From Quality-I to Quality-II: cultivating an error culture to support lean thinking and rework mitigation in infrastructure projects
While lean thinking may help tackle waste, rework remains an ongoing problem during the construction of infrastructure projects. Often too much emphasis is placed on applying lean tools rather than harnessing the human factor and establishing a culture to mitigate rework. Thus, this paper proposes t...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Journal Article |
| Language: | English |
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TAYLOR & FRANCIS LTD
2021
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/DP130103018 http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/90152 |
| _version_ | 1848765339201961984 |
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| author | Love, Peter Matthews, Jane Ika, L.A. Teo, Pauline Fang, W. Morrison, J. |
| author_facet | Love, Peter Matthews, Jane Ika, L.A. Teo, Pauline Fang, W. Morrison, J. |
| author_sort | Love, Peter |
| building | Curtin Institutional Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | While lean thinking may help tackle waste, rework remains an ongoing problem during the construction of infrastructure projects. Often too much emphasis is placed on applying lean tools rather than harnessing the human factor and establishing a culture to mitigate rework. Thus, this paper proposes the need for construction organisations to transition from the prevailing error prevention culture (i.e. Quality-I) that pervades practice to one based on error management (i.e. Quality-II) if rework is to be contained and reduced. Accordingly, this paper asks: What type of error culture is required to manage errors that result in rework and to support lean thinking during the construction of infrastructure projects? We draw on the case of a program alliance of 129 water infrastructure projects and make sense of how it enacted, in addition to lean thinking, a change initiative to transition from error prevention to an error management culture to address its rework problem. We observed that leadership, psychological safety and coaching were pivotal for cultivating a culture where there was an acceptance that ‘errors happen’ and effort was directed at mitigating their adverse consequences. The contributions of this paper are twofold as we provide: (1) a new theoretical underpinning to mitigate rework and support the use of lean thinking during the construction of infrastructure projects grounded in Quality-II; and (2) practical suggestions, based on actual experiences, which can be readily employed to monitor and anticipate rework at the coalface of construction. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T11:33:41Z |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | curtin-20.500.11937-90152 |
| institution | Curtin University Malaysia |
| institution_category | Local University |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T11:33:41Z |
| publishDate | 2021 |
| publisher | TAYLOR & FRANCIS LTD |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | curtin-20.500.11937-901522023-02-13T07:03:02Z From Quality-I to Quality-II: cultivating an error culture to support lean thinking and rework mitigation in infrastructure projects Love, Peter Matthews, Jane Ika, L.A. Teo, Pauline Fang, W. Morrison, J. Science & Technology Technology Engineering, Industrial Engineering, Manufacturing Operations Research & Management Science Engineering Culture error lean psychological safety quality rework PATIENT SAFETY RESEARCH BEHAVIOR-BASED SAFETY QUANTITY MODELS SUCCESS FACTORS FALSE DAWNS LOT-SIZE CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT WORK IMPACT While lean thinking may help tackle waste, rework remains an ongoing problem during the construction of infrastructure projects. Often too much emphasis is placed on applying lean tools rather than harnessing the human factor and establishing a culture to mitigate rework. Thus, this paper proposes the need for construction organisations to transition from the prevailing error prevention culture (i.e. Quality-I) that pervades practice to one based on error management (i.e. Quality-II) if rework is to be contained and reduced. Accordingly, this paper asks: What type of error culture is required to manage errors that result in rework and to support lean thinking during the construction of infrastructure projects? We draw on the case of a program alliance of 129 water infrastructure projects and make sense of how it enacted, in addition to lean thinking, a change initiative to transition from error prevention to an error management culture to address its rework problem. We observed that leadership, psychological safety and coaching were pivotal for cultivating a culture where there was an acceptance that ‘errors happen’ and effort was directed at mitigating their adverse consequences. The contributions of this paper are twofold as we provide: (1) a new theoretical underpinning to mitigate rework and support the use of lean thinking during the construction of infrastructure projects grounded in Quality-II; and (2) practical suggestions, based on actual experiences, which can be readily employed to monitor and anticipate rework at the coalface of construction. 2021 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/90152 10.1080/09537287.2021.1964882 English http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/DP130103018 TAYLOR & FRANCIS LTD fulltext |
| spellingShingle | Science & Technology Technology Engineering, Industrial Engineering, Manufacturing Operations Research & Management Science Engineering Culture error lean psychological safety quality rework PATIENT SAFETY RESEARCH BEHAVIOR-BASED SAFETY QUANTITY MODELS SUCCESS FACTORS FALSE DAWNS LOT-SIZE CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT WORK IMPACT Love, Peter Matthews, Jane Ika, L.A. Teo, Pauline Fang, W. Morrison, J. From Quality-I to Quality-II: cultivating an error culture to support lean thinking and rework mitigation in infrastructure projects |
| title | From Quality-I to Quality-II: cultivating an error culture to support lean thinking and rework mitigation in infrastructure projects |
| title_full | From Quality-I to Quality-II: cultivating an error culture to support lean thinking and rework mitigation in infrastructure projects |
| title_fullStr | From Quality-I to Quality-II: cultivating an error culture to support lean thinking and rework mitigation in infrastructure projects |
| title_full_unstemmed | From Quality-I to Quality-II: cultivating an error culture to support lean thinking and rework mitigation in infrastructure projects |
| title_short | From Quality-I to Quality-II: cultivating an error culture to support lean thinking and rework mitigation in infrastructure projects |
| title_sort | from quality-i to quality-ii: cultivating an error culture to support lean thinking and rework mitigation in infrastructure projects |
| topic | Science & Technology Technology Engineering, Industrial Engineering, Manufacturing Operations Research & Management Science Engineering Culture error lean psychological safety quality rework PATIENT SAFETY RESEARCH BEHAVIOR-BASED SAFETY QUANTITY MODELS SUCCESS FACTORS FALSE DAWNS LOT-SIZE CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT WORK IMPACT |
| url | http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/DP130103018 http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/90152 |