Social network development in Last Planner System™ implementations

Vitaliy Priven, Rafael Sacks

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionpeer-review

Abstract

Observations on construction sites have shown that even when the Last Planner System™ (LPS) is implemented only partially, it can still achieve positive results. We hypothesize that part of the explanation for this is that the weekly work meetings engender a social network among the subcontractors, with concomitant improvement in communication, reliability and trust, and in this way enhances coordination and results in better workflow. In the first step of research designed to test this idea, eight construction projects were monitored over time, using social network analysis (SNA), to explore the relationships between the extent of LPS implementations and the strength of the social networks that developed. Positive correlation was found between the two. Weekly work planning meetings appear to be the main catalyst for strengthening the social networks. Communication between construction crews from different ethnic groups was found to be strongly dependent on the LPS implementations. The next steps will seek to isolate the relationship between the strength of the social networks and the resultant work flows, both in the presence of and without LPS, to better explain the social mechanism of the LPS.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publication21st Annual Conference of the International Group for Lean Construction 2013, IGLC 2013
Pages474-485
Number of pages12
StatePublished - 2013
Event21st Annual Conference of the International Group for Lean Construction 2013, IGLC 2013 - Fortaleza, Brazil
Duration: 29 Jul 20132 Aug 2013

Publication series

Name21st Annual Conference of the International Group for Lean Construction 2013, IGLC 2013

Conference

Conference21st Annual Conference of the International Group for Lean Construction 2013, IGLC 2013
Country/TerritoryBrazil
CityFortaleza
Period29/07/132/08/13

Keywords

  • Collaboration
  • Communication
  • Last planner system
  • Reliability
  • Trust
  • Work flow

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Building and Construction

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