Defining An Ill-defined Concept – Nine Tenets On The Nature Of Value

Abstract

Question: What is value? Purpose: The purpose of the paper is to explore the concept of value on a fundamental level to arrive at a definition that is usable within the context of Lean Construction Research Method: Literature study and abductive reasoning Findings: Value is the result of an evaluative judgment. This judgment is guided by values and based on the evaluator’s knowledge at hand. It is always based on comparing two or more alternatives in a given context. This context envelops all get and give consequences for a particular party from a decision made on the basis of the value judgment. The get and give consequences are always in the form of gained or lost experiences, or expressed in monetary terms as a placeholder for experiences. The consequences are not summative; the value judgment is done by considering them all at once. Limitations: This is a conceptual paper; the practical applicability of the findings is not explored. Implications: Value should be considered as something that fathoms more than the very narrow needs based view that is common in much of the LC literature. Value for authors: Better understanding of the concept of value Keywords: Value, Theory, Lean Construction Paper type: Full paper