Search results
1 – 10 of 24Pär Åhlström, Pamela Danese, Peter Hines, Torbjørn H. Netland, Daryl Powell, Rachna Shah, Matthias Thürer and Desirée H. van Dun
Lean remains popular in a wide range of private and public sectors and continues to attract a significant amount of research. However, most of this research is not grounded in…
Abstract
Purpose
Lean remains popular in a wide range of private and public sectors and continues to attract a significant amount of research. However, most of this research is not grounded in theory. This paper presents and discusses different expert viewpoints on the role of theory in lean research and practice and provides guidelines for future research.
Design/methodology/approach
Seven experienced lean authors independently provide their views to the question “is Lean a theory?” before Rachna Shah summarizes the viewpoints and provides a holistic outlook for lean research.
Findings
Authors agree, disagree and sometimes agree to disagree. However, a close look reveals agreement on several key points. The paper concludes that Lean is not a theory but has plenty of theoretical underpinnings. Many lean-related theories provide promising opportunities for future research.
Originality/value
As researchers, we are asked to justify our research drawing on “theory,” but what does that mean for a practice-driven phenomenon such as lean? This paper provides answers and directions for future research.
Details
Keywords
Peter Hines and Torbjørn H. Netland
This paper reports exploratory findings about teaching in the metaverse using a virtual reality (VR) platform and head-mounted displays. This paper addresses three research…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper reports exploratory findings about teaching in the metaverse using a virtual reality (VR) platform and head-mounted displays. This paper addresses three research questions: Is the metaverse an appropriate platform for teaching Lean? What are the benefits and problems of this approach over traditional classroom methods? What are the future implications for teaching Lean in the VR-enabled metaverse?
Design/methodology/approach
The research presented in this paper is exploratory. A critical realism approach is adopted using action research through the preparation, delivery and review of the first four masterclasses entitled Leading Intelligent Lean offered by Gemba (formerly The Leadership Network). The data collection methods included a pre-workshop questionnaire, participant observation, focus groups and end-of-course surveys.
Findings
It was found that Lean can be taught successfully in the metaverse. There are many related benefits, particularly in terms of the high levels of immersion and the “wow” factor. Remaining technological limitations are reduced by continually improving the metaverse platform and the course content and delivery. The authors conclude that the metaverse is a useful addition to teaching Lean – and is especially promising when used in a blended teaching approach.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first report of teaching Lean in a VR-enabled metaverse and one of the first of teaching and learning in the metaverse regardless of topic. The respective problems and benefits of this approach versus teaching in a traditional classroom setting are discussed.
Sven Januszek, Torbjørn H. Netland and Andrea Furlan
Do managers at different hierarchical levels in a firm perceive the effectiveness of a lean program differently, and does it matter for their commitment to it and the resulting…
Abstract
Purpose
Do managers at different hierarchical levels in a firm perceive the effectiveness of a lean program differently, and does it matter for their commitment to it and the resulting lean implementation? This study answers these questions by analyzing the perceptions and behaviors of top and middle managers in a manufacturer deploying a global lean program.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors hypothesize that managers at different levels perceive lean programs differently, which, in turn, should affect their commitment to lean and the resulting implementation. To test these relationships empirically, the authors collect survey data from a global manufacturer in the process industry and analyze them using hierarchical linear regression and structural equation modeling.
Findings
The findings show that middle managers perceive lean programs as more effective than top managers do. They further show that higher commitment from the top and middle managers to the lean program is positively related to building the organizational infrastructure needed for lean implementation.
Research limitations/implications
This research is conducted in one global company. Although the research setting implicitly controls for many possible confounding variables, such as the product and process complexity or organizational culture, future research can explore and test the findings in other organizational contexts.
Originality/value
This study is the first to empirically study the relations between perceptions of and commitment to lean programs across different hierarchical levels and what it means for program implementation. The paper contributes new plausible explanations for why many lean programs slow down.
Details
Keywords
Sven Januszek, Julian Macuvele, Thomas Friedli and Torbjørn H. Netland
The purpose of this study is to investigate how soft lean practices moderate the performance effects of hard lean practices. The authors provide new evidence from the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to investigate how soft lean practices moderate the performance effects of hard lean practices. The authors provide new evidence from the pharmaceutical industry, which is characterized by a highly regulated and technical environment and has been largely uncharted in the lean literature.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on a review of the literature, the authors define a set of soft and hard lean practices. The authors test the hypotheses using factor analysis and moderated hierarchical linear regression on a unique dataset containing survey data and real performance measures of 351 pharmaceutical plants.
Findings
The results show that soft lean practices can be both enabling and constraining. When management engages in performance measurement, visualisation and employee empowerment the relationship between hard lean practices and performance is positively moderated. On the other hand, when managers emphasise goal setting and work standardisation the performance outcomes are reduced.
Practical implications
Effective lean managers build organisational commitment by motivating other employees to implement lean. They use performance measurement, visualisation and employee empowerment to focus on the “why”. Less effective managers engage in commanding and micro-management. Such managers focus on the “what” by using practices like goal setting and work standardisation.
Originality/value
This article contributes to the literature on lean management by empirically testing the moderator-variable interaction effects between soft and hard lean practices. In addition, it adds new evidence from the important pharmaceutical industry.
Details
Keywords
Torbjørn Hekneby, Jonas A. Ingvaldsen and Jos Benders
Companies create company-specific production systems (XPS) by tailoring generic concepts to fit their unique situation. However, little is known about how an XPS is created. This…
Abstract
Purpose
Companies create company-specific production systems (XPS) by tailoring generic concepts to fit their unique situation. However, little is known about how an XPS is created. This paper aims to provide insights into the creation of an XPS.
Design/methodology/approach
A retrospective case study was conducted in a Norwegian multinational company over the period 1991–2006, using archival data and interviews.
Findings
The development of the XPS did not start with a master plan. Instead, dispersed existing initiatives were built upon, along with an external search for novel ideas. Widespread experimentation took place, only later to be combined into a coherent approach. Once established, the XPS was disseminated internally and further refined. The CEO orchestrated the experimentation by facilitating the adaptation and combination of different concepts and by allocating resources to institutionalize the XPS in the global network.
Originality/value
This paper is the first to study how an XPS is created. This study contributes with novel empirical insights, and it highlights the role of top management in facilitating experimentation and step-by-step organizational learning.
Details
Keywords
Sophie V. Fenner, Maricela C. Arellano, Oliver von Dzengelevski and Torbjørn H. Netland
Frontline teams are at the centre of lean transformations, but the teams also transform as they implement lean. This study examines these changes and seeks to understand how lean…
Abstract
Purpose
Frontline teams are at the centre of lean transformations, but the teams also transform as they implement lean. This study examines these changes and seeks to understand how lean relates to team psychological safety and learning.
Design/methodology/approach
This research setting is the Romanian division of a leading European energy company. The authors collected team-level audit and survey data, which the authors used to test the effect of lean implementation on team psychological safety and learning. The authors’ team-level data are complemented with qualitative interviews conducted with team members and headquarters leaders.
Findings
The results of the regression analyses show that leanness is positively associated with team psychological safety, which is in turn positively associated with learning. Thus, this research provides evidence that leanness – mediated by team psychological safety – increases team learning.
Practical implications
Lean changes team dynamics and learning positively by ensuring and promoting an emotionally sound work environment with clear team structures, an appropriate level of autonomy, and strong leadership.
Originality/value
This paper contributes evidence of important psychological mechanisms that characterise team-level lean implementation. Particularly, the authors highlight how team psychological safety mediates the relationship between leanness and team learning.
Details
Keywords
Torbjørn H. Netland, Daryl John Powell and Peter Hines
There is convincing evidence that companies need a special form of leadership to succeed with lean transformations. The general advice for lean leaders, however, is often obvious…
Abstract
Purpose
There is convincing evidence that companies need a special form of leadership to succeed with lean transformations. The general advice for lean leaders, however, is often obvious or unrealistic. The purpose of this paper is to propose and discuss specific lean leadership practices for top-managers, middle managers and front-line managers.
Design/methodology/approach
In this conceptual paper, the authors draw on their rich experience from researching, leading and consulting in lean transformations in a large number of firms.
Findings
Leaders must adapt lean leadership practices to their hierarchical levels. This paper provides a framework to understand and debate lean leadership at different levels of the organisational hierarchy.
Originality/value
This paper demystifies lean leadership by offering a discussion of specific lean leadership practices at different hierarchical levels. The paper offers a new perspective for researchers studying lean leadership behaviours and contains helpful advice for firms seeking lean transformations.
Details
Keywords
Torbjørn H. Netland, Jason D. Schloetzer and Kasra Ferdows
Why some assembly factories implement a lean program faster than others is an enduring puzzle. We examine the effect of a fundamental characteristic of every assembly factory—its…
Abstract
Purpose
Why some assembly factories implement a lean program faster than others is an enduring puzzle. We examine the effect of a fundamental characteristic of every assembly factory—its rhythm of production.
Design/methodology/approach
We designed a multi-method study and collected data from a leading global equipment manufacturer that launched a lean program across its factory network. We use quantitative data gathered from internal company documents to test our hypothesis that production rhythm affects the pace of lean implementation. We then analyze qualitative data from interviews and factory visits to derive theoretical explanations for how production rhythm affects lean implementation.
Findings
Consistent with our hypothesis, we present evidence that factories with faster production rhythms implement lean faster than those with slower rhythms. This evidence is consistent with learning theories as well as the literature on organizational routines and forms of knowledge. We propose a theory of the relation between rhythm and learning in lean implementation.
Research limitations/implications
The hitherto unexplored relation between production rhythm and lean implementation raises intriguing questions for scholars and ushers new insights into how organizations learn to implement lean.
Practical implications
Organizations need to calibrate their expectations for lean implementation pace when their factories have widely different production rhythms and find ways to mitigate any adverse effects slower rhythms may have. Organizations can alleviate the unfavorable context of slower rhythms by inculcating practices in the factory that emulate the learning environment present in faster-paced factories.
Originality/value
We contribute novel quantitative and qualitative evidence that production rhythm affects lean implementation through learning-based mechanisms.
Details
Keywords
Oliver von Dzengelevski, Torbjørn H. Netland, Ann Vereecke and Kasra Ferdows
When is it more profitable for multinational manufacturers to manufacture in high-cost environments and when in low-cost environments? While the literature offers many cues to…
Abstract
Purpose
When is it more profitable for multinational manufacturers to manufacture in high-cost environments and when in low-cost environments? While the literature offers many cues to answer this question, too little empirical research directly addresses this. In this study, we quantitatively and empirically investigate the financial effect of companies' production footprint in low-cost and high-cost environments for different types of production networks.
Design/methodology/approach
Using the data of 770 multinational manufacturing companies, we analyze the relationship between production footprints and profitability during four calendar semesters in 2018 and 2019 (N = 2,940), investigating the moderating role of companies' production network type.
Findings
We find that companies with networks distinguished by both high levels of product complexity and process sophistication profit the most from producing to a greater extent in high-cost countries. For these companies, shifting production to low-cost countries would be associated with negative performance implications.
Practical implications
Our findings suggest that the production geography of companies should be attuned to their network type, as defined by the companies' process sophistication and product complexity. Manufacturing in low-cost countries is not always the best choice, as doing so can adversely affect profits if the products are highly innovative and the production processes are complex.
Originality/value
We contribute to the scarce empirical literature on managing global production networks and provide a data-driven analysis that contributes to answering some of the enduring questions in this critical area.
Details