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The purpose of this paper is to explore the interface between Lean strategy and organisational transformation by scrutinising the literature on why Lean strategies fail to be implemented and/or sustained.

As a conceptual and research paper, it develops a hypothesis. It encompasses philosophical discussions and comparative studies of others’ work and Lean thinking alongside its links to the principles, ideology, philosophy and underpinning values. The search involved a total of 1,931 articles spanning across 75 different journals. The content analysis approach suggested by Mayring (2004) was selected.

Successfully implementing Lean is more complex than often recognized within the literature, and the alignment between strategy and organisational transformation is repeatedly not undertaken. The investigation indicates policymakers need to view Lean as an ideology and not simply another process.

This paper addresses the inaccurate representation in the concept of Lean as a strategy. While a major evolution has occurred comprising the inputs perceived as imperative for Lean success, a translucent empathy of its philosophy alongside an acknowledgement of the magnitude of the change and transformation necessary has been comparatively perplexing. This paper has implications for academic scholars of strategy and organisational change, as well as for practitioners seeking to implement organisational change.

Empirical evidence suggests that most Lean strategies struggle. Customers are becoming more demanding, markets are becoming more customised, and product life-cycles getting shorter are dictating that Lean needs to be embraced as an ideology.

Ostensibly, less than 10 per cent of UK organisations accomplish successful lean implementations. A refined system to the one offered by the balanced scorecard is needed. The purpose of this paper is to propose a robust system that not only focuses on the intangible and intellectual assets but also embraces various time horizons and the interests of multiple stakeholders.

The dynamic multi‐dimensional performance (DMP) framework has been adapted which enables organisations to successfully gauge, in a holistic approach, whether lean has in fact proven successful in their respective organisations.

The DMP framework embracing five dimension proves to be more robust than its predecessors and stresses the need to utilise a smaller set of multidimensional metrics which are closely aligned to an organisation's strategies.

Intangible assets have become the major source for competitive advantage. Tangible assets accounted for a book value of less than 20 per cent of companies' market values in 2000. Organisations need to promote a portfolio of measures directed at both the internal and external environments.

Despite the popularity of the balanced scorecard, it has recently proven inadequate in certain circumstances. The proposal enables managers to bridge the gap between the real and aspired performance.

The DMP model presented in this paper has generic appeal and can be applied to quite disparate organisations. It provides a good barometer for multiple time horizons and facilitates the examination of a wider view of organisational success.

British empirical research suggests culture and change have contributed to every lean failure. Whilst prevailing research implies that successful lean implementations lead to a profitable organisation, it focuses upon the low numbers of successful lean conversions. The purpose of this paper is to explore the importance of a suitable change strategy resulting in the likelihood of a triumphant lean implementation.

Predominantly, results from 68 survey questionnaires and seven case studies consisting of both questionnaires and interview schedules were utilised. Subsequently, extensive lean audits were carried out in 20 companies as a comprehensive validating exercise.

The significance of change was evident; a high correlation was found within the audits with successful organizations, suggesting that a triumphant implementation requires a systematic and controlled change strategy.

Whilst lean failures are attributable to different causes, the fundamental issues of corporate culture and change are evident. Every company needs to find its own way to implement lean and it should be viewed as a never‐ending journey.

The implementation of lean cannot be taken nonchalantly, owing to the investment in terms of time and money. Consequently, if an organization pursues the change strategy suggested, the probability of success implementation is improved.

This research, undertaken in British manufacturing organisations, focused on a bespoke change strategy for lean, as there exists a plethora of research focusing at the generic change process.

British empirical research suggests culture and change have contributed to every lean failure. While prevailing research implies that successful lean implementations lead to a profitable organisation it focuses on the low numbers of successful lean conversions. This paper aims to explore the importance of a suitable change strategy resulting in the likelihood of a triumphant lean implementation.

Predominantly results from 68 survey questionnaires and seven case studies consisting of both questionnaires and interview schedules were utilised. Subsequently extensive lean audits were carried out in 20 companies as a comprehensive validating exercise.

The significance of change was evident; a high correlation was found within the audits with successful organizations suggesting that a triumphant implementation requires a systematic and controlled change strategy.

While lean failures are attributable to different causes, the fundamental issues of corporate culture and change are evident. Every company needs to find its own way to implement lean and it should be viewed as a never‐ending journey.

The implementation of lean cannot be taken nonchalantly owing to the investment in terms of time and money. Consequently, if an organization pursues the change strategy suggested the probability of success implementation is improved.

This research undertaken in British manufacturing organisations focused on a bespoke change strategy for lean as there exists a plethora of research focusing on the generic change process.

Existing audits fail to fully encapsulate the complexities of an organisation's value chain and the significance of culture and change to the success of Lean. The purpose of this paper is to identify precisely what is meant by the term, “a genuine Lean organisation” through the application of a comprehensive Lean audit focused at manufacturing firms in the UK.

An extensive audit was developed able to establish the juncture of an organisation's Lean journey. This was piloted within 20 manufacturing organisations in the UK. A total of 104 separate indices are used, which are grouped within 12 distinctive categories.

The audit provides an organisation with a Lean vision. Lean requires a considerable commitment and whilst successful implementations facilitate the improvement of numerous indices, the audit acquaints an organisation of the multifaceted requirements for Lean. Its real value is in identifying the juncture of Lean an organisation has accomplished.

The audit has been tested in 20 manufacturing organisations; a natural extension would be to replicate the exercise within the service sector.

The audit results demonstrate how it is possible to split an organisation's Lean journey into seven evident phases. The feedback would improve the implementation records within the UK.

This paper tackles a void within the literature of a comprehensive Lean audit specifically examining: whether an organisation had adopted Lean as a philosophy, and to distinctively deduce the phase of a Lean journey the organisation had reached.

Empirical evidence suggests corporate culture and change contribute to every Lean failure. Whilst the prevailing research implies that successful Lean implementations lead to a profitable organisation, it also points towards the low numbers of organisations fully adopting the Lean principles. The purpose of this paper is to identify the existing prevalence of culture in explaining the low numbers (less than 10 per cent) of successful British manufacturing organisations that have fully adopted the concepts of Lean and to advocate preventative actions that organisations could pursue in order to improve the UK implementation records.

The methodology predominantly used included survey questionnaires within 68 manufacturing organisations of various sizes and at differing stages of Lean; this was coupled with seven case studies and subsequently validated by an extensive Lean audit undertaken in 20 organisations.

This research initially deciphers the prevalence of culture to Lean failures and then proceeds to recommend courses of action to facilitate higher implementation rates. The significance of culture was evident. The results reveal that a triumphant implementation requires a systematic and controlled strategy to look at the prevailing culture. Whilst Lean failures are attributable to different causes; the fundamental issues of corporate culture and change is evident.

Any organisation embarking upon Lean needs to unequivocally address the prevailing cultural issues. For Lean to thrive, evidently the processes, appropriate application of tools and its application across the value chain would prove futile without a conducive culture.

Possible remedial and preventative courses of action are advocated which should facilitate successful implementations. The implementation of Lean cannot be taken nonchalantly as there is a requirement for heavy investment in terms of both time and money. Nonetheless, when an organization pursues a conducive culture, the probability of success is improved, which secures the superior levels of performance.

The paper aims to reflect upon an in-depth investigation undertaken to decipher whether British organizations embraced Lean as an ideology. Various contributing factors such as the technical considerations and the prevailing cultures were taken into account in order to make a valid assessment.

The methodology principally analysed primary data meticulously captured from survey questionnaires undertaken in 68 British manufacturing organizations representative of small, medium and large entities. Furthermore, an extensive Lean audit was devised and subsequently undertaken in 20 companies as a comprehensive validating exercise.

The results revealed that no sample organization was deemed to be embracing Lean as an ideology; however, those representing more of the essential inputs were the organizations that performed better. Evidently concoctions of inputs were deemed essential for this situation to exist and this was further validated by Lean audits undertaken and analyzed in 20 organizations. The findings also revealed that substantial investment in time and money is required for a successful implementation.

A research limitation would noticeably invoke a natural extension by replicating the investigation in a non-manufacturing environment in order to determine whether the Lean journey mirrors the stages depicted within this investigation.

The creativity value of the research demonstrates that the results suggest that whilst considerable investment is required for organizations to be deemed to be embracing Lean as an ideology, nonetheless, this does result in the respective organization benefiting from much greater levels of efficiency.

The purpose of this paper is to act as a meticulous conceptual paper probing the contemporary view towards lean and illustrate that, despite its discernible benefits, the implementation record suffers as the prevailing opinion fails to encapsulate that an aspiring lean enterprise shall only succeed if it views lean as a philosophy rather than another strategy.

The paper is based on a thorough literature search concerning the success and failure of lean implementations and acts as a precursor for one of the authors utilising a combination of methodologies; namely, interviewing, survey questionnaire and participant observation in attempting to prove his PhD hypothesis.

Evidently, a cocktail of factors are needed for lean success; not only is it necessary to implement most of the technical tools but an organisation's culture needs transforming too. Furthermore, the alterations need to be implemented throughout an organisation's value chain. Lean has a major strategic significance, though its implementation procedure, HRM implications, general approach to the supplier base coupled with the overall universal conviction of viewing lean as a set of tactics rather than embracing it as a philosophy advocates that this contributes to the relatively low number of successful lean initiatives.

The paper would prove invaluable to lean practitioners through its summation of the intricacies towards lean enterprise success and academic researchers by focusing their attention towards the necessary cultural implications.

This article aims to explore that despite the prominence of lean since 1990, there still exist ambiguous perceptions about the prominent obstacles preventing organisations either adopting lean or thwarting its wider implementation.

A total of 68 UK manufacturing organisations operating lean were analysed in an effort to elucidate the factors contributing to the low numbers of successful lean conversions. Surveys were utilised as part of the research methodology supplemented with seven extensive case studies in a validating exercise.

The prominent barriers are clearly identified in relation to the organisation's size, which should assist organisations about to embark upon their respective lean journeys. The preventative proposals should improve the implementation records.

The research focuses on manufacturing organisations in the UK, and should greatly benefit companies and managers in their respective lean endeavours.

While the barriers were identified, their prominence and type varied amongst the sizes of the organisation. Equally, remedial strategies are proposed to improve the poor implementation record.

In the UK a successful implementation rate of less than 10 per cent is not beneficial for either employees or employers, and is accompanied by a poor use of the external and internal funding available to organisations embarking upon lean.

The preventative strategies should greatly benefit lean managers and improve the poor implementation rates in the UK. Correlating the barriers encountered to the size of an organisation would aid this process.