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Lean thinking (LT) has been implemented in various manufacturing and service sectors. But, only a few published research articles have developed a framework describing the procedure for implementing LT in an educational institute. The purpose of this paper is to develop and demonstrate a framework that can provide a structured procedure for the implementation of LT in an educational institute.

Various LT tools and techniques applicable in educational institute were identified by reviewing the relevant literature. By adopting an action research methodology (ARM) for a time period of 28 months, the processes in a case institute were studied; wastes in the process were identified and various solutions were proposed and implemented.

A comparison of the performance measures before (Batch 1) and after (Batch 2) implementation of solutions provided interesting insights into the effectiveness of LT. In both the batches, absenteeism in the class was found to increase across the terms. But the magnitude of increase was lesser in Batch 2. Results also showed that the number of unfilled seats (poor utilization) in an elective course in the second year of the program drastically reduced in Batch 2. Finally, a framework that can guide LT implementation in educational institutes was proposed.

The current study describes only the initial stages of implementation in an educational institute. Hence, some of the benefits discussed are expected in the long run which can be assessed by carrying out a longitudinal study. Future study can attempt to empirically validate the proposed framework in multiple educational institutes and theoretically explain the reasons behind the results obtained.

ARM can be used as a tool by practitioners to study the behavioral aspects of employees of educational institutes toward LT implementation. The proposed framework and its demonstration can assist employees in educational institutes to implement LT. Positive results obtained in this study can further motivate the educational institutes to consider LT as a potential tool for improving the processes.

This is the first study to develop and validate a framework for structured implementation of LT in the processes of an educational institute. The study is also unique in empirically capturing the impact of LT implementation of an educational institute by analyzing the archived data.

Lean manufacturing (LM) concepts have been widely adopted in diverse industrial sectors. However, no literature review focusing on case studies describing LM implementation is available. Case studies represent the actual implementation and provide secondary data for further analysis. This study aims to review the same to understand the pathways of LM implementation. In addition, it aims to analyse other related review questions, such as how implementing LM impacts manufacturing capabilities and the maturity level of manufacturing organisations that implemented LM, to name a few.

A literature review of case studies that discuss the implementation of LM during the last decade (from 2010 to 2020) is carried out. These studies were synthesised, and content analyses were performed to reveal critical insights.

The implementation pattern of LM significantly varies across manufacturing organisations. The findings show simultaneous improvement in manufacturing capabilities. Towards the end of the last decade, organisations implemented LM with radio frequency identification, e-kanban, simulation, etc.

Reviewing the case studies documenting LM implementation to comprehend the various nuances is a novel attempt. Furthermore, potential future research directions are identified for advancing the research in the domain of LM.

Before initiating the implementation of change for transforming and improving an organization through lean thinking (LT), it has to first select a right value stream. Several implementation studies have been documented in literature, but not many studies have addressed this issue of value stream selection. The purpose of this paper is to propose and empirically validate a framework for selecting a value stream to implement LT.

8A framework is proposed by reviewing the literature on LT implementation case studies. Single case study methodology has been adopted to validate the application of 8A framework for selecting a value stream in an Indian educational institute. Since multiple qualifiers are considered simultaneously, a multi-criteria decision-making approach has been employed for choosing the value stream.

Utility of the proposed 8A framework for value stream selection was confirmed through its successful application in an educational institute. Out of three alternatives in the case organization, the teaching alternative was chosen for further LT implementation based on the application of 8A framework. Qualitative cross-validation and sensitivity analysis also confirmed the robustness of the value stream selection made using the 8A framework.

Framework proposed in this study comprehensively captures the important qualifiers that were overlooked by the widely adopted first tenet of LT. Future research can attempt to generalize the applicability of 8A framework in different contexts including manufacturing, healthcare, software development, etc. A further study can be carried out in two similar case organizations or in two value streams of the same case organization (say in two different plants) to compare the differences in the outcome of lean implementation when one chooses its value stream for LT implementation without the application of the proposed framework, while another chooses it by applying the 8A framework.

Through structured evaluation of the comprehensive set of qualifiers in 8A framework using a multi-criteria decision making model, an informed decision can be taken by the practitioners in selecting a value stream from the available alternatives before proceeding with the implementation of LT.

After questioning the existing procedure of value stream selection for LT implementation, this study is the first to propose and validate an 8A framework that overcomes the limitations of the existing procedure. Study is also unique in the choice of the case organization as not many research papers have documented implementation of LT from the context of educational institutes.

Launch strategies, marketing techniques and data analytics procedure adopted by a firm before launching a new product.

Academic students and management trainees who want to learn the methodology adopted by firms with respect to strategic management and marketing for launching a new product in Indian market.

Launch plan for Roulette, a premium segment brandy manufactured by John Distilleries Private Limited, has to be designed for Karnataka, Pondicherry and Andhra Pradesh markets in India by the Brand Manager Mr Pundlik Kalburgi. Competitors and target market share needs to be identified for all the three markets. Potential outlets, target outlets, channel-wise sales contribution, depot-wise sales contribution and size of the packs to be produced need to be identified for Karnataka market. These identifications need to be submitted to the chairman of the company and other department heads to implement the launch.

Pareto rule (80/20 rule) application for cost-efficient launch strategy; segmentation and identification of competitors; procedure to identify potential of the launch product and market share that can be targeted; and understanding the complete functioning of alcoholic beverage industry in Indian markets (with special reference to Karnataka) and analysing the market data to build an entire launch plan; 4.1 Identifying channel-wise potential and target outlets for the launch product; 4.2 Identifying potential and target depots and number of outlets under each of the depots; 4.3 How pack size of launching product to be manufactured is decided upon.

Teaching notes are available for educators only. Please contact your library to gain login details or email support@emeraldinsight.com to request teaching notes.

The purpose of this paper is to describe a leanness assessment methodology that takes into account the interaction between lean elements for computing the systemic leanness and for assisting continuous improvement of lean implementation.

Key elements determining the leanness level were identified by reviewing the relevant literature and were structured as a framework. Graph-theoretic approach (GTA) was used as the assessment methodology for its ability to evaluate the interaction between the elements in the developed framework.

Interactions between the lean elements were configured. Application of the proposed GTA for assessing systemic leanness was demonstrated. Scenario analysis was performed and a scale was developed to assist firms in comparing their systemic leanness index.

This paper is unique in developing an assessment approach for measuring the systemic leanness. In addition, this study explains how the implementation of lean thinking (LT) in a value stream can be continuously improved by proposing a systemic leanness index that can be benchmarked. The proposed approach to measure systemic leanness can be tested across different value streams in future for extending its generalizability.

Proposed framework and leanness assessment approach presents an innovative tool for practitioners to capture the systemic aspect of LT. Proposed assessment approach supports practitioners in achieving continuous improvement in lean implementation by revealing the lean elements that need to be focused in future.

Study introduces a new perspective for LT by studying the importance of interactions between the lean elements and by incorporating them to assess the systemic leanness.

The purpose of this study is to document the experience and impact of implementing lean thinking (LT) in an Indian healthcare institution.

A detailed review of literature documenting the experience of implementing LT in healthcare institutions is carried out. Review revealed that there is a dearth of documentation on implementation of LT in Indian healthcare institutions. To address this gap, the experience of implementing LT in an Indian case hospital is documented by adopting a single case study research methodology.

Lean practices adopted by the Indian case hospital are documented. Performance measures before and after implementation of lean practices in the case hospital are compared. Based on this experience, a framework for implementing LT is proposed for healthcare institutions.

The current study documents the experience of an Indian case hospital, which is only at its initial stages of LT implementation. Future studies can be undertaken to assess the long-term impact of implementing LT in a healthcare institution. Similarly, the proposed framework for implementing LT can be validated by using the same in different healthcare institutions.

Review of lean principles, practices and performance measures discussed in the literature on implementing LT in healthcare institutions can act as a ready reckoner for practitioners. Framework proposed based on the experience of the case hospital is expected to guide healthcare practitioners in their lean journey.

This study is unique, as it documents the experience of implementing LT in an Indian healthcare institution and proposes a framework for implementing LT for future validation.

Assessing the outcome of lean transformation journey has been of interest to both researchers and practitioners. Various qualitative and quantitative assessment methodologies have been proposed in literature to track and measure the degree of leanness attained. The purpose of this paper is to understand the evolution of this leanness assessment literature over different attributes and identify gaps for future research.

A detailed literature review of peer-reviewed journal articles and conference papers addressing leanness assessment was performed. Content analysis methodology involving a four-step process suggested by Mayring (2004) was adopted for this study.

The number of studies in literature on leanness assessment is low when compared to that in the area of lean implementation. Assessment methodologies developed are of wide range, varying from simple qualitative checklist to complex quantitative mathematical models. Following the trend of lean implementation literature, lean thinking assessment literature is also getting transformed from process-level monitoring to enterprise-level monitoring. Finally, based on this review, a simplified leanness assessment framework is proposed for future validation.

Only peer-reviewed journals and conference papers were analyzed, while excluding the manuals, reports, and white papers from practice. Clustering of leanness assessment literature revealed that future studies in this domain would fall into two major categories, namely manufacturing leanness assessment and service leanness assessment.

Practitioners can use this review study to choose a suitable methodology for assessing the leanness attained in their organization by controlling for the structural attributes identified.

This is the first paper to review the topic “leanness assessment.” The review analyzes the entire literature available on leanness assessment to summarize its current status and identify potential future directions.

This paper aims to explore the last-mile (LM) challenges faced by on-demand food delivery (ODFD) riders during the coronavirus pandemic. This study contributes to the literature on the less-explored domain of ODFD services.

A grounded theory methodology is used. Riders working for multiple ODFD firms in various urban and semi-urban areas of India were interviewed. Open, axial and selective coding of interview transcripts was done.

A grounded model is developed consisting of riders' challenges represented broadly under four core categories: Operational, Customer-related, Organisational and Technological issues. The study indicates that while some of the challenges are inherent to the ODFD supply chain, these have been visibly exposed and intensified by COVID-19, while other challenges are specific to the pandemic.

The model is a qualitative proposition representing LM delivery issues in ODFD services faced by the riders in India's urban and semi-urban areas during the COVID-19 pandemic. Other countries may face similar problems, but further studies are necessary to confirm or refute the findings.

ODFD companies must address the riders' issues to better adapt to the current and future disruptions and improve riders' quality of work–life to achieve operational excellence.

This study builds on the extant ODFD literature by focusing on one of its less addressed aspects: the working conditions of the riders. This work is conducted amid the COVID-19 pandemic in the context of a developing country and aims to study the challenges in ODFD operations.

Health care organisations implement lean six sigma (LSS) methodology to achieve improved performance in terms of cost, quality and productivity. However, the way it gets implemented differs between organisations. Hence, this paper deal with a review of case studies describing the implementation of LSS in health care organisations to understand the nuances of implementation and identify future research directions.

The journal articles indexed in the Web of Science and Scopus database were filtered out. In total, 154 articles were evaluated using specific structural dimensions to categorise the literature into various groups, and content analysis was performed to synthesise the same.

This review revealed that the number of articles publishing the application of LSS in health care has been increasing in the last five years. Academic hospitals play a pivotal role to bridge the gap between LSS theory and practice. Despite this fact, certain themes remain unexplored. Not many studies are available that document the application of LSS in non-clinical areas such as pharmacy, internal logistics, maintenance and medical records. Only 20% of articles mentioned the post-intervention data up to three years, thus questioning the sustainability aspect of the achieved improvements.

Various research gaps were identified, which can be used by the researchers to build the body of knowledge in the domain of LSS in health care.

This review provides a diversified view regarding the utility of LSS in the health care scenario. The findings will provide valuable insights for the health care practitioners regarding tools, techniques, drivers and performance measures.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to review only the case studies that describe the implementation of LSS in the health care sector.

Nowadays, firms are keen on improving the quality culture in the organizations. The proven success of Lean and Six Sigma has given rise to the synergetic Lean Six Sigma (LSS) approach that has been catching fire in the past one decade. However, there exists a gap between the understanding and implementation of LSS in the organizations, especially in the emerging economies. Taking this as a valuable opportunity, the purpose of this paper is to present a development of LSS training module.

This study starts with a literature review of LSS to reinforce the understanding of the research subject in scope of manufacturing sector. Then, an online questionnaire was designed and used to collect responses from 181 companies located in the Indian sub-continent. Subsequently, the results obtained from the survey were analyzed using COARSE approach.

This study reveals two key findings and associated contributions. First, it was found that the overall awareness of LSS within the responded manufacturing firms is about 70.4 percent. Second, there is no single standard training module that exists in any of the sampled firms to cater to their quality programs. Hence, in order to improve the LSS awareness which could subsequently help managers as a resource for creating an efficient workplace, this paper presents a structured LSS training framework.

Although this paper presents the importance of LSS and associated awareness level among the responded firms, more empirical evidence is required to generalize the model findings. Second, this study is scoped to firms that work out of the Indian sub-continent, and this provides a future opportunity to expand the scope of this research toward a global study for a comparison between emerging and developed economies. Third, this study is limited to manufacturing firms and hence paves an opportunity to research on a similar theme in services context as well.

Before embarking on an LSS journey, an organization can use the LSS training module proposed in this study to assess the employee awareness on LSS. Furthermore, organizations that already have a mature LSS practice can incorporate the LSS training module for periodic evaluation of the employees for effective change management.

The training module presented in this paper is the original contribution by the authors. This is no association to any single identifiable organization or associated funding. The direct practical implication of its application in real time is the value that managers could derive from the proposed LSS training framework.