Objectives, Purpose, or Aim: The aim of this article is to contribute to the better design of wayfinding systems by explicating the indexical properties of directional arrows and their consequences for wayfinding behavior. Background: The challenges associated with designing for the wayfinding needs of the different groups of users continue to be documented with the poor design of built environments being largely to blame for the wayfinders' inability to navigate complex settings. Directional arrows have been found to be especially problematic in such settings. Methods: Ethnographic data were collected and analyzed over a period of 3 years in three overlapping phases. The unique adequacy requirement of methods, which stipulates that the methods used to produce a description of a situation should originate from the situation they describe, was adopted. Results: Directional arrows derive their meaning from the position they occupy within the physical environment and from three sources: the spatial configuration of the setting, the positioning of the sign within the setting, and the directional arrow itself. The affordance closest to the sign will be taken as the one which the sign refers to. Wayfinders treat that affordance as being indicated by the arrow until such time as it becomes apparent that it is not. Conclusions: In response to the need to find lasting solutions to the enduring problems of wayfinding, this article demonstrates how better design of wayfinding systems can be achieved by explicating the indexical properties of directional arrows and their consequences for wayfinding behavior.

New approaches to production management can be conceptualized as treating production as flow rather than transformation. These alternatives can in turn be regarded as reflecting opposing ontological positions, holding respectively that reality is constituted of temporal process, or atemporal substance. The new production philosophy thus arguably represents a process ontology radically different from the atemporal metaphysics underlying conventional methods and theories. Moreover, research in physics education has identified the disjunction between ontological categories of 'substance' and 'process' as a particularly acute barrier to understanding process phenomena. Studies are presented which demonstrate the possibility of specifying and classifying mental models, with regard to two important management solutions in construction. Thus, procedures typically adopted in Quantity Surveying and the implementation of Structural Engineering Design are examined. Methods of measurement used in Quantity Surveying are designed to account primarily for physical, rather than temporal properties. In design, the emphasis is on representing properties of finished structures, rather than the construction processes. The process is then managed by treating the design and its Things Flows? execution as separate products. It is argued here that alternative, more effective management solutions are derived from a process ontology.

Construction projects are complex socio-technical systems formed by a large and diverse number of dynamically interacting human, technical, and organisational agents. Regardless of this nature, the implications of complexity theory to Lean Construction are still underexplored. This chapter discusses the extent to which six guidelines for coping with complexity can be used to understand the Last Planner® System of production control. Based on this analysis, strengths and weaknesses of the system are identified and recommendations are made for the further development of the Last Planner® to better handle project complexity.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to discuss a production planning and control model known as the Lean construction management (LCM) model, which applies a number of visual tools in a systematic way to the planning and control process. The application of the visual tools in this way facilitates the flow of information, thus improving transparency between the interfaces of planning, execution and control. Design/methodology/approach Design Science research is adopted for this investigation, which analyses the original development of the model and reports on its testing and refinement over different types of projects. The research is divided into three parts, each part focussing on a different stage of development and construction project type. Findings The main findings are related to the benefits of visual management in the construction planning and control process, such as maintaining consistency between different planning levels, so that feasible execution plans are created; control becomes more focussed on prevention rather than correction, and creates opportunities for collaborative problem solving. Moreover, the physical display of the visual tools in a discrete planning area on-site encourages a regular exchange between participants on actual work progress as it unfolds, leading to more timely reaction to the problems at hand. Originality/value The problem of a lack of transparency in construction planning and control leads to communication issues on-site, poor process orientation and high levels of waste. LCM improves process transparency by making information related to system-wide processes more readily available to project participants. This enables them to foresee problems in a timely manner and to take necessary measures to resolve them or to adapt the process to current circumstances. The LCM model proposes a new way of applying visual tools and controls systematically to improve transparency in construction planning and control.

Background. The failure of initiatives to adequately plan and deliver benefits is a perceived problem in the healthcare sector. Problems of strategy formation and successful innovation are widely discussed in the literature. The concept of benefits realisation offers a possible key to better planning, but before this can be achieved strategic innovation is necessary to integrate the benefits realisation process itself into the corporate planning process. Research question. How can successful strategic innovation be introduced into NHS trusts? Methodology. A prescriptive model of strategy has been developed, employing a phenomenological analysis which draws on: [1] one of the authors' twelve years experience of working in strategy formation and implementation; [2] the results of three years action research, developing the BeReal benefits realisation model. The strategy model is evaluated in the light of existing literature on organizational strategy and planning. It is intended that the model will be subsequently tested in an action research case study. Findings. Much of the literature stresses the emergent nature of strategy and the consequent difficulties that this presents for the development of formal planning models. The model seeks to integrate planning and implementation into an orderly learning process in which broad policy objectives are increasingly refined in the light of stakeholder and corporate needs. Three integrated planning 'levels' are identified: strategic; portfolio and project. Essential inputs are identified in each level, including: regulatory direction, community consultation and corporate planning; organizational capability, knowledge realisation and resource capacity; programme alignment, stakeholder alignment and structured project benefits. Conclusion. The model identifies essential inputs to the planning process which, if not properly managed, can result in organizational disruption or stakeholder dissatisfaction. It offers a structured procedure for integrating these. Finally, it demonstrates how the notion of benefits realisation and the BeReal process itself, fit into a coherent strategy development and implementation process.

One justification of public private partnerships (PPP) is the alleged benefit they offer in terms of through-life management (TLM). Aiming at an evaluation of this claim, the dominant reasoning connecting PPPs and TLM is first defined: In creating a single point of responsibility and a long temporal involvement, the PPP model provides an effective incentive to implement TLM. This reasoning is first evaluated through prior large scale studies and through two case studies undertaken by the authors. No substantial evidence of TLM benefits is found. To identify the causes for this gap between intention and achievement, a critical review of the PPP literature supported by insights from management and organization theory is undertaken. Four problems in the reasoning are found to explain the gap: fragmentation is factually prevailing; not all parties in PPPs intend to have a long term commitment to the project; there may be competing incentives for some parties; and the effort to achieve the change and learning necessary for TLM may be missing. It is concluded that for the TLM benefits to be achieved, the PPP model has to be redesigned to secure incentivisation towards TLM and to incorporate TLM mechanisms at the level of the production system.

In the Toyota Production System, the seven wastes presented by Ohno have provided understanding on the foundations of production management and guidance for action for more than half a century. This list has been widely used also when the Toyota Production System and its derivatives, like lean production, have been adapted and diffused into other industries, such as construction. However, the seven wastes originate from a mass production context and do not cover, for example, the design stage of a productive endeavour, as it is commonly found in construction. The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the understanding of waste in construction as well as to explore the potential of creating a list of wastes particularly for this type of production. Such a list would be instrumental in creating awareness on the major waste types occurring in construction, as well as mobilizing action towards stemming, reducing and eliminating them. The discussion is structured by analyzing the sufficiency of the classical seven wastes from a construction viewpoint and by exploring alternative wastes in cases where the classical list is not found adequate. It is anticipated that this preparatory discussion will propel the next stage of research towards producing a list of wastes specifically for construction.

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.

AIM To introduce nurse and healthcare researchers to the ethnomethodological (EM) criteria of the unique adequacy (UA) requirement of methods and to provide guidance on conducting UA research. BACKGROUND Despite the recent shift in emphasis from quantitative to qualitative methods in nursing research, the practice of EM has been largely overlooked. DATA SOURCES Published work in EM. REVIEW METHODS The paper draws on discussions of UA and related concepts in foundational texts of the discipline, as well as the few examples that exist in nursing research. DISCUSSION EM is a challenging practice to master but when understood and practised properly, it can yield findings that are unavailable to other approaches. UA insists simultaneously on a day-to-day familiarity with the research setting and a principled refusal of explanatory theories that are not native to that setting. Thus, in the UA requirement, EM provides criteria for effectively identifying problems and analysis without recourse to theoretical commitments that might distort or obscure the reality of the research/setting. CONCLUSION With regards to the increasing call for more appropriate ways of combating the challenges associated with conducting real-world research, EM provides an effective and alternative method. In EM, nurse researchers can find the potential to develop practical solutions that are sensitive to the setting in which problems occurs. This can underpin the development of an approach to nurse research that is tailored to the principles and practices of the profession. IMPLICATIONS FOR RESEARCH/PRACTICE Conformance to the UA requirement enables an exclusive focus on workplace issues. UA research provides an account of those issues as they are known and understood to members of the workplace setting. UA directs attention to the detailed analysis of work practices, providing a basis for practical solutions and innovations.

Irish construction reported strong growth towards the end of 2013, after years of industry recession. Following a property led economic collapse which started in 2007 construction output fell by circa eighty percent. Many construction companies went out of business; those remaining are strongly focused on their bottom line and increasing efficiency to ensure survival. Defects and rework, common in construction, are both wasteful and a cost that can be avoided, thus presenting an obvious target for improvement. A regional SME main contractor collaborated on a project to improve the efficiency of their current processes for the identification, management and elimination of defects and rework in their supply chain. An action research strategy was employed on several field projects, to investigate the problems faced by the company in this area and to develop an improvement plan. Action research involves a five stage problem solving cycle (1) problem diagnosing; (2) action planning; (3) action taking; (4) evaluation of results; (5) specification of learning. Action planning elements emerging from the cycle (at stage 2) are presented here. They are very wide ranging and include; process standardisation; sign off procedures; use of ICT as a collaborative platform; freeware information repository; cost modelling; benchmarks for improvement; planning workshops; root cause analysis of defects and subsequent development of learning materials. Preliminary results indicate a sophisticated understanding of the defects and rework process across the supply-chain, but a general lack of forum and opportunity to contribute to improvement. The results indicate a wide diversity of abilities and resources in SMEs, including human, capital and technological, meaning one size fits all solutions to efficiency improvements are difficult to attain. Prescriptions thus need to be both simple to implement and flexible. The results here offer detailed reflective insight into best practice in designing improvement plans of this nature

This paper focuses on the development and evaluation of a Visual Management Method (known as LCM5 in practice). The LCM method was originally developed in practice onsite in response to a practical problem, i.e. a lack of transparency in daily operations, which led to difficulties in communication, decision-making and general progress in daily work. The method also makes a theoretical contribution to areas of Visual Management and Production Planning & Control in construction. A review of the literature revealed that there is a lack of broader, holistic solutions when applying VM to construction projects. The literature also revealed that there are deficiencies in the area of planning and control of construction projects, stemming from the weak link between the functions of planning, execution and control (Koskela & Howell 2000, 2001, 2002a, 2002b). The LCM method contributes to these areas, since it is a method that applies a number of visual tools in a holistic way to construction projects to manage and link the information flow by making it transparent. By doing so, a means is provided to better link the functions of planning, execution and control. Since 2007, LCM has been applied and adapted to different types of construction scenarios from new construction projects to refurbishment and power plant construction. This paper explains the scope, main elements and characteristics of the LCM method. A summary of findings from an evaluation of the usefulness and applicability of the method to different types of construction projects is presented. Finally, a discussion on the use of visual tools to improve barriers experienced in production planning and control is also presented.

Since 2007, Ireland has suffered a circa 80% reduction in construction output. This has resulted in bankruptcy, unemployment and bad debt. Contractors have attached greater emphasis to production efficiency and cost reduction as a means of survival. An action research (AR) strategy was used to improve processes adopted by a small/medium enterprise (SME) contractor for the control of defects in its supply chain. It is conservatively estimated that rework, typically, accounts for circa 5% of total project costs. Rework is wasteful and presents an obvious target for improvement. The research reported here concerns the (first) diagnosing stage of the AR cycle only, involving: observation of fieldwork, analysis of contract documents, and semi-structured interviews with supply chain members. The results indicate potential for supply chain participants to identify root causes of defects and propose solutions, having regard to best practice to avoid reoccurrence. A lack of collaborative forums to contribute to production improvement was identified. Additionally the processes used to collect, manage and disseminate data were unstructured and uncoordinated, indicating scope for developing more efficient methods. The findings indicate a good understanding of the potential benefits for supply chain collaboration but suggest that the tools and knowledge to collaborate are currently lacking in the SME sector.

A paper by the authors presented at IGLC 21 in 2013 concluded that the classical list of seven wastes presented by Ohno is context specific (related to mass production) and that there is a need for the creation of a list specific for construction. The present paper presents a draft of such a list. The draft list is constructed in compliance with the Transformation – Flow – Value theory of production. Three main categories of waste are established: Material waste, time loss and value loss. The first is related to the transformation perspective, the second to the flow perspective and the third to the value perspective. Making do, buffering and task diminishment are not included as such in the proposed taxonomy. The paper therefore discusses how these phenomena relate to the categories of waste in the proposed taxonomy. A taxonomy of waste must be based on an explicit definition of the term waste. The two terms value and waste are tightly interconnected. Although value and waste are among the most central and used terms in the “lean” literature, no commonly accepted definitions of the two terms exist. The following definitions are proposed: • Value is a wanted output • Waste is the use of more than needed, or an unwanted output Value is related to wanted things (coming out of production), whereas waste can be related both to activities (inside production) and to unwanted things (coming out of production).

Lean production (LP) has been increasingly adopted in complex systems, such as healthcare and construction sites. However, little is known of the extent to which the lean philosophy matches the nature of those systems, which have different characteristics of complexity in comparison with manufacturing plants, in which LP was originated. This article analyses the extent to which LP is compatible with the nature of complex systems, as a basis for the identification of learning opportunities for LP from complex systems theory (CST). As a framework for this analysis, both the prescriptions from LP and CST for designing systems are compared in terms of their potential impact on a set of characteristics of complex systems. Examples of how LP may learn from CST are identified as well as examples of how CST may help to tackle common difficulties in LP implementation.