Lessons Learned from Toyota Kata Implementation in the Norwegian Construction Industry

Successfully completed construction projects with regards to quality, time consumed, and cost are the main concern focus of the construction industry. Thus, there is a growing attention to continuous improvement programs dealing with the streamlining of material and information flows and the minimization of waste in all processes at a construction site. Unfortunately, many companies are struggling with this, and the continuous improvement programs fails. Drawing on an action research case study involving a leading Norwegian construction company and their key suppliers, this study aims to identify enablers and inhibitors influencing the implementation process of a specific continuous improvement method – Toyota Kata. The aim was to learn from the implementation process to avoid pitfalls and to know what to solve, increasing the likelihood of success. The case is a housebuilding project where the case companies collaborate on common improvement tasks. Main enablers identified is the importance of having a common area for collaboration between actors in a value chain to solve common problems and application of a systematically approach ensuring learning and lasting improvement. The main inhibitors are lack of culture for CI and Kata is not a part of a management system such as Lean Construction, enabling to involvement of the entire workforce in the CI process. The results of this study can help managers and practitioners to address the identified enablers and inhibitors, paving the way for successful implementation of Kata.