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29COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS BETWEEN LEAN AND TRADITIONAL APPROACHES
IN PROJECT MANAGEMENT Kuralova A.G.
Kuralova Aigerim Ganizhankyzy- master's student, SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT, ALMATY MANAGEMENT UNIVERSITY, ALMATY, REPUBLIC OF KAZAKHSTAN
Abstract: the growing trend of project-based works demands effective methodologies and approaches to manage them. The search for alternatives that can bring creative improvements to traditional project management has become inevitable. This article will review the management methods that are most consistent with the traditional approach to identify their difference from projects implemented by the lean approach. To begin with, the main characteristics of the project and project management themselves will be determined. The main sources of waste in the process of implementing any project will be identified and classified. At last, a comparative study will be carried out to show the contribution of lean tools to the advancement of conventional approach particularly at the level of the following factors: waste reduction and value creation; planning and coordination; organizational aspects. As a result, the impact of lean principles on the transformation and implementation of traditional project management will be discussed, where new opportunities for continuous improvement will be indicated. Keywords: project management, lean philosophy, waste reduction.
1. Introduction
In conventional management systems most of the projects are characterized by a high level of waste, which is associated with a low cost, performance, and delay overruns. Such problems motivate companies to think of more creative solutions to improve the current situation of the classical system of project management. The latest trend -Lean philosophy - is a new way of designing the management system by improving the efficiency of the process and eliminating activities that do not create any added-value for the customer. The main purpose of the study is to conduct a comparative study between lean and the traditional approaches in project management. Thus, three major parties will be discussed and analyzed in this paper, as shown in Figure 1.
Fig. 1. The methodology of the research study.
2. Literature review
Managing any process requires planning, allocating resources and controlling over a period to achieve objectives. Before discussing project management, the term "project" should be clearly identified.
According to Project Management Institute (PMI), a project can be defined as "a temporary endeavor undertaken to create a unique product, service or result" [1]. Here, the main difference between project and business-as-usual is that project has a start date and end date and aims to create a product from scratch, while business-as-usual continuously produces the product that was already designed.
A project consists of phases, where each of them represents the main activity being conducted in a specific period. The life cycle passes through starting the project, organizing, and preparing for the execution, carrying out the work, and closing the project.
In simple words, managing the project through its life cycle is called project management. To be more precise, according to PMI, project management is defined as "the application of knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to project activities to meet the project requirements. Typical goals of a project include completing within time and budget, and meeting the requirements set by the customer" [1].
A project develops progressively throughout the project life which involves continuously improving and detailing plans as more information becomes available. Progressive elaboration allows the project delivery team to define work and manage the project to a greater level of detail as the project evolves [1]. The experience of many developed countries has shown that project management is able to provide different spheres, including public administration, with such benefits as: reduced costs, improved utilization of resources, projects delivered on time, projects delivered on budget [2].
While creating an efficient and smooth work process to successfully accomplish project goals and deliverables, considerable sources of waste may occur. From a lean perspective, waste represents losses that can occur at multiple levels in a program or project context [3]. Value-enabling activities are required but do not directly create value to the customer, while non-value adding activities consume resources but do not create any value. In that way, most of the activities can be avoided and decrease the level of waste in the project.
Respectively, waste must be identified and measured to be subsequently eliminated. The term "waste" was thoroughly described in Toyota Production System, which distinguished the three types of deviations that lead to inefficient allocation of resources. These deviations are Muda (waste), Mura (unevenness) and Muri (overburden). The following table shows project activities that are a muda in managing the project.
Table 1. Non-value adding activities in project management.
Type Project Management Activities
Overproduction - Using the rest of the available budget even if the project goal is achieved; - Forcing projects outside of the prioritization process.
Defects - Selecting an inappropriate project despite its complex structure.
Motion - Assigning employees too many tasks on different projects at the same time, and the associated major loss of efficiency due to frequent changing of roles; - Unnecessary coordination activities to deliver information where it is not needed.
Inventory - A lot of projects for implementation that are not a priority; - Inclusion of unimportant projects in a portfolio even if they are suitable in terms of the resource/budget/know-how situation.
Over processing - Frequent meetings with labor-intensive project evaluations based on discussing issues that have nothing to do with the reality of a project.
Transportation - Making short-term decisions regarding project externalization due to limited internal resources.
Waiting - Waiting for the implementation of other activities to start the next one.
According to [4], waiting and motion were among the most frequent wasteful activities, followed by transportation, inventory, and over-processing. Waiting was observed in terms of waiting for other co-workers when a person was performing his/her work. A great amount of time was spent as motion waste while workers were searching for tools and materials [4].
3. Comparative study of techniques and tools used in the traditional and Lean approaches in project management
Lean project management and traditional project management often pursue different goals, the structure of the phases might vary, and the relationship between the phases and participants in each phase can also be different [5].
3.1. Traditional approach in project management
There is no clear definition to the term "Traditional Project Management", however it is typically reserved for project management methodologies with following characteristics:
- stricter implementation of the project life cycle: initiate - plan - execute - close;
- decisions are made sequentially following the organizational structure;
- product design is completed before the process design starts;
- the focus is towards transformation of the available input into the final product that is the output of the project;
- context stability.
Abovementioned methodologies come after the waterfall approach where the project is divided in clear stages, each with their own tasks and deliverables. Moreover, the implied assumption is that once one moves from one phase to the next, the decisions made in the previous are fixed. The aim of the traditional management is to ensure that the project follows a predefined process, which is process compliance.
The trait of stability requires predictability of the project. Enough efforts should be made by ones who can precisely predict the outcomes and risks of a project, then it becomes possible to keep the project in control. By breaking down the end deliverable into tasks of increasing detail and narrowed scope, it becomes increasingly easier to make correct predictions.
Waste reduction and value creation. Waterfall project management is a sequential, linear process of project management. No phase begins until the prior phase is complete, and each phase's completion is terminal - waterfall
management does not allow you to return to a previous phase. The only way to revisit a phase is to start over at phase one. Additionally, all information must be thoroughly documented and then distributed to everyone on the project. These features create such constraints as waste of time and motion, doing work twice and a lot of paperwork.
If we talk about construction projects, several studies have analyzed the different kinds of waste that are observed in traditional construction projects, but the most recent survey is that carried out by Patrick Dupin as part of the Delta Partners project. This study [6] shows that value-added activities in most of the time do not exceed 32% of time spent on site and the rest of the work is divided between waiting, displacement of employees, instructions, transport actions and so on.
Planning and coordination. Several studies have shown that in the traditional planning model more than 50% of scheduled tasks are not carried out on time [7,8,9]. Most of the time, the project manager dictates 'what to do' and 'when' to the rest of the stakeholders in the project. Indeed, the project manager realizes the general planning "Master Schedule" based on the project information and the targeted objectives, leading to a temporal state of what "should" be done without considering neither the intrinsic reality nor the ability of stakeholders to fulfill their missions.
The signature of the planning "Master Schedule" by the different contractors makes it contractual. During the execution of the project, stakeholders are more likely to perform their work as soon as possible, leading to risks at the level of the quality, especially in the absence of real communication. In the traditional model of planning, there is almost no incentive to work together and to collaborate with each other. A significant part of the time and energy is consumed to avoid penalties rather than seeking optimization and reducing waste. According to [6], operational and relational effectiveness cannot be achieved in a model based on contractual relationships in the absence of a mutual collaboration between the different project collaborators.
Organizational aspects. The traditional batch approach requires maintaining high inventory levels, which hides the long lead times and forecast errors unwittingly built into this approach. The conventional manager accepts this and rationalizes why carrying so much inventory is smart and not expensive. The traditional manager who believes that surplus inventory has no downside will purchase raw materials in large quantities to obtain the lowest unit cost. Unfortunately, they don't understand that they give back any gains from smaller unit costs by the extra costs of moving, storing, damage, and the eventual obsolescence of some of this inventory. Additionally, in the absence of visual management it becomes complicated to design the workplace in the most effective way.
3.2. Lean approach in project management
A project can be called Lean when the process is structured to maximize value and minimize waste. Lean management has spread from manufacturing to service operations and just about every other department and function at companies, governments, and non-governmental institutions around the world. Lean organizations seek to identify and eliminate activity that is not valued by the customer or end user. This systematic analysis of processes and value streams to reduce waste, variability, and inflexibility boosts performance in cost control, product quality, customer satisfaction, and employee engagement. Moreover, these companies apply a mindset of continuous improvement and flexible working processes in which all employees contribute new ideas and suggestions, so that the organization becomes better over time.
Table 2. Lean management tools at different levels.
Level Lean management
Team models - Work cells; - Segregating variability; - Relationship service cells.
Ways of working (WoW) - Lean management practices; - Kaizen / continuous improvement; - Kanban / Visual workflow management; - Jidoka / self-monitoring automation.
Toolkit examples - Standup / daily performance dialogue; - Value-stream mapping; - Leader standard work; - Root-cause problem solving; - 5S / workspace management; - Visual management; - The Last Planner System (LPS).
Waste reduction and value creation. Exploring, identifying, and eliminating non-value-added activities are fundamental elements of the Lean philosophy. The removal of non-value-added activities helps to get closer to customer expectations.
Value Stream Mapping (VSM) is considered one of the most used lean manufacturing tools to identify sources of waste. VSM consists in creating a visual map of the flow of materials and information from suppliers to consumers. The main objective is to identify the different tasks of the process analyzed and to distinguish between them into
two categories: those that create value-added and those with no value added, which allows identifying the sources of wastes that must be eliminated for objective to transform the current process into a future process more optimized.
The concept of a pull system is fundamental to the Lean approach. The research carried out by [10] shows that "Just in Time" is classified between the most developed Lean tools designed to eliminate non-value-added activities and to reduce process variability. Just-In-Time philosophy is based on the concepts that stocks which do not bring added value to the customer should be considered as sources of wastes. Research [11] considers that supply management using "Kanban" cards is a very effective technique to ensure the minimum number of materials, depending on the real needs of the site construction. Nowadays, we may observe Kanban 4.0, which ensures the determination of ideal Kanban parameters such as lot size, stock, or delivery frequency. This system allows to make the project visual, track the readiness of work, and control specialists' workload [12].
Planning and coordination. The Last Planner System (LPS), the main tool of Lean, is a collaborative planning tool facilitating communication, participation and which take into consideration the constraints of each stakeholder [13].
LPS is a simple process that allows the team to create and maintain reliable workflow on projects. The eight key elements of LPS are:
- Master Planning: team alignment with milestones within the Master Schedule;
- Pull Planning: strategically planning segments of work in order to produce progressively elaborate Weekly Work Plans;
- Make-Ready Planning: look-ahead scheduling and constraint removal in support of the progressively elaborate planning process;
- Weekly Work Planning: tactical team collaboration to plan each day's work, conditions for handoff and acceptance, sequencing and synchronizing next week's work;
- Daily Huddles: team check-ins, discussions based on the Weekly Work Plan;
- Percent Plan Complete: number of activities completed divided by the total number of planned activities;
- Reasons for Variance: charted in Pareto to see trends, learning and knowing what needs to be fixed in order to improve next week's plan;
- Team Health, Maturity and Effectiveness: the essence of collaboration.
Organizational aspects. The 5S process is considered among the first steps that an organization should take into consideration during the implementation of the Lean philosophy [6].
The 5S methodology aims to maintain workplaces in excellent condition through their storage, organization, and cleanliness [14]. It is a tool used to instill continuous improvement in a gradual and sequential way which, with little effort and cost, allows organizations to satisfy various international standards [15].
The advantages provided by successful application of 5S: workplaces are more efficient, organized, clean, productive, and safe; improvement of working conditions and values of the employees; better view of the problems; embodiment of daily activities by employees; increased productivity, flexibility, quality, safety, and motivation of employees; reduction of costs, unproductive time, space and movements; and reduction of losses related with failures and breaks. The 5S stands for:
- Sort: selecting only the objects and documents that are required for the process;
- Set in order: it is necessary to organize the items and store them in suitable places;
- Shine: ensuring that workplaces and machines are cleaned regularly and that they are in optimal working condition, since cleaner workplaces tend to detect anomalies faster and more easily;
- Standardize: companies must standardize rules defined in the previous steps, which should be done together with employees as they are more aware of their workplaces, equipment and most frequent issues;
- Sustain: verification that materials and documents are stored in suitable places, checks are carried out, equipment is in normal working order and regular cleaning is carried out. At this stage companies must effectively promote 5S, train their employees about all aspects of the methodology and ensure they meet their responsibilities.
3.3. Comparative summary
The objective of this article can be achieved by presenting a synthesis, gathering the specificities of two approaches in project management according to three criteria: Creating value and eliminating waste, Planning and coordination, and Organization.
Table 3. Comparative summary between Traditional and Lean project management approaches.
Comparison factors Traditional approach Lean Project Management
Waste reduction and value creation - Focuses only on the activities of conversion or transformation; neglects the non-value-added activities; - Lack of a waste elimination culture; - Push strategy. - Mastery of the entire process; takes into consideration the value-added activities and activities with non-value-added; - Identification and elimination of all forms of waste throughout the project life cycle; - Pull strategy.
Planning and coordination - Rigidly hierarchical organizational structure; the mission is centralized on a single entity, i.e., project manager; - Unilateral work, lack of mutual - Scheduling, piloting, and coordination with all the stakeholders of the project; A schematic of discussion open, clear and iterative;
collaboration in problem-solving phase; - Absence of performance indicators; - Contractual relationships between the stakeholders of the project based on a system of following orders; penalties are provided for each timeout; - Knowing. - Collaboration and sharing of multilateral issues; - Controlling of the variance of the process by measuring the percentage of Promises Completed; - Seeking to solve problems and find effective solutions; process optimization in a continuous improvement path; - Learning.
Organizational aspects - Lack of visual management. - The organizational level is optimized through the 5S approach.
The results illustrated in table 3, clearly show the performance of the techniques and methods of lean approach compared to those used in the traditional management of the project.
4. Discussion
Depending on organizational culture, project type and affecting factors, companies may choose between these two project management approaches. There are no better or worse choices, but the most adaptable and effective decisions. Organizations need flexible project management approaches, which are capable of handling projects of different sizes and complexities in a constantly changing environment. Practice of many companies shows the importance of adapting tools depending on its usability in particular solutions. The mix of traditional and lean approaches can be used since organizations deal with predictable and uncertain environments at the same time. Therefore, the opinion of applying tools of each approach, not adapting the whole approach to the project has aroused. For example, the mixture of lean and waterfall allows sequential transition from one to another without big losses, and makes it versatile to switch to new models of project management, such as agile, DevOps, etc.
5. Conclusion
In this paper a rigorous comparative study has been carried out between the traditional techniques and lean tools in project management. The level of the fields as waste reduction and value creation, planning and coordination and organization can benefit from a very wide margin to improve organizational project management systems by implementing lean philosophy. Indeed, the lean management tools (Last planner system, Value Stream Mapping, Just-in-time, Kanban, 5S, Visual management) have been proposed as solutions to improve the project process in the traditional management.
It has been concluded that the lean management tools can provide a solid basis for improvement to the traditional approach. Therefore, future empirical research is needed to support the results of this paper.
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