Implementation of lean manufacturing and situational leadership styles: An empirical study
Leadership & Organization Development Journal
ISSN: 0143-7739
Article publication date: 31 August 2017
Issue publication date: 18 September 2017
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to determine leadership styles at each hierarchic level that best support the LM implementation process in a given company.
Design/methodology/approach
To achieve that, the authors propose a method that combines information from two sources in three major steps. First, using opinions from experts on lean implementation from an activity sector of interest the authors determine leadership styles that best suit each phase of the LM roadmap for that sector. Next, the authors analyze a specific company within the activity sector to determine: at which lean roadmap phase the company is at the moment; and the style of its current leaderships at each hierarchical level. Finally, the authors combine information from previous steps to diagnose the suitability of company’s leaderships to its lean implementation needs.
Findings
The method points at improvement alternatives that may be developed simultaneously at different leadership hierarchical levels in companies. Further, using the matrix of ideal leadership styles, companies may be able to identify implementation phases in the lean process that are poorly served by current leadership styles, anticipating problems and developing HRM practices to mitigate them. That is quite relevant, since changes in leadership behaviors and expectations may take longer time to be implemented; therefore, it is important to understand these opportunities and have a clear vision of current gaps within the company.
Originality/value
The identification of leaderships’ attributes and behaviors in companies at different phases of the lean implementation roadmap contributes to the existing body of knowledge on lean manufacturing. The method is intended as a supporting tool for lean implementation, as it enables the assessment of gaps in leadership behaviors in the organization, and directs to improvements according to the phase of lean implementation. The goal is to complement existing lean roadmaps by driving improvements in leadership-related aspects of the implementation process.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
Corrigendum: It has come to the attention of the publisher that the article Guilherme Tortorella and Flávio Fogliatto (2017) “Implementation of lean manufacturing and situational leadership styles: an empirical study”, published in Leadership & Organization Development Journal, Vol. 38, No. 7, did not reference one source drawn upon. This was: Guilherme Luz Tortorella, Diego de Castro Fettermann, and Carlos Ernani Fries, “Relationship between lean manufacturing implementation and leadership styles”, Proceedings of the 2016 International Conference on Industrial Engineering and Operations Management, Detroit, Michigan, USA, 23–25 September, 2016.
Another article, Tortorella, G.L. and Fogliatto, F.S. (2014) “Method for assessing human resources management practices and organisational learning factors in a company under lean manufacturing implementation”, published in International Journal of Production Research, Vol. 52 No. 15, pp. 4623-4645, https://doi.org/10.1080/00207543.2014.881577, was included in the reference list but was not sufficiently referenced in the text of the article. The author guidelines for Leadership & Organization Development state that sources must be fully referenced. The author sincerely apologises for this.
Citation
Tortorella, G. and Fogliatto, F. (2017), "Implementation of lean manufacturing and situational leadership styles: An empirical study", Leadership & Organization Development Journal, Vol. 38 No. 7, pp. 946-968. https://doi.org/10.1108/LODJ-07-2016-0165
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2017, Emerald Publishing Limited