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There is no argument that using games (gamification) is an efficient way of learning in higher education. The questions, though, are which gamification approach is most suitable at that level and how to assess its suitability? This paper aims to attempt to partially answer these two questions, in the context of lean thinking education.

The paper offers an assessment criteria to investigate the impact of lean gamification based on the evaluation of motivational, cognitive and social processing during games. In addition, a study is conducted among selected games using these assessment criteria. The study included statistical as well as comparative analysis. The study was based on a sample of undergraduate students learning various lean thinking concepts through physical games over the course of six months.

Results showed different interaction levels between the three evaluation criteria depending on the type and design of the lean game. The reported scores and analysis drew various lessons on how to use gamification in the context of lean teaching, outlined some best practices in lean games design and suggested recommendations in mapping lean games from industrial domain to higher education domain.

The scope of this research was bounded by the sample size of students as well as the selected nine lean thinking games. Larger pool of students as well as other lean thinking games can offer further insights and confirm the outlined ones.

The presented work will help lean thinking educators in higher education to better understand the student dynamics associated with engaging them in this type pf pedagogical approach. It will help guiding lean thinking games’ designer on how to better cater for this segment of lean thinking learners. Finally, it will aid in promoting lean gamification as an effective learning tool.

The social impact is achieved through enhancing lean thinking education to a wide number of students. This will positively impact the society through the application of the effective lean tools at different stages, levels and places in these students’ life experiences.

This study offers one of the very few applications in gamification assessment in the context of lean thinking. Furthermore, it integrates the social processing criterion for the first time with the classical two other criteria (motivation and cognitive) used in games education assessment. Finally, it offers new insights for lean thinking game designers for higher education learners.

This paper explores the applications of lean thinking in re-evaluating the business school curriculum, syllabus and intended learning objectives to enhance the employability of graduates through identifying and eliminating non–value-added activities.

The research employed multilevel qualitative methodology, where 55 semi-structured interviews were conducted to collect data from academics, students and graduates from several private and public universities in Jordan.

The study finds that the application of lean thinking in the business school is twofold – it helps the developer of the school curriculum to get rid of many superfluous and non–value-added activities and also emphasises and reinforces the value-added activities. Value stream mapping, with a consideration for internal and external outputs, has been found to be a useful tool for developing an employability-focussed curriculum that equips business school students with the required competences and skills in the labour market.

The study is based on a qualitative research approach. The generalisability of the findings is difficult to assess, and future research would benefit from the insights obtained from the quantitative data

In practice, this study has identified different types of non–value-added and unnecessary activities in business school curriculum and has made suggestions for the development of a more employability-focussed curriculum.

This paper investigates the non–value-added activities of the business school curriculum, syllabus and the intended learning objectives to enhance the employability of graduates in Jordan.

This paper aims to assess the needs for a lean continuous improvement professional certificate and/or lean leadership cognate for a Doctorate of Education in leadership focused in three main research questions: “What do organizational leaders need from a Lean graduate programming?”; “What are the preferable methods of delivery for Lean teaching/learning?” and “What are the main learner outcomes and do how these impact organizational and continuous improvement outcomes?”

A survey to 37 organizational leaders in a North-American state was conducted via telephone and email that were returned to the researcher. The survey was designed to target a solid cross-section of organizational decision makers in regard to the need for and type of lean training desired, if at all, for employees. Using a mixed methods approach, the survey was designed to collect both qualitative and quantitative information.

Respondents indicated that lean continuous improvement thinking and lean process-project management were most the desirable content options. The method of delivery was not as clear with on-ground and online relying on job-embedded, project-based methods as most desirable approaches. Learner outcomes of mastery of lean content along with the ability to impact organizational and continuous improvement outcomes were favored.

Lean leadership education is valued learning by organizational leaders. As so, higher education institutions must be aware of matching better organizational needs with learning experiences. This paper presents a survey that intended to do this in an original way.

The purpose of this paper is to respond to the increasing demands that education currently faces and develop a structured approach for the implementation of lean thinking (LT) in primary and secondary education (P&SE) and empirically validated it.

An extended literature review was conducted of studies on LT in education, service and manufacturing, in which a preliminary list was formed of LT dimensions, which were subsequently reviewed by a focus group. An instrument was generated, which was distributed to 1,400 education professionals, and 394 replies were received. The measures were tested for validity and reliability. After the first round of analyses, measures were tested further to strengthen the proposed instrument.

The findings confirmed that the instrument developed is both valid and reliable and that the proposed measures consist actual dimensions of LT in P&SE. A number of success factors that would be required for LT initiatives to be implemented effectively within the P&SE context in a holistic perspective were revealed.

Although a number of studies have been developed on LT in the manufacturing or service sector, its implementation in education and particularly in P&SE remains scant. The instrument developed provides sufficient knowledge of which are the most important dimensions to consider when pondering LT in education.

While LT has been the subject of previous research in education, this study represented the first look at lean in P&SE and was the first of its kind to develop and validate in a real environment a lean implementation instrument for use in educational institutions. Researchers and practitioners can use the proposed instrument to build models of facilitating practices to improve performance while contributing to economic growth and enhancing social empowerment.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the perception of Lean management practices by public servants of a Higher Education Institution (HEI) and its influence on the organizational performance. The underlying assumption is that Lean management practices may have perceived even without a whole dissemination of the Lean Thinking way in the institution, and they exercise a positive influence on organizational performance.

A questionnaire of Lean management practices applicable to HEIs was developed and a survey was carried out in a public HEI in Brazil. A valid sample of 748 respondents was obtained.

The results demonstrate that some Lean management practices (leadership support and employee involvement, focus on the internal customers, long-term thinking, community services value, elimination of waste and continuous improvement) have a positive influence on the organizational performance of the studied HEI. These results extend the applicability and foster the initiation of Lean management practices in the public service scenario and HEIs.

This study supports HEI leaders and managers in developing and/or promoting better management practices to improve organizational performance. In addition, it promotes the advancement of Lean initiatives in the organizational environment of the HEI, allowing for a better quality to the “beneficiaries” of the services provided.

Despite the broad evidence of Lean in the manufacturing and industrial sectors, this study advances by exploring the perception of Lean management practices in the HEIs context and their influence on organizational performance. This paper also initiates and fosters the discussion of internal costumers and community services value as basic practices of an HEI.

The COVID-19 pandemic situation has imposed changes in the way many services are being provided. The purpose of this paper is to explore the use of lean thinking and digital transformation on services redesign of a higher education institution. The aim is to improve efficiency and incorporate new health and safety recommendations because of the pandemic situation.

This paper follows a case study approach to explore how lean thinking contributes to the digital transformation of services. The data was collected through student surveys from a Portuguese University, where three different academic services were selected.

This paper identifies important requirements for new and improved online alternatives to face-to-face interactions of the students with the academic services. It also shows that lean thinking is a driver for digital transformation of services.

This paper presents a dedicated roadmap to aid the implementation of a digital transformation process within student academic services of higher education institutions.

This paper addresses the digital transformation of services through a lean thinking perspective and considering four dimensions: quality, efficiency, cost reduction and health and safety.

The purpose of this article was to evaluate the causal influence of Lean management practices on knowledge waste within the context of higher education institutions (HEIs). The peculiarities of knowledge impress upon organizations the need to think about reducing knowledge waste as a crucial practice. The Lean philosophy and practices therefore stand out as an appropriate management perspective, particularly given Lean's focus on waste elimination. However, little is known about the influence of Lean practices on reducing knowledge waste.

A quantitative research instrument was distributed to professors and technical and administrative staff across three types of HEI in the State of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. The validated and pretested survey was circulated to the target population via an online method to explore eight constructs and 38 items concerning Lean and knowledge and waste.

The results of the survey indicated that all hypotheses were supported. The sum total of 837 responses showed that the Lean relationships (internal organizational paths) were more obvious where leadership support proved to have a positive effect on continuous improvement, training, and customer involvement. Moreover, the significant and negative effects of the Lean practices studied on knowledge waste was also supported, including for example, the interaction between HEIs and its client base.

HEIs are knowledge generators. Therefore, the necessity of avoiding and reducing knowledge waste is even greater. This study also differentiates itself from the “traditional” knowledge loss studies by investigating knowledge while the employees are still part of an organization and not after they have left taking the knowledge away with them.

As few studies have explored the causal relationship between both the triple bottom line (TBL) of sustainability and the lean practices in higher education institutions (HEIs), the purpose of this paper is to analyze the relationships between lean practices and sustainable practices in Brazilian HEIs.

A survey was conducted with 454 public and private HEIs workers in Brazil. Confirmatory factor analysis and structural equations modeling were used for data analysis.

The results support the hypotheses of the study that HEI lean practices are positively related to environmental, economic and social practices in HEIs.

HEI managers must evaluate the use of lean practices in the organizational processes, to identify their weaknesses and to improve the aspects that influence a balanced TBL of sustainability practices.

The findings highlight the importance of leadership as a support for the workers, as a continuous improvement practice on a daily basis and a focus on the student as a basic principle of HEI success.

This article provides new measurement and structural models to analyze Lean thinking practices as the predictors of sustainability practices. The work could assist any HEI in prioritizing its strategies and actions and to contribute to excellence in decision-making. This study could contribute as a source of empirical data for transferability in other contexts for HEIs.

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.

The article intended to excavate the Lean Six Sigma (LSS) deployment challenges, Critical Success Factors (CSF), tools and techniques, and managerial implications in an Indian healthcare setting.

The article illustrates a case study established using Action Research (AR) approach. Further, the case study is based on the Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, Control (DMAIC) phases of LSS. The performance and service quality of the Endodontics department of a dental college attached to a hospital is enhanced and sustained through the LSS strategy.

The processing time of Root Canal treatment is reduced by determining the root causes for delay and implementing sustainable solutions. The structured deployment of the LSS strategy helped the Endodontics department to reduce the processing time from an average of 116 min–84 min. Thus, the process's sigma level is enhanced from 0.06 to 4.17 and assisted in sustaining the results.

The case study's findings are based on the single AR carried out at an Endodontics department of a dental college hospital based on LSS strategies. Even though this study's results cannot be generalized, the deliverables of the case study can be used to develop the LSS roadmap for the dental colleges to enhance the service quality and safety of the patients.

The article provides step-by-step details for implementing LSS in dental college hospitals with critical analysis based on robust statistical tools and techniques. The case study provides evidence of the adoption of LSS in medical college education and provides the confidence to adopt the same through novice users. The study's findings may persuade the policymakers to add LSS in the medical education curriculum to reinforce safety and reduce errors in the healthcare system.