CONNECTING THE DOTS: HOW DOES LEAN THINKING CONTRIBUTE TO PROJECT MANAGEMENT?

Abstract

Lean Thinking (LT) is a philosophy that focuses on the development of initiatives to maximize customer value and minimize waste. LT was initially developed for manufacturing, but over the years its principles and tools have been adapted to other industrial sectors and functional areas, such as project management (PM).

Despite the potential benefits of linking LT to PM, there is limited literature examining the link between these topics when adapted to a variety of project contexts, still focusing on the execution of construction projects. Therefore, the proposed research aims to analyze the contribution of LT to minimizing waste in PM activities in order to increase project efficiency.

Having in mind the lack of research linking these two concepts (LT and PM), this research aims to review the literature related to LT and PM, and then conduct a bibliometric analysis to understand how this topic has grown over time. From the literature consulted lean thinking is proposed as a key aspect to support project managers in identifying the main waste originating in ongoing projects. The results will contribute to developing a conceptual model that aligns the LT tools and techniques with the PM practices. The proposed research aims to analyze the contribution of LT to minimizing waste in PM activities to increase project efficiency.