Trond Bølviken - Academia.edu (original) (raw)
Papers by Trond Bølviken
Annual Conference of the International Group for Lean Construction, Jul 27, 2022
The paper is conceptual, with the aim of raising a new debate on complexity and value creation wi... more The paper is conceptual, with the aim of raising a new debate on complexity and value creation within IGLC. The topic of complexity in construction projects was first raised in the Nineties before it in the early 2000s was introduced on the Lean Construction and IGLC agenda. When facing a complex problem, there are two possible strategies to pursue with reference to the Cynefin framework for complexity. The first is to transform and move the problem into the complicated or even simple domain, thereby making it manageable. The second is to handle the problem within the complex domain. The dominant approach within both Project Management and Lean is the first, namely, to emphasize efficiency, flow, standardization, best practice, planning, reliability, and control. The paper challenges this lop-sidedness by pointing out its potential reductionism and argues that we should also appreciate, exploit, and take advantage of complexity instead of just combatting it. Value creation is reliant upon both strategies and is therefore not a question of either or, but of balance and trade-offs based on an inherent dualism.
International Journal of Project Management
Lean Construction is both a theoretical and a (theory-based) practical approach to the constructi... more Lean Construction is both a theoretical and a (theory-based) practical approach to the construction industry. It is strongly inspired and influenced by Lean Production and the Toyota Production System adopted by manufacturing industries. However, in order for learning across industries, organizations or forms of production to take place, the similarities as well as the differences between the industries, organizations or forms of production involved must be considered and properly understood. A fundamental question for Lean Construction is therefore: “What Kind of Production is Construction?” This paper reviews the literature on existing ways to categorize production before presenting a new model for such categorization: the Organization-Product-Matrix. Use of the matrix is exemplified through two examples, one on strategies targeting productivity and one on work-place safety.
This is Lean – Resolving the Efficiency Paradox is an ambitious contribution to the genre of easy... more This is Lean – Resolving the Efficiency Paradox is an ambitious contribution to the genre of easy reader introductions to lean. It is ambitious because the authors Niklas Modig and Par Ahlstrom have a dual ambition. Their aim is to combine an easy reader explaining the concept of lean in an understandable way for an uninitiated audience with a theoretical and conceptual ambition, namely to provide the definitive answer to the question What is Lean? It is this combined ambition of simplifying and making a substantial theoretical contribution that has prompted us to write this review.
Koskela sees production as the production of value through a flow of transformations. He analyses... more Koskela sees production as the production of value through a flow of transformations. He analyses peculiarities characterizing the construction industry, and advocates elimination and mitigation strategies in order to reduce the disadvantages related to these peculiarities. This paper sees industrialised production as production of commodities through a flow of transformations. The commodities are seen as having dual character, possessing both usevalue and price (exchange value). Within “the Lean Construction – movement” the understanding and examination of the commercial dimensions of construction is far behind the understanding of more technical or organisational issues like planning and scheduling. The commodity-term, distinguishing between the useand monetary value-dimensions, should also be able to contribute to a better understanding of the commercial dimensions of construction. A specific industry is characterized by its specific peculiarities. This means that the existence o...
So far, Lean Construction has exerted a far greater influence on the production aspect of constru... more So far, Lean Construction has exerted a far greater influence on the production aspect of construction than on its design. However, Koskela and Ballard – the authors of what are to date the two most influential contributions to come from Lean Construction – both regard their respective input as no less relevant to one of these aspects than to the other. The theory hypothesis of this paper is that Lean Construction and the Last Planner System TM principles are equally relevant to design and production in construction. The study is based on the design process in design-build contracts, where design is partly carried out in parallel with construction, and the completion date is fixed. Literature studies of the design process indicate that the hypothesis is partly true. However, the findings of this paper indicate that the design process has certain characteristics that makes it fundamentally different from the production process. This paper argues that the design process should be defi...
Both filmmaking and construction are project production systems, along with shipbuilding (air and... more Both filmmaking and construction are project production systems, along with shipbuilding (air and sea), new product development, software engineering, performing arts productions (theater, dance, etc.), and more. Because they are similar in fundamental ways, there is potential for learning one from another, and for further developing the principles and methods peculiar to the project production systems through which all artifacts are created. This paper is the first product of design science research underway to improve both filmmaking and construction. Based on a review of the literature and the experience of the authors as practitioners in construction and filmmaking, the paper offers a comparison of the two project production systems, in an effort to understand key similarities and differences. From that comparison, a hypothesis has emerged; namely, that the future state proposed by advocates of lean construction already exists in filmmaking. Hypothesis testing and transfer of kn...
26th Annual Conference of the International Group for Lean Construction, Jul 18, 2018
Design management profession has probably got the least attention in the construction industry. O... more Design management profession has probably got the least attention in the construction industry. One reason could be the lack of explicit conceptualizations about its nature, subject matter and principles. In this article, a conceptual design management framework is proposed on the premise that design management is the management of a structured system of object and subject-oriented, technical and social design activities. Additionally, an example of a mediating visual model is proposed to facilitate the discussions about design activities and design management in academia and practice. The two major premises of this research are 1) as design management is the management of design activity, it is dependent on the way design is conceptualized; and 2) design is a human activity, but not a thing (e.g., representation) or an event (e.g., decision-making).
25th Annual Conference of the International Group for Lean Construction, 2017
This paper proposes a model to integrate safety analyses as part of performing production plannin... more This paper proposes a model to integrate safety analyses as part of performing production planning and control in construction projects. The model takes a system view of accidents, implying that hazardous situations occur due to characteristics of the construction production system. In the model, a joint effort is described to prevent accidents in which safety risk analyses are carried out as part of dealing with short term operative and longer term strategic production planning. In the case company, which is one of the major Scandinavian construction and real estate development companies, Last Planner has successfully been applied to handle the work flow on the construction site. At the same time, the company has put forward an objective to remove four out of five injuries by the end of 2015, including all subcontractors and hired workers. To fulfill this objective, knowledge and insights are needed on a number of levels to develop and implement adequate interventions. In this paper, we look at safety performance at the sharp end. Statistics are used on injuries collected from all construction projects in the company, to gain clear insight into the types of injuries occurring on the construction site, the factors affecting the likelihood of injuries and the frequency of injuries among different groups of workers. To diminish the effects of hazardous situations and reduce the emergence of injuries on the construction site, a model is proposed to integrate safety analyses with systematic planning of production progress.
Industrialised construction can be understood as production of commodities through a flow of tran... more Industrialised construction can be understood as production of commodities through a flow of transformations. The commodities have a dual character, possessing both usevalue and exchange value. This leads to the understanding of production as a physical/logistical process (producing use value) and an economical process (producing exchange value). However, the production process is always carried out by a group of people, by a social system. Understanding the social context under which the production process takes place is therefore crucial. If we do not understand “the social system of production”, our ability to understand and improve the production system will be limited. Improvements in the logistical process (the Last Planner System, Production System Design, etc) or in the economical processes (Value Chain Analysis, etc), will always have to be carried out within a specific social environment or system embedded in specific company cultures. In this paper we address the social i...
IGLC 23, 2015
An initial step towards a prescriptive theory (a set of concepts) to inform the elimination of wa... more An initial step towards a prescriptive theory (a set of concepts) to inform the elimination of waste on construction projects. The ultimate intention is to identify the most important types and causes of waste in construction and outline the principal causal relations between them. This is not a straightforward process: the relationships form a complex network of chains and cycles of waste. Waste is defined as the use of more resources than needed, or an unwanted output from production. A conceptual schema of Previous Production Stage > Production Waste > Effect Waste is proposed and applied to the causal analysis of two major types of waste: material waste and making do.
Annual Conference of the International Group for Lean Construction, Jul 27, 2022
The paper is conceptual, with the aim of raising a new debate on complexity and value creation wi... more The paper is conceptual, with the aim of raising a new debate on complexity and value creation within IGLC. The topic of complexity in construction projects was first raised in the Nineties before it in the early 2000s was introduced on the Lean Construction and IGLC agenda. When facing a complex problem, there are two possible strategies to pursue with reference to the Cynefin framework for complexity. The first is to transform and move the problem into the complicated or even simple domain, thereby making it manageable. The second is to handle the problem within the complex domain. The dominant approach within both Project Management and Lean is the first, namely, to emphasize efficiency, flow, standardization, best practice, planning, reliability, and control. The paper challenges this lop-sidedness by pointing out its potential reductionism and argues that we should also appreciate, exploit, and take advantage of complexity instead of just combatting it. Value creation is reliant upon both strategies and is therefore not a question of either or, but of balance and trade-offs based on an inherent dualism.
International Journal of Project Management
Lean Construction is both a theoretical and a (theory-based) practical approach to the constructi... more Lean Construction is both a theoretical and a (theory-based) practical approach to the construction industry. It is strongly inspired and influenced by Lean Production and the Toyota Production System adopted by manufacturing industries. However, in order for learning across industries, organizations or forms of production to take place, the similarities as well as the differences between the industries, organizations or forms of production involved must be considered and properly understood. A fundamental question for Lean Construction is therefore: “What Kind of Production is Construction?” This paper reviews the literature on existing ways to categorize production before presenting a new model for such categorization: the Organization-Product-Matrix. Use of the matrix is exemplified through two examples, one on strategies targeting productivity and one on work-place safety.
This is Lean – Resolving the Efficiency Paradox is an ambitious contribution to the genre of easy... more This is Lean – Resolving the Efficiency Paradox is an ambitious contribution to the genre of easy reader introductions to lean. It is ambitious because the authors Niklas Modig and Par Ahlstrom have a dual ambition. Their aim is to combine an easy reader explaining the concept of lean in an understandable way for an uninitiated audience with a theoretical and conceptual ambition, namely to provide the definitive answer to the question What is Lean? It is this combined ambition of simplifying and making a substantial theoretical contribution that has prompted us to write this review.
Koskela sees production as the production of value through a flow of transformations. He analyses... more Koskela sees production as the production of value through a flow of transformations. He analyses peculiarities characterizing the construction industry, and advocates elimination and mitigation strategies in order to reduce the disadvantages related to these peculiarities. This paper sees industrialised production as production of commodities through a flow of transformations. The commodities are seen as having dual character, possessing both usevalue and price (exchange value). Within “the Lean Construction – movement” the understanding and examination of the commercial dimensions of construction is far behind the understanding of more technical or organisational issues like planning and scheduling. The commodity-term, distinguishing between the useand monetary value-dimensions, should also be able to contribute to a better understanding of the commercial dimensions of construction. A specific industry is characterized by its specific peculiarities. This means that the existence o...
So far, Lean Construction has exerted a far greater influence on the production aspect of constru... more So far, Lean Construction has exerted a far greater influence on the production aspect of construction than on its design. However, Koskela and Ballard – the authors of what are to date the two most influential contributions to come from Lean Construction – both regard their respective input as no less relevant to one of these aspects than to the other. The theory hypothesis of this paper is that Lean Construction and the Last Planner System TM principles are equally relevant to design and production in construction. The study is based on the design process in design-build contracts, where design is partly carried out in parallel with construction, and the completion date is fixed. Literature studies of the design process indicate that the hypothesis is partly true. However, the findings of this paper indicate that the design process has certain characteristics that makes it fundamentally different from the production process. This paper argues that the design process should be defi...
Both filmmaking and construction are project production systems, along with shipbuilding (air and... more Both filmmaking and construction are project production systems, along with shipbuilding (air and sea), new product development, software engineering, performing arts productions (theater, dance, etc.), and more. Because they are similar in fundamental ways, there is potential for learning one from another, and for further developing the principles and methods peculiar to the project production systems through which all artifacts are created. This paper is the first product of design science research underway to improve both filmmaking and construction. Based on a review of the literature and the experience of the authors as practitioners in construction and filmmaking, the paper offers a comparison of the two project production systems, in an effort to understand key similarities and differences. From that comparison, a hypothesis has emerged; namely, that the future state proposed by advocates of lean construction already exists in filmmaking. Hypothesis testing and transfer of kn...
26th Annual Conference of the International Group for Lean Construction, Jul 18, 2018
Design management profession has probably got the least attention in the construction industry. O... more Design management profession has probably got the least attention in the construction industry. One reason could be the lack of explicit conceptualizations about its nature, subject matter and principles. In this article, a conceptual design management framework is proposed on the premise that design management is the management of a structured system of object and subject-oriented, technical and social design activities. Additionally, an example of a mediating visual model is proposed to facilitate the discussions about design activities and design management in academia and practice. The two major premises of this research are 1) as design management is the management of design activity, it is dependent on the way design is conceptualized; and 2) design is a human activity, but not a thing (e.g., representation) or an event (e.g., decision-making).
25th Annual Conference of the International Group for Lean Construction, 2017
This paper proposes a model to integrate safety analyses as part of performing production plannin... more This paper proposes a model to integrate safety analyses as part of performing production planning and control in construction projects. The model takes a system view of accidents, implying that hazardous situations occur due to characteristics of the construction production system. In the model, a joint effort is described to prevent accidents in which safety risk analyses are carried out as part of dealing with short term operative and longer term strategic production planning. In the case company, which is one of the major Scandinavian construction and real estate development companies, Last Planner has successfully been applied to handle the work flow on the construction site. At the same time, the company has put forward an objective to remove four out of five injuries by the end of 2015, including all subcontractors and hired workers. To fulfill this objective, knowledge and insights are needed on a number of levels to develop and implement adequate interventions. In this paper, we look at safety performance at the sharp end. Statistics are used on injuries collected from all construction projects in the company, to gain clear insight into the types of injuries occurring on the construction site, the factors affecting the likelihood of injuries and the frequency of injuries among different groups of workers. To diminish the effects of hazardous situations and reduce the emergence of injuries on the construction site, a model is proposed to integrate safety analyses with systematic planning of production progress.
Industrialised construction can be understood as production of commodities through a flow of tran... more Industrialised construction can be understood as production of commodities through a flow of transformations. The commodities have a dual character, possessing both usevalue and exchange value. This leads to the understanding of production as a physical/logistical process (producing use value) and an economical process (producing exchange value). However, the production process is always carried out by a group of people, by a social system. Understanding the social context under which the production process takes place is therefore crucial. If we do not understand “the social system of production”, our ability to understand and improve the production system will be limited. Improvements in the logistical process (the Last Planner System, Production System Design, etc) or in the economical processes (Value Chain Analysis, etc), will always have to be carried out within a specific social environment or system embedded in specific company cultures. In this paper we address the social i...
IGLC 23, 2015
An initial step towards a prescriptive theory (a set of concepts) to inform the elimination of wa... more An initial step towards a prescriptive theory (a set of concepts) to inform the elimination of waste on construction projects. The ultimate intention is to identify the most important types and causes of waste in construction and outline the principal causal relations between them. This is not a straightforward process: the relationships form a complex network of chains and cycles of waste. Waste is defined as the use of more resources than needed, or an unwanted output from production. A conceptual schema of Previous Production Stage > Production Waste > Effect Waste is proposed and applied to the causal analysis of two major types of waste: material waste and making do.