Management cybernetics as a theoretical basis for lean construction thinking

Question: Management cybernetics claims that any successful organization responds to its laws. As there are numerous successful enterprises that use lean thinking as a management philosophy, including increasing numbers of construction companies, does this claim hold and if so, do these laws offer the opportunity to sharpen understanding of Lean Construction practices? Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore the use of management cybernetics— specifically Stafford Beer’s Viable Systems Model—as a theoretical basis for Lean Construction thinking. Research Method: Review, analyze, and compare literature on management cybernetics and Lean Construction. Develop an example to illustrate such use. Findings: Through a theoretical approach of describing lean thinking rules from the perspective of management cybernetics, we were able to show that following this argumentation, the Lean Construction idea of Built-in Quality (BiQ) fulfills all requirements of a viable system in management cybernetics. Limitations: Only a small selection of rules is analyzed in this paper. Implications: Management cybernetics can help sharpen understanding when implementing lean thinking in an industrial context. It may also help identify new concepts that can be incorporated into lean thinking. Conversely, understanding lean thinking principles from the perspective of management cybernetics may also help to identify problems where the implementation of lean thinking does not live up to the desired results. However, further exploration of these potential implications is required. Value for authors: Introduce management cybernetics to the Lean Construction community in order to support lean systems thinking and spur interest in using the Viable Systems Model when diagnosing lean practices.