting,
inventory, displacements, and unused employee creativity)
Continuous This technique supports the idea that every process can and Sarhan et al. (2017),
improvement should be continually measured, analysed, and improved in Caldera et al. (2018)
terms of resources used, the time required, quality demanded
by customers, and other performance criteria relevant to the
Table I. construction process
Lean construction
techniques/tools (continued)
 Moroccan
Lean construction construction
techniques/tools Definition Authors industry
First-run studiesA systematic approach that is performed through four steps: Bajjou et al. (2017a),
(plan, do, check,Plan: identifying and locating process failures; do: developing Tezel et al. (2018)
act) and implementing potential solutions; evaluating the
effectiveness of the proposed solutions; and act: standardising 537
and maintaining the best solution
TQM TQM is a management approach that seeks to integrate all 
Ciarnienė and
organisational functions (customer service, construction, Vienažindienė (2015),
engineering, and design) to meet performance targets and Ullah et al. (2017)
customer requirements
Error proofing Poka-yoke, a Japanese word, is a mechatronic device that Ansah and
(Poka-Yoke) works as an error proofing avoiding mistakes and defects Sorooshian (2017),
from flowing through the process. It allows increasing the Bajjou et al. (2017c)
quality of the construction process and improving conditions
safety for the workers
Ishikawa diagram This is an effective quality tool used to identify the causes of Dakhli et al. (2016),
an inherent problem. The Ishikawa diagram is considered a Bajjou et al. (2017a)
powerful tool for root causes analysis (RCA) approach
Pareto analysis The Pareto chart is a graph highlighting the most important Aziz and Abdel-
causes having an effect on the analysed system and thus Hakam (2016),
allows developing innovative actions to improve the current Mandujano et al.
situation (2016)
FMECA Risk analysis is an essential step in the construction project Ansah and
management, and AMDEC is one of the most used tools in this Sorooshian (2017),
field. It is a method of qualitative analysis of the reliability Ferng and Price
which makes it possible to assess the risks of the appearance (2005)
of failures, to evaluate their consequences and to identify their
root causes
Five why’s It is a problem-solving technique used to identify the root Bajjou et al. (2017b),
causes of a targeted problem. The questions are usually Sarhan (2017)
specific to the project and are not limited to five questions. The
Five Why’s are generally dependent on each project separately
and are not restricted to five questions Table I.

great benefits and improvements by adopting lean construction within construction

projects, as shown in Table II.
In the USA, Salem et al. (2006) assessed the implementation of six lean construction tools
(LPS, first-run studies, increased visualisation, the five S’s and fail-safe for quality, huddle
meetings) in a parking-garage project during a six-month period, and the benefits were
tangible; the project was completed within the total budget, three weeks ahead of schedule,
and with a minimum of quality defects. By conducting a case study in a large Swedish
construction company, Arleroth and Kristensson (2011) concluded that an increase in the
added value from 40 to 45 per cent will reduce the cost of the project by 1.25 per cent.
Leonard (2006) carried out a study on kaizen for a housing builder in the USA and reported
that costs were saved by 50 per cent after implementing kaizen activities. Nahmens and
Ikuma (2009) reported that home builders using lean construction techniques had 58 per cent
lower accident rates than those without active lean construction programmes, which
supports the theory that the use of lean construction techniques improves employee safety.
Ikuma et al. (2010) conducted a case study, modular housing plant, in the USA and
concluded that lean construction concepts combined with safety analysis approach lead to
JEDT No. Benefits of lean construction Project type Country References
16,4
1 Lower costs and faster turnover Infrastructure projects USA Salem et al. (2006)
of construction projects Construction and civil Sweden Arleroth and
engineering company Kristensson (2011)
Buildings USA Leonard (2006)
2 Improving safety of workers Industrialized housing USA Nahmens and
538 Ikuma (2009)
Modular housing plan USA Ikuma et al. (2010)
3 Improving the environmental Residential, institutional, Brazil Carneiro et al. (2012)
performance commercial, and others
Modular homebuilding UK Nahmens and
Ikuma (2012)
4 Reducing the total project Residential building project Turkey Erol et al. (2017)
duration Industrial project Egypt Issa (2013)
Housing units Nigeria Adamu and Howell
(2012)
Infrastructure projects USA Salem et al. (2006)
Table II. 5 Improving the quality Commercial buildings Iran Abbasian-Hosseini
Lean construction et al. (2014)
benefits Infrastructure projects USA Salem et al. (2006)

an improved safety (e.g. reduced trip hazards from excess cords and reduced fatigue from
less walking required). Carneiro et al. (2012) studied the interactions between the principles
of lean and green construction. In total, 16 intersections were actually found, and both
strategies can be used in a complimentary manner to improve the performance of
construction projects, especially by improving the environmental performance. Nahmens
and Ikuma (2012) evaluated the impacts of lean construction techniques on the
sustainability by applying the Kaizen tool on modular homebuilding project. The study
indicated that lean construction positively affected the environmental performance by
reducing material wastes. By using Monte Carlo simulation, Erol et al. (2017) compared the
lean and non-lean scenarios of a residential building project in Turkey. The findings of this
study show that the total project duration was reduced by to 6.15-9.56 per cent after
incorporating lean construction principles. By implementing LPS on an industrial project in
Egypt, Issa (2013) reported that this technique helped to reduce the total duration of the
project by 15.57 per cent. Adamu and Howell (2012) assessed the effect of implementing lean
constructions techniques in 50 housing units in Nigeria. By adopting LPS, they succeeded in
completing the project in 65-72 days, which show impressive results when compared to the
traditional method (not in less than 120 days). Abbasian-Hosseini et al. (2014) tested the
applicability of lean construction practices to construction operations by using computer
simulations. The focussed on a bricklaying process of a six-floor trade complex located in
Iran. After the comparison between the traditional process and the simulated process with
the incorporation of lean principles, it has been concluded that lean construction positively
affected the performance of the construction process.

2.3 Lean construction barriers

Although both developed and developing countries have gained multitude benefits through
the application of lean construction philosophy in their construction projects, various
experiences carried out in many countries showed many obstacles and barriers that hinder
the deployment and the spread of lean construction. Previous studies investigating the
barriers hindering the implementation of lean construction philosophy in the construction Moroccan
industry can be categorised into studies conducted in developing countries and developed construction
countries. Table III shows 10 studies that were carried out in different developing countries
(China, South Africa, Libya, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Lithuania and Abu Dhabi) and developed
industry
countries (UK, USA and Singapore).
Shang and Sui Pheng (2014b) carried out a survey among large Chinese construction
firm, and the top three most significant barriers were “their lack of a long-term philosophy”,
“the absence of a lean culture in their organisations” and “the use of multi-layer 539
subcontracting”. The ability to work on long-term goals has been a critical component in the
success of lean enterprises such as Toyota (Dupin, 2014; Shang and Sui Pheng, 2014a). By
conduction a questionnaire survey among South African construction firms, Aigbavboa
et al. (2016) found several barriers to the implementation of Lean construction in the South
African construction industry, such as “inadequate pre-planning”, “unskilled labour” and
“poor communication”. Sarhan and Fox (2013) conducted a questionnaire survey to collect
the opinions of 140 construction professionals. The findings of this study indicate that the
barriers to the implementation of lean construction in the UK are related to the cultural
issues. Dulaimi and Tanamas (2001) performed a survey among medium to large
contracting firms in the construction industry in Singapore and found that there is a
reticence of the management of contracting firms to provide their workers with training in
lean construction practices. Omran and Abdulrahim (2015) found that “lack of
organisational culture and lack of knowledge and skills” that support teamwork were the
most challenging barriers to the deployment of lean construction in the Libyan construction
industry. Similarly, Ayalew et al. (2016) indicated that 74 per cent of respondents think that
lack of knowledge about lean construction practices and unskilled workers is the most
influential barrier to lean construction deployment in the Ethiopian construction industry.
Adegbembo et al. (2016) also reported that the lack of lean construction understanding and
awareness among Nigerian practitioners is the major barrier to its implementation.

Ciarnienė and Vienažindienė (2015) reported that 74 per cent of the surveyed respondents
considered “lack of knowledge and motivation” as the main Barrier to the spread of lean
construction in Lithuania. Al-Aomar (2012) pointed out that “lack of lean awareness
amongst top management and workers”, “improper training and the high cost of lean
training” and “lack of lean specialists and expertise” are the key barriers of adopting lean
construction practices at Abu Dhabi’s construction industry. Furthermore, Neeraj et al.
(2016) reported that the most significant barriers in the USA are “inadequate knowledge on
the implementation of lean construction”, which was ranked first with 47 per cent. On the
other hand, there are specific barriers depending on the context of each country, such as
“insufficient financial resources” and “lack of government support”, and which were more
recurrent in developing countries.
The current study aims to explore for the first time the level of awareness, the potential
benefits derived from lean construction practices and the barriers to implementing lean
construction in the context of Moroccan construction industry.

3. Research methodology
This study is based on a questionnaire survey approach to provide an overview of the
current level of awareness of lean construction practices among Moroccan construction
professionals, the potential benefits derived from lean construction techniques and the
expected barriers hindering a successful deployment of lean construction in Morocco. This
research method was used because of its ability to gather a wide range of views from
individuals, to cover a large number of respondents, to have a better generalisability of the
 16,4

540
JEDT

Table III.
A review of lean
construction barriers
Abu
USA Dhabi Lithuania Nigeria Ethiopia Libya Singapore UK South Africa China
Neeraj 
Ciarnienė and Omran and
et al. Al-Aomar Vienažindienė Adegbembo Ayalew et al. Abdulrahim Dulaimi and Sarhan and Aigbavboa Shang and Sui
Lean construction barriers (2016) (2012) (2015) et al. (2016) (2016) (2015) Tanamas (2001) Fox (2013) et al. (2016) Pheng (2014b)

Lack of knowledge about Lean          

Construction practices
Unskilled Human Resources        
Resistance to change         
Time and commercial pressure         
Lack of commitment from top        
management
Culture and human attitudinal         
issues
Fragmentation and subcontracting     
Insufficient financial resources  
Lack of government support   
results, as well as its cost-effectiveness (Shang and Sui Pheng, 2014a; Sarhan et al., 2017; Moroccan
Tezel et al., 2018). In addition, this technique fits in with the quantitative approach that construction
enables the statistical testing of the data to obtain meaningful interpretations that provide a
better understanding of the survey topic (Abawi, 2008). The research process followed in
industry
this study can be seen in Figure 1.
The first step aimed at extracting the main variables for the questionnaire survey based
on a literature review of the previous research carried out in the same context. Following a
literature review, semi-structured interviews with ten experts were performed to ensure the 541
relevance of the questionnaire and to examine the suitability of the extracted factors in the
Moroccan context. The interviewees include ten experts, consisting of four project
managers, two academics and four on-site managers with more than 10 years working
experience, and at least 1 year of experience and at least 2 years of experience in projects
adopting lean construction, respectively. The interviews confirmed the identified factors,
and no more items were required to be added to the final list of the questionnaire. Before
producing the final version, six leading academics and practitioners in the construction field,
which were proficient in the questionnaire design, were invited to evaluate the first draft of
the questionnaire. They were asked to evaluate the survey instrument for clarity,
completeness and readability. According to their feedback, the questionnaire forms were
distributed in both languages (English and French) based on the preference of the
respondent. In addition, they recommended reformulating some of the questions for more
clarity and adding. These suggestions were implemented in the design of the final
questionnaire.
The questionnaire includes four main parts. The first part is designed to collect general
information about the respondent. The second part attempts to get answers to the following
question:
Q1. What is the current level of awareness of lean construction techniques in Moroccan
construction industry?

Step1: Literature review

Step 2: Interviews with

10 Moroccan experts

Step 3: creation of the first

draft of the questionnaire

Step 4: Review of Step 5: Final

questionnaire by questionnaire with
six leading 330 valid responses
academics and
practitioners

Figure 1.
Step 6 : Data analysis Research flowchart
JEDT The respondents were able to choose between three options: “not familiar with”, “familiar
16,4 with but not currently implemented” or “familiar with and implemented”. The same
approach was adopted by previous studies to evaluate the level of familiarity with lean
construction practices (McGrawHill Construction, 2013; Wandahl, 2014; Ayalew et al., 2016).
In the third part, survey participants were asked to provide their answers to the following
question, “How do you assess the benefits of implementing lean construction practices in the
542 Moroccan construction industry?” based on a five-point Likert scale (1 = Very low, 2 = Low,
3 = Neutral, 4 = High 5 = Very high) regarding the benefits of lean construction
implementation. Mean scores and rankings of the respondents’ answers were used to
evaluate the five benefits that were extracted from the literature and confirmed through
interviews with Moroccan experts in construction. The last part was designed to respond to
the following question:
Q2. What are the main barriers hindering successful lean construction implementation
in Morocco?
A random sampling approach was used to target professionals from different geographical
locations in Morocco. The authors used this sampling method because of its ability to
eliminate bias in the selection procedure and to obtain representative samples (Gravetter
and Forzano, 2011). Saunders et al. (2011) stated that it is important to have a list of potential
respondents to apply random sampling method. The Moroccan Federation of Buildings and
Civil engineering (MFBCE) is the largest professional group in the Moroccan construction
industry, and it encompasses firms with a good organisational set up (high managerial level,
including experienced professionals); its members include consultants, contractors,
architects, suppliers and owners. In total, 834 potential respondents for the survey were
determined in collaboration with the MFBCE that provided us with the contact information
of its members. A set of criteria was elaborated by the authors to select the correct sample.
Hence, the following criteria were used for the sample selection:

construction companies located in Morocco (small, medium, large; and private,
public, any field of specialisation);

contractors, consultants, owners; and

having a valid e-mail address, address and phone number.

After eliminating firms that are out of the current research topic (e.g. with incorrect contact
information, international firms, architect and suppliers), the remaining sample size was
440. A multitude of distribution techniques have been adopted to ensure the dissemination
of the questionnaire. First, the questionnaire data were collected using Google Forms.
Second, the questionnaire was sent by e-mail to private and public construction companies.
Third, hardcopy questionnaires were handed out to several contractors and consulting
agencies. The questionnaire survey was started in March 2017 in Morocco. A total of 330
completed questionnaires were collected out of 440 questionnaire forms sent out,
representing a response rate of 75 per cent, which is acceptable in academic studies (Barlett
et al., 2001; Baruch, 1999).
This study reached a mixture of practitioners and organisations, as shown in Figures 2
and 3.
The questionnaire targeted various populations (according to fields of specialisation, type
of organisation, size of organisations and major clients) to explore and cover all sides of the
Moroccan construction projects and provide a balanced view of the research topic.
Construction organisations were categorised into large companies (more than 200 employees),
 Major Clients Fields of specialisation Moroccan
construction
industry
Public Building
Private 47.0% Civil 44.5%
53.0% engineering
55.5%

543

Type of organisation Size of organisation

Large
27,2%
Consultant
43.0% Small Figure 2.
Contractor
48,8%
57.0% Distribution of the
Meduim sample in percentage
24,0%
(clustering of
organisations)

Current role (Managerial level)

Graduate/
Junoir
8,5%

Others
24.9% Middle
manager
16.3%

Senior
managert
50.3%

Education Level Number of years working experience

Diploma
Bac
4,5%
PhD degree
11.5%
Diploma
(Bac+2,Bac Less than 5
+3) More than years
29.4% 10 years 37.9%
49.1%
Figure 3.
Master’s Distribution of the
Degree
54.6%
5-10 years
13.0%
sample in percentage
(clustering of
individuals)
JEDT medium companies (50-200 employees) and small companies (less than 50 employees). As it
16,4 can be seen from Figure 2, the distribution of response is 53.0 per cent from private companies
and 47.0 per cent from public agencies; 55.5 per cent of respondents are involved in civil
engineering area and 44.5 per cent are working in the building field; 43.0 per cent of consultant
agencies and 57.0 per cent of contractors; owners were excluded due to their small number of
responses; 48.8 per cent of the respondents were from small-sized organisations, 24.0 per cent
544 from medium-sized organisations and 27.2 per cent were from large-sized organisations. In
addition, it is worth noting that 50.3 per cent are senior managers and most participants have
a great experience in the construction field (61.1 per cent have more than five years’
experience). Moreover, they are highly educated (66.1 per cent have a master’s degree and
above), which ensures the reliability of the results.
The data obtained are generated using the statistical package for social sciences (SPSS
V25.0 for Windows). The output of data analysis is introduced using graphs and tables for
further discussion and interpretation. Percentage and frequency distribution were used to
reveal the awareness level of lean construction practices among Moroccan professionals and
their perceptions about the potential barriers of lean construction implementation. The mean
item score (MIS) was used to evaluate the five benefits extracted from previous works and
confirmed through interviews with experts. The MIS was computed using the following
equation:

P
5
ai :xi
i¼1
MIS ¼
P
5
xi
i¼1

where: MIS is the mean item score for each item, and i indicates the response category index,
such as: 1 = very low, 2 = low, 3 = neutral, 4 = high 5 = very high. In the numerator, ai
indicates the numerical value assigned to the ith response, varying between 1 and 5, and xi
shows the frequency of ith response in total answers given to i.
Cronbach’s alpha is used to measure the internal consistency of the five expected benefits
used in this survey. Its value ranges from 0 to 1. A higher value indicates a higher degree of
consistency among the items (Cronbach, 1951). Usually, an alpha value from 0.70 to 0.95
indicates high internal consistency and is considered as acceptable, as mentioned in
previous studies (Jin et al., 2017; Mpofu et al., 2017) A higher value of Cronbach’s alpha
within one section also means that a respondent who selects an answer to one item is likely
to choose a similar answer to other items in that section. For the current study, the
Cronbach’s alpha coefficient is greater than 0.8 (0.863), which indicates high internal
consistency between items and confirms that the five-point scale measurement is reliable for
the objective of this survey. Item-total-correlation was used to measure the correlation
between an individual item and the total score without that item. The test is adopted to
assess if any of the items do not have responses that differ with those for other items across
the population. According to Upton and Cook (2014), this test is used to decide whether
responses to a given item should be incorporated in the set being averaged. A correlation
value of less than 0.3 reveals that the correspondent item does not correlate very well with
the global scale and can, therefore, be removed (Field, 2005).
The overall sample was divided into four subgroups; Subgroup 1 is related to major
clients (private and public), Subgroup 2 to the field of specialisation (civil engineering and
building), Subgroup 3 to the type of organisation (consultant and contractor) and
Subgroup 4 to the size of organisation (small, medium and large). To test whether different Moroccan
subgroups of survey participants differed in their point of view about the benefits that could construction
be achieved by adopting lean construction approach, an analysis of variance (ANOVA) was
performed (González-Rodríguez et al., 2012). The confidence level selected for the analysis
industry
was set to 95 per cent. The null hypothesis assumes that the means of compared samples
were to be statistically equal, and it will be rejected if the p-value is less than 0.05 (Senouci
et al., 2016).
545
4. Results and discussions
4.1 The current level of awareness of lean construction practices
The analysis of the responses related to lean techniques implementation analysis showed
that 17 lean techniques are currently being used in Morocco (in various forms and degrees).
As shown in Figure 4, 39 per cent of the respondents are not familiar with any lean
construction practices and have never heard about them, 35 per cent are familiar with
construction practices but have not yet implemented them in their projects and 26 per cent
are familiar with lean construction practices and are using them in their projects.
Figure 4 shows that there are some techniques that are already implemented by more
than half of the respondents such as prefabrication and continuous improvement (63 and
54 per cent, respectively). However, the responses to some other lean construction
techniques do not reflect the same. For instance, the majority of professionals in the
construction industry are not familiar with some techniques such as kanban system
(63 per cent are not familiar with), VSM (58 per cent are not familiar with) and Poka-Yoke
(68 per cent are not familiar with). This result comes from the fact that these techniques
are newly known in the Moroccan context and not much technical training is available for
such techniques.

Not familiar with

Familiar with but not currently implemented
Familiar with and implemented

Lean Construction practices 39% 35% 26%

Just-in-Time 43% 42% 15%
Kanban system 63% 28% 9%
The 5S Process 38% 41% 21%
Increased Visualization 25% 35% 40%
Standardization 18% 42% 40%
Prefabrication 5% 32% 63%
Last Planner System 45% 33% 22%
Value Stream Mapping 58% 31% 10%
Waste elimination 16% 43% 41%
Continuous improvement 13% 33% 54%
First-Run Studies (PDCA) 46% 26% 28%
Total Quality Management 34% 38% 28% Figure 4.
Poka-Yoke 68% 27% 5% The current level of
Ishikawa diagram 46% 36% 18% awareness of lean
Pareto analysis 47% 36% 17% construction practices
FMECA 48% 35% 17% among Moroccan
Five Why's 39% 38% 23% construction
0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% professionals
JEDT Generally, it is not surprising that most practitioners have better awareness of the majority
16,4 of the techniques because the sample includes practitioners with high managerial level (50.3
per cent are senior managers) and most participants have a great experience in the
construction field (61.1 per cent have more than five years’ experience). In addition, they
have a high education level (66.1 per cent have a master’s degree and above). Thus, they
were trained on several techniques during their academic studies (e.g. standardisation, VSM
546 and first-run studies). Besides, their awareness on such techniques as prefabrication is
expected because many of construction companies, especially the building sector, are using
prefabricated beams on site for the concrete slab, and it was known even before lean
construction approach was introduced to the Moroccan construction industry.
These findings show that although lean construction is still in its infancy in the
Moroccan Construction industry, 61 per cent of respondents are familiar with lean
construction practices (35 per cent are familiar with lean construction practices but not
currently implemented and 26 per cent are familiar with lean construction practices and
have implemented). These findings reveal a higher awareness level of lean construction
practices among Moroccan professional compared to other countries, especially in
developing countries. For instance, Al-Aomar (2012) indicated that only 32 per cent of
surveyed companies working in Abu Dhabi claimed to be familiar with lean construction
concept. Ayarkwa et al. (2011) pointed out that there is a low level of awareness of
lean construction among practitioners in the Ghanaian construction industry and only a few
lean techniques such as “just-in-time” and “prefabricated components” have actually been
implemented in the construction projects in Ghana. Olatunji (2008) also stated that there are
only two out of the ten respondents who have heard about lean construction, which
explained a low level of familiarity with lean construction among practitioners in Nigeria.

4.2 Benefits of adopting lean construction

Table IV shows that better project quality is ranked highest in terms of the benefits of
adopting lean construction approach (mean = 4.000), followed by improving safety (mean =
3.885) and improving the environmental performance (mean = 3.858). This finding reveals
that time- and cost-related items were not ranked as high as the three performance criteria
(quality, safety, and environment). Generally, all of the proposed benefits of lean
construction deployment were perceived positively by survey participants (with an average
of with an overall mean value of 3.84). These results indicated that Moroccan construction
practitioners recognise the importance of lean construction in achieving nonfinancial
performances.
Although the item “reducing construction cost” was the lowest ranked item with an
average of 3.679, it could be considered a key benefit of adopting lean construction in the

(Cronbach’s alpha = 0.863)

Option selected
Item total
Items 1 2 3 4 5 Overall mean SD Ranking correlation
Table IV.
Better project quality 4 13 59 157 97 4.000 0.861 1 0.724
Raking of lean Improving safety 14 22 67 112 115 3.885 1.091 2 0.757
construction benefits Improving the environmental performance 10 22 76 119 103 3.858 1.032 3 0.752
within the whole Reducing overall project duration 6 34 74 133 83 3.767 1.000 4 0.715
survey sample Reducing construction cost 6 42 81 124 77 3.679 1.025 5 0.490
construction industry because in accordance to Johns (2010), the current benefits to Moroccan
lean construction are those with an MIS higher than the midpoint (>2.5). Besides, lean construction
construction is recently introduced to the Moroccan construction industry, which means that
several improvements are required to be implemented before achieving more financial
industry
benefits. As stated by Song and Liang (2011), management initiatives do not usually go well
at the early stage because the people involved fail to appreciate the benefits that come from
the changes, especially with the fact that lean construction is a long-term philosophy.
Furthermore, the benefits related to cost reduction have been low ranked in previous 547
research (Sarhan, 2011; Ayalew et al., 2016). To encourage the Moroccan construction
professionals to adopt lean construction, the benefits of lean construction, especially those
related to the reduction of time and cost, should be communicated through conferences and
seminars. In addition, the government should adopt policies that promote the effort of
companies that adopt lean concepts.
Generally, these findings agreed with results of many studies carried out in other
countries; Al-Aomar (2012) concluded in his study of assessing the benefits of adopting lean
construction in Abu Dhabi that this philosophy could bring several improvements such as
achieving performance excellence and quality awards, improving safety and worker
satisfaction and delivering projects without schedule delay. Sarhan et al. (2017) also
classified quality improvement, better health and safety record and reduced construction
time as key benefits obtained through implementing lean construction principles in the
Saudi Arabian construction industry. In agreement with the above studies Harris and
McCaffer (2013), Tezel et al. (2018) and Bajjou et al. (2017c) also pointed out that lean
construction can bring revolutionary changes and great benefits on the three dimensions of
sustainable development (environment, economy and society).
The item-total-correlation indicated in Table IV measures the correlation between that
particular item and the summed score of the five other items. For example, the correlation
coefficient at 0.724 for “better quality” shows a strong relationship and fairly positive
correlation between that item and the remaining items. It is hence reasonable to confirm that
there is an internal consistency with the rest of the items. Generally, each item in Table IV
indicates a strongly positive correlation with the remaining items, except for “reducing
construction cost”, which displays a relatively lower relationship with the rest of items, and
which could suggest that professionals involved in Moroccan construction industry were
more likely to have an inconsistent view of that item compared to the remaining items
related to lean construction implementation.
Table V shows that Subgroups 1, 2 and 3 have a p-value higher than 0.05, which
indicates that these three subgroups have the same perception of the benefits that could be
gained by implementing lean construction in the Moroccan construction industry. For
Subgroup 4, the respondents have different points of view on only one item “reducing
construction cost” as the p-value is lower than 0.05 (p-value = 0.49 < 0.05) and have the same
perceptions for the remaining items (p-value higher than 0.05).
Further analysis by using Duncan multiple range test (DMRT) with a 0.05 significance
level has been performed to identify which subgroup is significantly different from one
another concerning the item “reducing construction cost”. Using the DMRT, various types of
organisations (small-sized organisations, medium-sized organisations and large-sized
organisations) can be clustered into two dissimilar groups: Group 1 and Group 2. The results
have been generated through SPSS®.V25 allowing highlighting the significant
differentiation between each set of group. As shown in Table VI, DMRT indicates that the
item “reducing construction cost” shows a higher mean for Group 2 than that for Group 1.
Correspondents from medium-sized organisations and large-sized organisations provide the
 16,4

548
JEDT

ANOVA
Table V.
Subgroups 1 Subgroups 2 Subgroups 3 Subgroups 4
According to major clients According to field of According to the type of According to the size of
(private and public) specialisation (civil organisation (consultant organisation (small,
Subgroup 1 engineering and building) and contractor) medium and large)
Items F-value p-value F-value p-value F-value p-value F-value p-value

Better project quality 0.016 0.898 0.222 0.638 0.416 0.519 1.543 0.215
Improving safety 0.240 0.625 0.016 0.901 0.458 0.499 0.118 0.889
Improving the environmental performance 0.294 0.588 0.022 0.882 1.613 0.205 0.041 0.96
Reducing overall project duration 0.624 0.430 0.097 0.756 2.053 0.153 1.285 0.278
Reducing construction cost 0.001 0.982 0.246 0.621 0.479 0.489 3.054 0.049*

Note: *ANOVA results indicate there is a significant difference between mean values (sig. < 0.05)
highest mean with 3.886 and 3.730, respectively, while small-sized organisations have the Moroccan
lowest mean 3.549. It can be assumed that medium-sized organisations and large-sized construction
organisations believed that lean construction contributes to cost reduction and can add more
financial benefits as majorities of professionals with the necessary skills to successfully
industry
implement lean construction practices are working for medium and large companies. In
addition, those companies are often involved in mega-projects that help to ensure human
and financial resources, the commitment of all stakeholders and the organisation of training
programmes with the purpose to achieve one of the main objectives of lean construction, 549
which is to deliver the project at minimal cost. On the contrary, small businesses are
focussing more on small-scale construction such as housing, which makes it more difficult to
achieve the economic objectives of lean construction, especially in the absence of skilled
labours, reliable management systems and financial incentive to promote staff productivity.

4.3 Barriers of lean construction implementation

From the analysis of 330 returned responses, barriers evaluation responses (percentage) are
shown in Figure 5.
The key barriers, in accordance to Sarhan (2011), are those with more than 50 per cent
frequency. Figure 5 displays three obstacles recorded with more than 50 per cent. From
these three barriers, lack of knowledge about lean construction practices has been chosen by
283 respondents, illustrating the highest responses’ frequency (85.8 per cent); followed by
unskilled human resources, which has been selected by 222 respondents, representing the
second highest frequency of responses (67.3 per cent). The third barrier was about
insufficient financial resources and has been selected by 187 respondents recording a
responses’ frequency of 56.7 per cent. Meanwhile, time and commercial pressure and
fragmentation and subcontracting were ranked with the lowest responses’ frequency, 41.5
per cent and 35.2 per cent, respectively.
Clearly, these three items (lack of knowledge about lean construction practices, unskilled
human resources and insufficient financial resources) appear to be of central concern to
Moroccan construction professionals and need to be addressed at an organisational level.
Although the surveyed respondents, which consisted of professionals with high managerial
level, specified that they are familiar with the majority of lean construction practices, their
perceptions regarding the main barriers to lean construction implementation seemed to be
more pessimistic because they also believe that there is a lack of knowledge about lean
construction practices among Moroccan construction practitioners. This reflects the fact
that the successful implementation of lean construction practices cannot be achieved
without having a global awareness covering all those involved in construction projects from
top management to the workforce. As stated by Shang and Sui Pheng (2014a), Sarhan et al.
(2018), non-managerial employees, as well as partners (i.e. subcontractors and suppliers),
should also be aware of lean construction practices to ensure a successful deployment to the
whole system. It is the responsibility of construction organisations management to adopt
strategies such as training workers about lean construction to enhance their knowledge and

Criteria: reducing construction cost

Size of organisation N Group 1 Group 2

Small 162 3.5494 Table VI.

Large 89 3.7303 3.7303 Duncan’s multiple
Medium 79 3.8861 range test criteria
JEDT
16,4

550

Figure 5.
Classification of the
main barriers in the
Moroccan
construction industry
according to
responses’ frequency

skills about lean construction, as well as provide the necessary incentives and facilities that can
serve as motivation. Such training should focus not only on lean construction tools such as the
5S process but also on lean construction principles, in particular, continuous improvement,
people involvement, JIT principles and waste reduction, to ensure a balanced understanding
necessary for the implementation of the concept (Shang and Sui Pheng, 2014b). Construction
project managers are also recommended participating in conferences, seminars and workshops
with the aim of improving the skills of their employees about lean construction concepts. In
addition, they are also recommended seeking qualified employees/partners with the ability to
work in teams, to be aware of different forms of waste and to participate in solving problems
(Sarhan et al., 2017). To achieve a successful implementation of lean construction, the Moroccan
construction organisations are recommended to ensure the required funding to deliver relevant
sufficient professional wages, equipment and tools, investment in training and development
programmes, motivation and reward systems and perhaps hiring a lean consultant to provide
recommendations to both employees and employers, especially during the initial stages of lean
construction implementation (Bashir et al., 2010).
The authors have chosen to adopt the classification given by Ciarnienė  and
Vienažindienė (2015) because of its suitability with the barriers that have been extracted
from the literature and validated through semi-structured interviews with Moroccan

experts. Contrary to the classification given by Alinaitwe (2009), that given by Ciarnienė and
Vienažindienė (2015) could be performed regardless of the country context in which the
survey is conducted. As mentioned previously in Section 2, the nine barriers can be divided Moroccan
into two categories for lean barriers classification, which are as follows: construction
(1) Organisational barriers: They include time and commercial pressure, fragmentation industry
and subcontracting, insufficient financial resources and lack of government support.
(2) People-related barriers: They include resistance to change, unskilled human
resources, lack of knowledge about lean construction concept, lack of commitment
from top management and culture and human attitudinal issues. 551
Figure 6 shows the classification of people-related barriers and organisational barriers in
relation to the frequency of responses of Moroccan construction practitioners.
As can be seen from Figure 5, people-related barriers category is classified as the most
critical one, with a response frequency reaching 55.1 per cent. In addition, the first two
critical barriers (lack of knowledge about lean construction practices and unskilled
human resources) belong to this category, which lead to an increasing need to ensure
training programmes to the different parties involved in Moroccan construction projects
to acquire the required skills and knowledge to successfully implement the lean
construction approach. Moreover, the success of lean construction philosophy cannot be
reached without skilled workforces. Therefore, all construction project stakeholders
require sufficient professional capacity to be able to assure teamwork, ensure
communication and information sharing among all contractors and foster collaboration
between the various project stakeholders. The lean construction approach requires
investment and funds to organise training for employees, sufficient professional salaries,
a programme of rewards to motivate the staff and the expenses of consultants to facilitate
its implementation. It is, therefore, crucial to consider the financial constraints as an
essential variable for decision-making for the implementation of lean construction within
the construction companies.

5. Conclusions
The current study was designed to identify the level of awareness, the expected benefits
derived from lean construction and the critical barriers hindering a successful deployment
through a structured questionnaire survey with Moroccan construction professionals. This
is the first comprehensive empirical study in the Moroccan construction industry aiming at
assessing the implementation of lean construction in Morocco. Hence, it could be viewed as
an initial step towards building a strong understanding of lean construction practices
among construction project managers in Morocco.

Figure 6.
Classification of
people related
barriers and
organisational
barriers according to
responses’ frequency
JEDT This study provides a global overview of the implementation of lean construction in
16,4 Morocco. It contributes to the body of knowledge, as it offers for the first time a new insight
into the level of awareness, the potential benefits derived from lean construction practices
and the barriers to implementing lean construction in the Moroccan construction industry.
Thus, by assessing the current level of awareness of lean construction practices among
Moroccan construction professionals, it has been found that several practices are requiring
552 further reinforcement and training for a successful implementation such as kanban system
(63 per cent are not familiar with), VSM (58 per cent are not familiar with) and Poka-Yoke
(68 per cent are not familiar with). Furthermore, international construction companies,
especially those adopting lean construction, interested in investing in the Moroccan
construction industry will have a clear overview on the level of awareness of lean
construction practices among Moroccan construction practitioners, which would be helpful
in their decision-making.
By exploring the potential benefits derived from lean construction practices, it was
noticed that the Moroccan construction practitioners recognise the importance of lean
construction in achieving nonfinancial performances (better project quality, improved safety
and increased environmental performance). To encourage the Moroccan construction
professionals to adopt lean construction through communicating the benefits of lean
construction through conferences and seminars, especially those related to the reduction of
time and cost, Moroccan researchers must also be involved in this regard, as there is a
scanty research related to lean construction.
The identification of the critical barriers hindering a successful deployment could be
used to help practitioners, companies and researchers in the Moroccan construction
industry to focus their effort and resources on the significant issues necessary to assist
the development of appropriate strategies designed to overcome such obstacles,
especially those concerning people related barriers such as lack of knowledge about lean
construction concept resistance to change, unskilled human resources and lack of
commitment from top management. Furthermore, the findings of this study could prove
valuable to other countries in Africa, especially those sharing similarities to the
Moroccan context.
Further research should be performed to identify the most common types and causes of
wastes in the Moroccan construction to develop an implementation strategy adapted to the
requirements of the Moroccan context. Moreover, there is a primordial need to carry out case
studies in different construction companies to conceive a roadmap for lean construction
implementation in the Moroccan construction industry.

References
Abawi, K. (2008), Qualitative and Quantitative Research, World Health Organization/Geneva
Foundation for Medical Education and Research, Geneva.
Abbasian-Hosseini, S.A., Nikakhtar, A. and Ghoddousi, P. (2014), “Verification of lean construction
benefits through simulation modeling: a case study of bricklaying process”, KSCE Journal of
Civil Engineering, Vol. 18 No. 5, pp. 1248-1260.
Adamu, I. and Howell, G. (2012), “Applying last planner in the Nigerian construction industry”, in
Twentieth Annual Conference of the International Group for Lean Construction (IGLC-20), San
Diego, CA, July, pp. 18-22.
Adegbembo, T.F., Bamisaye, O.P. and Aghimien, D.O. (2016), “Assessment of lean construction
practice in the Nigerian construction industry”, Proceedings of the joint international conference
(JIC), Akure, 21 Monday-24 Thursday March, pp. 756-764.
Aigbavboa, C., Oke, A. and Momoti, T. (2016), “Drivers and barriers of lean construction practice in Moroccan
South African construction industry”, International Conference on Innovative Production and
Construction (IPC 2016), Perth, pp. 195-201. construction
Alarc
on, L. (1997), Lean Construction, CRC Press, Rotterdam. industry
Al-Aomar, R. (2012), “Analysis of lean construction practices at Abu Dhabi construction industry”,
Lean Construction Journal, Vol. 2012, pp. 105-121.
Albliwi, S.A., Antony, J., Arshed, N. and Ghadge, A. (2017), “Implementation of lean six sigma in Saudi
Arabian organisations”, International Journal of Quality & Reliability Management, Vol. 34 No. 4,
553
pp. 508-529.
Alinaitwe, H. (2009), “Prioritising lean construction barriers in Uganda’s construction industry”,
Journal of Construction in Developing Countries, Vol. 14 No. 1, pp. 15-30.
AlSehaimi, O.A., Tzortzopoulos, P.F. and Koskela, L. (2014), “Improving construction management
practice with the last planner system: a case study”, Engineering, Construction and Architectural
Management, Vol. 21 No. 1, pp. 51-64.
Ansah, R.H. and Sorooshian, S. (2017), “Effect of lean tools to control external environment risks of
construction projects”, Sustainable Cities and Society, Vol. 32, pp. 348-356.
Arleroth, J. and Kristensson, H. (2011), Waste in Lean Construction – A Case Study of a PEAB
Construction Site and the Development of a Lean Construction Tool, Chalmers University of
Technology, Göteborg.
Ayalew, M.T., Dakhli, M.Z. and Lafhaj, Z. (2016), “The future of lean construction in ethiopian
construction industry”, International Journal of Engineering Research & Technology, Vol. 5
No. 2, pp. 107-113.
Ayarkwa, J., Agyekum, K. and Adinyira, E. (2011), “Perspectives for the implementation of lean
construction in the Ghanaian construction industry”, Proceedings 6th Built Environment,
Conference Journal of Construction, JHB, 31 July-2 August, pp. 37-52.
Aziz, R.F. and Abdel-Hakam, A.A. (2016), “Exploring delay causes of road construction projects in
Egypt”, Alexandria Engineering Journal, Vol. 55 No. 2, pp. 1515-1539.
Bajjou, M.S., Chafi, A. and En-Nadi, A. (2017a), “A comparative study between lean construction and
the traditional production system”, International Journal of Engineering Research in Africa,
Vol. 29, pp. 118-132.
Bajjou, M.S., Chafi, A. and En-Nadi, A. (2017c), “The potential effectiveness of lean construction tools in
promoting safety on construction sites”, International Journal of Engineering Research in Africa,
Vol. 33, pp. 179-193.
Bajjou, M.S., Chafi, A., Ennadi, A. and El Hammoumi, M. (2017b), “The practical relationships between
lean construction tools and sustainable development: a literature review”, Journal of Engineering
Science and Technology Review, Vol. 10 No. 4, pp. 170-177.
Barlett, J.E., Kotrlik, J.W. and Higgins, C.C. (2001), “Organisational research: determining appropriate
sample size in survey research”, Information Technology, Learning, and Performance Journal,
Vol. 19No No. 1, pp. 43-50.
Baruch, Y. (1999), “Response rate in academic studies: a comparative analysis”, Human Relations,
Vol. 52 No. 4, pp. 421-438.
Bashir, A.M., Suresh, S., Proverbs, D.G. and Gameson, R. (2010), “Barriers towards the sustainable
implementation of lean construction in the United Kingdom construction organisations”,
ARCOM Doctoral Workshop.
Caldera, H.T.S., Desha, C. and Dawes, L. (2018), “Exploring the role of lean thinking in sustainable
business practice: a systematic literature review”, Journal of Cleaner Production, Vol. 167,
pp. 1546-1565.
Carneiro, S., Campos, I. and Oliveira, D.D. and Neto, J. (2012), “Lean and green: a relationship matrix”
Proceeding of 20th Annual Conference of IGLC, San Diego.
  R. and Vienažindienė, M. (2015), “An empirical study of lean concept manifestation”,
JEDT Ciarnienė,
Procedia – Social and Behavioral Sciences, Vol. 207, pp. 225-233.
16,4
Cronbach, L.J. (1951), “Coefficient alpha and the internal structure of tests”, Psychometrika, Vol. 16
No. 3, pp. 297-334.
Dakhli, Z., Lafhaj, Z. and Benrard, M. (2016), “Application of lean to the bidding phase in building
construction: a French contractor’s experience”, International Journal of Lean Six Sigma, Vol. 8
No. 2, pp. 153-180.
554
Dentz, J., Nahmens, I. and Mullens, M. (2009), “Applying lean production in factory homebuilding”, A
Journal of Policy Development and Research, Vol. 11 No. 1, pp. 81-104.
Dulaimi, M. and Tanamas, C. (2001), “The principles and applications of lean construction in
Singapore”, 9th International Group for Lean Construction, Singapore, 6-8 August, pp. 1-14.
Dupin, P. (2014), Le Lean Appliqué à La Construction, Comment Optimiser La Gestion De Projet Et
Réduire Coûts Et Délais Dans Le Bâtiment, Groupe Eyrolles, Paris.
Egan, J. (1998), Rethinking Construction (the Report of the Construction Task Force), Department of
Environment, Transport and Regions, London.
El-Kourd, R. (2009), “A study of lean construction practices in Gaza Strip”, Master thesis, Civil
Engineering Department, Islamic University of Gaza, Gaza, p. 121.
Emmitt, S. (2007), Design Management for Architects, Blackwell, Oxford.
Erol, H., Dikmen, I. and Birgonul, M.T. (2017), “Measuring the impact of lean construction practices on
project duration and variability: a simulation-based study on residential buildings”, Journal of
Civil Engineering and Management, Vol. 23 No. 2, pp. 241-251.
Ferng, J. and Price, A. (2005), “An exploration of the synergies between six sigma, total quality
management, lean construction and sustainable construction”, International Journal of Six
Sigma and Competitive Advantage, Vol. 1 No. 2, pp. 167-187.
Field, A. (2005), Discovering Statistics Using SPSS, 2nd ed. Sage, London.
Fitchett, A. and Hartmann, D. (2017), “The application of lean design to space planning and
construction”, Transactions of the Royal Society of South Africa, Vol. 72 No. 3, pp. 255-265.
González-Rodríguez, G., Colubi, A. and Gil, M.Á. (2012), “Fuzzy data treated as functional data: a one-way
ANOVA test approach”, Computational Statistics & Data Analysis, Vol. 56 No. 4, pp. 943-955.
Gravetter, F.J. and Forzano, L.B. (2011), Research Methods for the Behavioural Sciences, Cengage
Learning, Boston, p. 146.
Habchi, H., Taoufiq, C. and Aziz, S. (2016), “Last planner® system: implementation in a Moroccan
construction project”, IGLC 2016 - 24th Annual Conference of the International Group for Lean
Construction, Boston, MA, pp. 193-202.
Harris, F. and McCaffer, R. (2013), Modern Construction Management, John Wiley & Sons, New York, NY.
Ikuma, L.H., Nahmens, I. and James, J. (2010), “Use of safety and lean integrated kaizen to improve
performance in modular homebuilding”, Journal of Construction Engineering and Management,
Vol. 137 No. 7, pp. 551-560.
Issa, U.H. (2013), “Implementation of lean construction techniques for minimizing the risks effect on
project construction time”, Alexandria Engineering Journal, Vol. 52 No. 4, pp. 697-704.
Jaillon, L., Poon, C.S. and Chiang, Y.H. (2009), “Quantifying the waste reduction potential of using
prefabrication in building construction in Hong Kong”, Waste Management, Vol. 29 No. 1,
pp. 309-320.
Jin, R., Hancock, C., Tang, L., Chen, C., Wanatowski, D., Asce, M. and Yang, L. (2017), “Empirical study
of BIM implementation – based perceptions among Chinese practitioners”, Journal of
Management in Engineering, Vol. 33 No. 5, pp. 1-11.
Johns, R. (2010), Survey Question Bank: Methods Fact Sheet 1, Likert Items and Scales, University of
Strathclyde, pp. 1-11.
Khanh, H.D. and Kim, S.Y. (2014), “Identifying causes for waste factors in high-rise building projects: a Moroccan
survey in Vietnam”, KSCE Journal of Civil Engineering, Vol. 18 No. 4, pp. 865-874.
construction
Khanh, H.D. and Kim, S.Y. (2015), “Development of waste occurrence level indicator in Vietnam
construction industry”, Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management, Vol. 22 No. 6, industry
pp. 715-731.
Koskela, L. (1992), “Application of the New Production Philosophy to Construction, CIFE”, Technical
Report No. 72, Stanford University, Stanford, p. 75.
Koskela, L., Howell, G., Ballard, G. and Tommelein, I. (2002), “The foundations of lean construction”, in
555
Hellingsworth, B., Best, R. and de Valence, G. (Eds), Design and Construction: Building in Value,
Elsevier, Amsterdam, pp. 211-226.
Leonard, D. (2006), “Building quality at veridian homes”, Quality Progress, Vol. 39 No. 10, pp. 49-54.
McGrawHill Construction (2013), “Lean Construction: leveraging collaboration and advanced practices
to increase project efficiency”, SmartMarket Report, McGraw Hill Construction Research and
Analytics, Massachusetts.
Mandujano, M.G., Alarc
on, L.F., Kunz, J. and Mourgues, C. (2016), “Identifying waste in virtual design
and construction practice from a lean thinking perspective: a Meta-analysis of the literature”,
Revista De La Construcci
on, Vol. 15 No. 3, pp. 107-118.
Ministry of habitat and city Policy (2015), Principaux Indicateurs du Secteur du Bâtiment et des
Travaux Publics [Main Indicators of the Building and Public Works Sector], Rabat, French,
November.
Mpofu, B., Ochieng, E.G., Moobela, C. and Pretorius, A. (2017), “Profiling causative factors leading to
construction project delays in the United Arab Emirates”, Engineering, Construction and
Architectural Management, Vol. 24 No. 2, pp. 346-376.
Nahmens, I. and Ikuma, L.H. (2009), “An empirical examination of the relationship between lean
construction and safety in the industralised housing industry”, Lean Construction Journal, Vol. 1
(June), pp. 1-12.
Nahmens, I. and Ikuma, L.H. (2012), “Effects of lean construction on sustainability of modular
homebuilding”, Journal of Architectural Engineering, Vol. 18 No. 2, pp. 155-163.
Neeraj, A., Rybkowski, Z., Fernandez-Solis, J.L., Hill, R., Tsao, C., Seed, B. and Heinemeier, D. (2016),
“Framework linking lean simulation principles to their application on construction projects”,
Proceedings 24th Annual Conference of the International Group for Lean Construction, Boston,
MA, sect.9, pp. 3-12.
Olatunji, J.O. (2008), “Lean –in-Nigerian Construction: State, Barriers, Strategies and ‘Go-to-Gemba’
Approach”, Proceedings for the 16th Annual Conference of the International Group for Lean
Construction, Manchester, pp. 287-297.
Omran, A. and Abdulrahim, A. (2015), “Barriers to prioritizing lean construction in the libyan
construction industry”, Fascicule, Vol. 1 No. 1998, pp. 53-56.
Picchi, F.A. and Granja, A.D. (2004), “Construction sites: Using lean principles to seek broader
implementations”, Proceedings of the 12th Annual Conference of the International Group for
Lean Construction (IGLC-12), Helsingør, (3-6 August).
Salem, O. and Zimmer, E. (2005), “Application of lean manufacturing principles to construction”, Lean
Construction Journal, (October), Vol. 2, pp. 51-54.
Salem, O., Solomon, J., Genaidy, A. and Minkarah, I. (2006), “Lean construction: from theory to
implementation”, Journal of Management in Engineering, Vol. 22 No. 4, pp. 168-175.
Sarhan, J.G., Xia, B., Fawzia, S. and Karim, A. (2017), “Lean construction implementation in the Saudi
Arabian construction industry”, Construction Economics and Building, Vol. 17 No. 1, pp. 46-69.
Sarhan, J.G., Xia, B., Fawzia, S., Karim, A. and Olanipekun, A. (2018), “Barriers to implementing lean
construction practices in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) construction industry”,
Construction Innovation, Vol. 18 No. 2, pp. 246-272.
JEDT Sarhan, S. (2011). “A strategy for overcoming barriers to the successful implementation of lean
construction in the UK”, Master’s Thesis, School of Engineering. Faculty of Science and
16,4 Technology, University of Plymouth, Plymouth.
Sarhan, S. and Fox, A. (2013), “Barriers to implementing lean construction in the UK construction
industry”, The Built & Human Environment Review, Vol. 6, pp. 1-17.
Saunders, M., Lewis, P. and Thornhill, A. (2011), Research Methods for Business Students, 5th ed.,
Prentice Hall, London, ISBN 978-0- 273-71686-0.
556
Senouci, A., Ismail, A. and Eldin, N. (2016), “Time delay and cost overrun in qatari public construction
projects”, Procedia Engineering, (June), Vol. 164, pp. 368-375.
Shang, G. and Sui Pheng, L. (2014a), Lean Construction Management, Springer, New York.
Shang, G. and Sui Pheng, L. (2014b), “Barriers to lean implementation in the construction industry in
China”, Journal of Technology Management in China, Vol. 9 No. 2, pp. 155-173.
Song, L.G. and Liang, D.A. (2011), “Lean construction implementation and its implication on
sustainability: a contractors’ case study”, Canadian Journal of Civil Engineering, Vol. 38 No. 3,
pp. 1-10.
Tezel, A. and Aziz, Z. (2017a), “Benefits of visual management in construction: cases from the
transportation sector in England: construction innovation”, Construction Innovation, Vol. 17 No. 2,
pp. 125-157.
Tezel, A. and Aziz, Z. (2017b), “Visual management in highways construction and maintenance in
England”, Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management, Vol. 24 No. 3, pp. 486-513.
Tezel, A., Koskela, L. and Aziz, Z. (2018), “Lean thinking in the highways construction sector: motivation,
implementation and barriers”, Production Planning & Control, Vol. 29 No. 3, pp. 247-269.
Thaís da, C.L.A., Milberg, C. and Walsh, K.D. (2012), “Exploring lean construction practice, research,
and education”, Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management, Vol. 19 No. 5,
pp. 512-525.
Ullah, F., Thaheem, M.J., Siddiqui, S.Q. and Khurshid, M.B. (2017), “Influence of six sigma on project
success in construction industry of Pakistan”, The TQM Journal, Vol. 29 No. 2, pp. 276-309.
Upton, G. and Cook, I. (2014), A Dictionary of Statistics 3e, Oxford University Press, Oxford.
Wandahl, S. (2014), “Lean construction with or without lean–Challenges of implementing lean
construction”, Proceedings of the 22nd Annual Conference of the International Group for Lean
Construction, IGLC, Oslo, pp. 97-108.
Yu, H., Tweed, T., Al-Hussein, M. and Nasseri, R. (2009), “Development of lean model for house
construction using value stream mapping”, Journal of Construction Engineering and
Management, Vol. 135 No. 8, pp. 782-790.
Zhang, L., Chen, X. and Suo, Y. (2017), “Interrelationships among critical factors of work flow reliability
in lean construction”, Journal of Civil Engineering and Management, Vol. 23 No. 5, pp. 621-632.

Corresponding author
Mohamed Saad Bajjou can be contacted at: mohamedsaad.bajjou@usmba.ac.ma

For instructions on how to order reprints of this article, please visit our website:
www.emeraldgrouppublishing.com/licensing/reprints.htm
Or contact us for further details: permissions@emeraldinsight.com
Reproduced with permission of copyright owner. Further
reproduction prohibited without permission.