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Copyright by Alfredo Vila Común 2017 The Thesis Committee for Alfredo Vila Común Certifies that this is the approved version of the following thesis: Exploratory Study of Visual Management Application in Peruvian Construction Projects APPROVED BY SUPERVISING COMMITTEE: Supervisor: Carlos H. Caldas Fernanda Leite Exploratory Study of Visual Management Application in Peruvian Construction Projects by Alfredo Vila Común Thesis Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of The University of Texas at Austin in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Science in Engineering The University of Texas at Austin December 2017 Dedication This thesis is dedicated to my beloved wife, for her love, patience, and continued encouragement; To my beloved family, for their support. Acknowledgements I would like to thank Dr. Carlos H. Caldas for all his support, guidance, availability, confidence, and wisdom to assist me, without which this thesis would not have been possible. I am extremely grateful to him. I would also like to thank Dr. Fernanda Leite for their advice and encouragement, and to all CEPM faculty for sharing their knowledge with me through classes and informal chats. I would also like to extend my gratitude to PRONABEC, without its scholarship programs this experience abroad would not have been possible for me. Thanks to all survey participants, especially the ones that allowed me to visit their projects, and share their knowledge to enrich this study. Finally, special thanks to Construction Engineering and Project Management students, who provided me with so much advice, friendship, and support, which really made graduate school a much more rewarding experience. v Abstract Exploratory Study of Visual Management Application in Peruvian Construction Projects Alfredo Vila Común, M.S.E. The University of Texas at Austin, 2017 Supervisor: Carlos H. Caldas Visual Management (VM) is a powerful managerial strategy that can improve the performance of construction projects by enhancing the transparency and communication. Several VM tools and approaches originally developed in the manufacturing context have been implemented in construction. However, the literature has scarce information about research on the application of VM as a managerial strategy in construction. This study explores the condition of VM in Peruvian construction projects. It identifies the VM tools, drivers, maturity level, benefits, and barriers to future implementation opportunities by running a national survey, and interviewing construction workers on ten different projects. The main findings are; (a) the current implementation of VM in Peru is limited, (b) the industry type, company type, and project size impact in different ways the application of VM, (c) the maturity level of VM application is Medium at Stages 1 and 2, and Low at Stage 3, (d) there are also some significant barriers to implementing VM. vi Some recommendations to move from Low application to Medium or from Medium to High are being presented as the contribution of this research, as well as, suggestions for further studies in this topic. The major limitations of this research are that the study discusses the issue mainly for the construction phase, and the projects analyzed are highly concentrated in Lima. vii Table of Contents List of Tables ........................................................................................................ xii List of Figures ........................................................................................................xv Chapter 1: Introduction ...........................................................................................1 Problem Statement ..........................................................................................1 Motivation and Purpose ..................................................................................2 Research Scope ...............................................................................................3 Research Objectives ........................................................................................3 Organization Of The Thesis ............................................................................4 Chapter 2: Literature Review ..................................................................................5 Visual Management Definition .......................................................................5 Visual Management and Lean Construction ...................................................7 Research Studies about Visual Management ..................................................8 Visual Management in Peru ..........................................................................14 Summary of Research Results ......................................................................15 Chapter 3: Research Methodology........................................................................17 Research Framework ....................................................................................17 The Survey ....................................................................................................19 Survey administration and sampling strategy ......................................20 Determination of sample size ...............................................................20 Statistical analysis of data ....................................................................21 Chapter 4: Overview of Visual Management in Peru ...........................................22 Section 1: General Demographics ................................................................22 Type of Industry ...................................................................................22 Type of Company ................................................................................24 Participants profile ...............................................................................25 Survey Section 2: Projects Profile ................................................................25 Survey Section 3: Visual Management Application .....................................26 viii Frameworks categorization ..................................................................26 Overall results ......................................................................................29 Chapter 5: Cross-tabulation Analysis of Visual Management Survey .................32 Statistical Analysis ........................................................................................32 Assessing Normality ...................................................................32 Hypothesis and Statistical Test ...................................................33 Results discussion .......................................................................33 Visual Management by Industry Type ..........................................................33 Building vs. Industrial ..........................................................................34 Assessing Normality ...................................................................34 Hypothesis and Statistical Test ...................................................35 Results discussion .......................................................................36 Building vs. Infrastructure ...................................................................36 Assessing Normality ...................................................................36 Hypothesis and Statistical Test ...................................................38 Results discussion .......................................................................38 Industrial vs. Infrastructure ..................................................................39 Assessing Normality ...................................................................39 Hypothesis and Statistical Test ...................................................40 Results discussion .......................................................................41 Section Summarize ..............................................................................41 Visual Management by Company Type .......................................................42 GC vs. Owner.......................................................................................42 Assessing Normality ...................................................................42 Hypothesis and Statistical Test ...................................................44 Results discussion .......................................................................44 GC vs. Designer ...................................................................................45 Assessing Normality ...................................................................45 Hypothesis and Statistical Test ...................................................46 Results discussion .......................................................................47 ix Owner vs. Designer ..............................................................................47 Assessing Normality ...................................................................47 Hypothesis and Statistical Test ...................................................49 Results discussion .......................................................................49 Section Summarize ..............................................................................50 Visual Management by project size ..............................................................50 Small vs. Medium ................................................................................50