Abstract
The Toyota production system, on which lean production is based, emerged as the unplanned result of unrelated improvements and innovations. Although the related practices and principles are now widely reported, the theories and philosophical premises underlying lean production are not commonly known. This also applies to lean construction, which, although it originated as a set of countermeasures to specific problems in construction, has more recently evolved in alignment with lean production. For example, there is a stark but unexplained contradiction between lean and traditional construction management models regarding the importance of learning and improvement. In view of this, the aim here is to determine the epistemological orientation in these two models. It is found that two different starting points for epistemology, Platonism and Aristotelianism, have also played a major role in the formation of the fundamental ideas of engineering and management generally and in construction. An overly Platonic influence on engineering and management has created a number of problems. It is contended that one major explanation for the evident benefits of lean construction is related to its Aristotelian epistemology.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 04018131 |
| Pages (from-to) | 1-10 |
| Number of pages | 10 |
| Journal | Journal of Construction Engineering and Management - ASCE |
| Volume | 145 |
| Issue number | 2 |
| Early online date | 29 Nov 2018 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Feb 2019 |
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Epistemological Explanation of Lean Construction. / Koskela, Lauri; Ferrantelli, Andrea; Niiranen, Jarkko; Pikas, Ergo; Dave, Bhargav.
In: Journal of Construction Engineering and Management - ASCE, Vol. 145, No. 2, 04018131, 02.2019, p. 1-10.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
TY - JOUR
T1 - Epistemological Explanation of Lean Construction
AU - Koskela, Lauri
AU - Ferrantelli, Andrea
AU - Niiranen, Jarkko
AU - Pikas, Ergo
AU - Dave, Bhargav
PY - 2019/2
Y1 - 2019/2
N2 - The Toyota production system, on which lean production is based, emerged as the unplanned result of unrelated improvements and innovations. Although the related practices and principles are now widely reported, the theories and philosophical premises underlying lean production are not commonly known. This also applies to lean construction, which, although it originated as a set of countermeasures to specific problems in construction, has more recently evolved in alignment with lean production. For example, there is a stark but unexplained contradiction between lean and traditional construction management models regarding the importance of learning and improvement. In view of this, the aim here is to determine the epistemological orientation in these two models. It is found that two different starting points for epistemology, Platonism and Aristotelianism, have also played a major role in the formation of the fundamental ideas of engineering and management generally and in construction. An overly Platonic influence on engineering and management has created a number of problems. It is contended that one major explanation for the evident benefits of lean construction is related to its Aristotelian epistemology.
AB - The Toyota production system, on which lean production is based, emerged as the unplanned result of unrelated improvements and innovations. Although the related practices and principles are now widely reported, the theories and philosophical premises underlying lean production are not commonly known. This also applies to lean construction, which, although it originated as a set of countermeasures to specific problems in construction, has more recently evolved in alignment with lean production. For example, there is a stark but unexplained contradiction between lean and traditional construction management models regarding the importance of learning and improvement. In view of this, the aim here is to determine the epistemological orientation in these two models. It is found that two different starting points for epistemology, Platonism and Aristotelianism, have also played a major role in the formation of the fundamental ideas of engineering and management generally and in construction. An overly Platonic influence on engineering and management has created a number of problems. It is contended that one major explanation for the evident benefits of lean construction is related to its Aristotelian epistemology.
U2 - 10.1061/(ASCE)CO.1943-7862.0001597
DO - 10.1061/(ASCE)CO.1943-7862.0001597
M3 - Article
VL - 145
SP - 1
EP - 10
JO - Journal of Construction Engineering and Management - ASCE
JF - Journal of Construction Engineering and Management - ASCE
SN - 0733-9364
IS - 2
M1 - 04018131
ER -