A framework for implementing lean practices in the Nigerian construction industry: an integrated diffusion-adoption approach

Abstract

This study challenges the persistent lack of awareness and action on Lean Practices (LPs) in the Nigerian construction industry by developing an integrated Diffusion of Innovations (DOI)–Technology–Organisation–Environment (TOE) model. Rather than treating adoption as a fixed outcome, it theorises adoption as a staged, interactive process shaped by diffusion dynamics and organisational conditions. A positivist design is employed using secondary cross-sectional data collected in 2018 from 446 construction professionals. Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) is combined with complementary regression methods to test hypothesised DOI-TOE relationships. A strong awareness-adoption gap is confirmed. Organisational context, awareness, and diffusion channels are the significant predictors of adoption depth. Organisational readiness functions as a key moderator, amplifying the transfer from awareness to practice. Technological and environmental factors show no direct effects, suggesting a situational hierarchy of impact that is context-specific to this sample and should be read as a tentative qualification of, rather than a general challenge to, traditional TOE assumptions. Cross-sectional data limit causal inference. Single-informant responses and the 2018 dataset introduce potential bias and contextual drift, necessitating longitudinal, multi-level, and mixed-method follow-up studies. The paper empirically integrates and statistically examines DOI and TOE within a single, developing-economy framework. It models the interaction between diffusion processes and organisational capacity, identifying organisational readiness as the critical mechanism linking awareness to sustained adoption.