Assessing The Impact of Lean Management on The Efficiency of Urban Road Construction Projects

Abstract The Egyptian urban road construction sector faces persistent challenges related to schedule delays, cost overruns, quality deficiencies, and inefficient resource utilization. Lean Management provides a structured approach to waste reduction and workflow improvement; however, empirical evidence of its implementation in developing-country contexts remains limited. This study examines the relationship between Lean Construction implementation and four dimensions of urban road project performance in Egypt: time, cost, quality, and resource utilization. It also investigates the moderating roles of organizational culture, management support, regulatory environment, and training and awareness. A quantitative design was employed using a structured questionnaire administered to project managers, consultants, site engineers, and client representatives involved in urban road projects in New Cairo, Egypt. A total of 120 valid responses were obtained from a target population of 150 professionals, representing an 80% response rate. Data were analyzed using reliability assessment, descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, and 24 multiple linear regression models. Composite Lean implementation was positively and significantly associated with time performance (b = 0.810, p < 0.001, adjusted R² = 0.579), cost performance (b = 0.800, p < 0.001, adjusted R² = 0.394), quality performance (b = 0.770, p < 0.001, adjusted R² = 0.429), and resource utilization (b = 0.882, p < 0.001, adjusted R² = 0.533). Individual-tool analyses showed significant positive relationships between the Last Planner System and time performance, Value Stream Mapping and cost performance, and 5S and quality performance. Combined Just-In-Time and 5S practices were significantly associated with resource utilization. Of the 16 interaction terms examined, eight were statistically significant, primarily involving organizational culture, management support, and the regulatory environment. Training and awareness showed no statistically significant moderating effects. These findings highlight the relevance of Lean Construction practices to multidimensional performance in New Cairo's urban road projects and provide practical insights for construction management, while indicating the need for further research to assess the generalizability of the findings to other Egyptian locations.