Search results

The purpose of this paper is to reach a deeper understanding of the Lean principle of respect for people (RFP to facilitate Lean implementation in Western organizations outside Toyota.

This study uses an interpretative, hermeneutic approach to understand the RFP concept through a literature study of existing research about Lean implementation, and an inquiry into the underlying meaning of the RFP principle, by studying sources from Toyota and discussions about the RFP principle in Japan.

RFP is seen as a central principle in Lean implementations, but the failure of RFP is believed to cause Lean implementations to fail. The literature about Lean discusses the RFP principle both as a general positive atmosphere and as focused on developing the work capacity of employees. By studying the sources from Toyota, it could be understood that RFP is based on ought-respect. The authors also find that RFP is related to takumi, a perfected form of craftsmanship. The authors translate the concept to English by tying it to the recent literature about craft to develop RFP as RFC – respect for craftsmanship.

As this is a conceptual paper, it is difficult to translate the findings into a tool for companies and organizations to use. However, that is the point of the paper: that the most important ideas are not translatable into tools.

It is necessary in Lean implementations to connect people’s work to craftsmanship. Through a discussion of craftsmanship before Lean implementations, it might be possible to nurture an understanding of the underlying values of Lean.

The authors have not found any papers that propose takumi as the base of the RFP principle, nor as a foundational concept at Toyota. It is necessary to understand the concept of takumi, as perfection in craft, to understand the RFP principle.

Japan's success in the management of its organisations has long been admired and envied by the rest of the western world. An early “manager” is examined and his example upheld as one of the first exponents of Japanese management practice.

Moral exemplarity is a desirable but complex achievement. The chapter discusses the meaning of moral exemplarity and examines how the self, as a psychological and spiritual centre within a Jungian perspective, contributes to fostering moral commitment.

A narrative study was conducted amongst ten spiritual healers in New Zealand and France. Stories were collected and analysed interpretively to uncover meaningful patterns about spiritual healers’ moral stance and apprehension of the self.

Spiritual healers demonstrated a deep commitment to the self which clearly sustained a commitment to serve or help others. Commitment to the self was articulated around five core values: self-work, self-reflection, humility, self-integrity and love.

The chapter highlights the moral value of inner work. The self, in its archetypal sense, carries as potential an ‘innate morality’ that resonates in the heart and nurtures integrity and authenticity. To commit to the self requires undertaking a long and painful exploration of the psyche and integrating unconscious material into ego-consciousness. The participating spiritual healers, who had committed to their self and were well advanced on their psychological exploration journey, displayed moral qualities akin to exemplarity.

The purpose of this study is to investigate, report and interpret the true, original meaning of the Toyota Way Respect for People (RFP) principles as intended by their creators.

The investigation was conducted by means of a systematic literature review, and findings are reported in an RFP framework and interpreted by proposing a conceptual RFP lean implementation framework.

It was found that the literature on the subject is fragmented, though consistent, among various sources. No single framework was found that explained the RFP principles. The difference between and necessity for two value streams were discovered – a traditional product value stream that highlights problems and an additional people value stream that delivers people that can solve these problems. Furthermore, key emerging themes of RFP were found to be teamwork, develop and challenge people, motivation, develop people as problem-solvers, safety, remove waste and display people’s capabilities.

The conceptual RFP lean implementation framework remains untested. Future research should, therefore, focus on gathering empirical data concerning the applicability and validity of the proposed conceptual RFP lean implementation framework in different contexts.

The explanation of the two different value streams allows organisations to shift their focus towards developing employees’ career paths, which will subsequently contribute towards improved organisational performance. The conceptual framework can also assist managers in providing the necessary psychological support during the change process of lean implementation. Thus, the proposed implementation framework suggests how to show RFP during lean implementation by assisting organisations to have a more balanced focus between the lean tools and techniques and the human side of lean management.

A contribution is made to the prevailing lean implementation literature by reporting the true, original meaning of the RFP principles as a single recapitulated framework. Furthermore, a conceptual RFP lean implementation framework is proposed that incorporates these RFP principles, according them the significance they are due. This review offers an understanding of the people aspect of lean implementation and proposes a practical means of addressing this often-neglected factor. The RFP framework and the RFP lean implementation framework could, therefore, possibly assist organisations in achieving more successful lean implementations.

Lean culture has been noted to be an underdeveloped concept. The purpose of this paper is to increase the understanding of Lean culture by determining its leading cultural clusters.

Content analysis was used to perform top relevant keywords exploration and qualitative analysis on main text of 33 reference books, 21 Lean generic and 12 Lean healthcare, consolidated as three cases (Lean general, Lean Liker et al. and Lean healthcare).

Four emergent Lean’s leading cultural clusters: operations, change, collectivity and humanity were identified inductively from ten 10 relevant keywords, namely, in order of importance: work, time, process, Lean, system, improvement, production, patient, people and team. Saliency of the word “time” is noteworthy. Cross-validation of these cultural clusters is demonstrated through sociotechnical systems theory.

Content analysis is shown to be an effective research method enabling inductive analysis. Identification of four leading clusters should support productive further research on Lean culture.

The four cultural clusters indicate to healthcare and other domains managers, who wish to improve their Lean cultural transformation success rate, to focus their attention to what their organization actually does (operations), to how improvement happens (change) and to how everything (collectivity) and everyone (humanity) work together in their organization.

This work applies innovative content analysis on Lean reference books. It highlights the importance of time as an underappreciated Lean culture element. It provides evidence and additional support for link between Lean and sociotechnical systems theory.

Colleges of education must do more than expose prospective educators to “best” practices for teaching and leading linguistically, culturally, and ethnically diverse students. Educators need to develop attitudes, knowledge, skills, and dispositions necessary to become competent in catering to diverse student populations in schools. In this chapter, we seek to extend this conversation using a critical pedagogical lens. We draw specifically on Paulo Freire’s concept of radical love to interrogate our ways of teaching, leading, and opening up spaces for dialogue toward educating pre-service teachers and leaders who are critically conscious. Additionally, we use Paulo Freire’s concept of radical love to explore the similarities and disjunctures in our pedagogy and positionalities as international scholars of color.

Despite government and national health service demands for equality within mental health (MH) services, racial inequalities remain. South Asian (SA) women underutilise MH services, yet research regarding their experiences and the cultural sensitivity (CS) of services is sparse. The purpose of this study was to explore the experiences of SA women who have used MH services and the cultural sensitivity of the latter.

Thematic analysis was used for data analysis of semi-structured interviews carried out with 16 SA women.

Analysis yielded an overarching theme of “degree of understanding” and three main themes: “shared background and understanding” “humanity” and “cultural factors” and their subsequent subthemes. Results demonstrated mixed experiences, illustrating varied levels of CS and the impacts of this upon experiences. Cultural understanding underpins CS: participants’ experiences demonstrated the benefit of significant understanding and the detriment of limited understanding.

All participants were well educated, English-speaking and from psychology, health or research backgrounds. SA culture is nuanced; thus, the demographic of “South Asian” could be too broad. However, because current understanding is limited, this research provides fundamental empirical knowledge.

Clear recommendations were co-produced with participants, highlighting strong impacts for service development and best practice.

The research provides valuable insight into SA women’s experiences of MH services and wider understanding of CS. This raises cultural awareness in a field lacking understanding. Findings and recommendations can, therefore, provide foundational knowledge for broader societal issues experienced by people from this demographic and challenge preconceptions.

This research offers unique recommendations for more culturally sensitive practice, co-produced with participants.

The purpose of this paper is to provide a historical account of the significant role that Connecticut businesses and business leaders had in the spread of Lean management throughout the USA. The paper aims to describe what happens when managers do not understand and apply an important principle of Lean management.

Survey of published and unpublished records, as well as personal communications with key figures.

Establishes the role and importance of Connecticut businesses and business leaders in the discovery and dissemination of Lean management in America since 1979, external to Toyota and its affiliated suppliers.

The accuracy of some past events necessarily relies on the recollection of key figures that were obtained by personal communications.

Describes how an important principle, “respect for people,” was not understood by most management practitioners, thus hindering efforts to correctly practice Lean management and improve business performance.

The paper provides a historical account of Lean management in America, focusing on activities that occurred in the State of Connecticut post‐1979. Description and relevance of a key area of misunderstanding among practitioners of the Lean management system.