Scale development for Lean implementation in international environment

Abstract

Purpose – Many organizations currently have looking for Lean methodology implementation. The causes of this are different - to increase profitability, expand into new markets, meet new business requirements or other reasons. The purpose of the paper is twofold. Firstly, to develop methodological approach – evaluation matrix, to exam successful/unsuccessful Lean implementation projects, and secondly to review collected cases through evaluation matrix, which has been designed by the authors.

Design/methodology/approach – Relevant databases was taken to search for case studies of Lean implementation under certain criteria. Literature sampling method – case studies demonstrate successful or unsuccessful results of Lean implementation, with 5 or more literature sources references, and was published in one of the peer reviewed journal. In total were checked 150 articles for taxonomy definition, and chosen 17 papers for evaluation.

Findings – The taxonomy of organisation attributes with the level of changes was developed to build-up a scale for Lean implementation measurement and dependences definition. The taxonomy later on was used for selected case study evaluation. This article summarizes a number 16 of organisations where Lean is working throw evaluation matrix previously designed. Most common application and outcomes are discussed on the case study examples.

Research limitations/implications – This research reviews case studies published from 2009 and focused on Lean implementation in various types of organizations. Systematization and classification was used for reviewed literature analysis.

Practical implications – The research can be used by business units for goals definitions, expectations management and assumptions tracking.

Practical value – This is the first paper to make a multi-level taxonomy of layers and problems for successful Lean applications. A new classification can be used for pre- and post-implementation phase comparisons, goals definitions and assumptions tracking.