The effect of environmental complexity and environmental dynamism on lean practices

Increasingly manufacturers implement lean practices to improve operational performance. In addition, manufacturers operate in ever more complex and volatile environments. This research investigates the effects of environmental complexity and dynamism on lean operations and lean purchasing practices. It empirically examines these relationships using archival and survey data from 126 manufacturers. The results show that environmental complexity positively moderates the effects of lean operations and lean purchasing on performance. However, environmental dynamism reduces the benefits of lean operations on performance, but enhances the benefits of lean purchasing on performance. Robustness tests further confirm the contingent effects of complexity and dynamism on lean operations and lean purchasing. This research offers a more nuanced understanding of the effect of external environmental context on lean practices, and suggests that practitioners should carefully consider the external environment when implementing different types of lean practices.     

Implementation costs of IS-enabled organizational change

Organizations incur substantial costs in managing organizational changes associated with the implementation of information systems (IS). However, the relationship between organizational changes and IS implementation costs is not well understood. Extending current research on IS-enabled organizational change, we draw on configuration theory to develop propositions identifying drivers of IS implementation costs. To test the propositions, we analyze the changes and implementation costs involved in three IS implementation initiatives. The analysis confirms that interdependencies between changes are key drivers of IS implementation costs. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.     

Lean management as a countermeasure for “Normal” disruptions

The academic and practitioner literature offer numerous examples of firms that have achieved significant performance improvement as a result of implementing lean management. Lean firms consistently apply well-defined tools and the relationship between implementation of these tools and improved performance is well-established in the literature. Many lean practices, such as standardized work and visual cues, reduce variability, increase productivity, and make problems more visible which can create a culture where disruptions occur less often. Although there is evidence that lean implementation leads to reduced disruptions, a question that remains unresolved is why these lean management tools lead to fewer disruptions and whether conditions such as the level of complexity and inventory in the system predict the successful application of these lean practices. Because many of the firms that adopt lean management can be characterized as complex work systems, we draw insights from literature on complex organizations operating in environments that are inherently perilous. Two constructs that are addressed in this literature are fundamental to the concept of lean management – interactive complexity and tight coupling or organizational slack. We argue that theory that applies to complex organizations provides a lens for viewing how lean management firms avoid disruptions and conclude that the theoretical basis for lean management lies in understanding how to overcome the complexity inherent in these systems to achieve disruption-free performance.     

Lessons from seru production on manufacturing competitively in a high cost environment

High capital and labor costs, coupled with high rates of technological and competitive change, present challenges for manufacturers in developed countries, often spurring them to offshore production to low cost sources. However, the electronics industry provides an exception to this trend, where dynamic, high cost conditions have given rise to a new production system – seru – a cellular assembly approach. Seru evolved as an alternative to lean systems approaches, manifesting important differentiated system design choices that appear to offer promise for manufacturing in dynamic, high-cost markets. This paper reports the results of in-depth, longitudinal case studies of two electronics giants who have implemented seru. The case studies describe seru's fundamental extensions to, and departures from, lean production, agile production, and group technology-based cellular manufacturing. We explain how Sony and Canon have applied seru to improve productivity, quality, and flexibility in ways that have enabled them to remain competitive. In addition, our findings elaborate the theory of swift, even flow, with implications for future research of trade-offs related to production efficiency, responsiveness, and competitiveness in high-cost, technologically dynamic markets.     

The integration of human resource and operation management practices and its link with performance: A longitudinal latent class study

This paper reviews the literature on the association between lean production and performance. From this, propositions on the integration and evolution of operation and human resource management practices associated with the lean production concept are developed. Using 24 years of data on the use of seven core OM and HRM practices in British manufacturing firms, the potential link between integration in the use of practices and productivity is tested. In each year, three latent clusters are identified via ordered restricted latent class models; the cluster that consistently makes a more integrated use of practices outperforms the others. Furthermore, the longitudinal nature of the data permits modeling the growth curves of each practice in the sample, recognizing any similarity in growth and investigating whether or not an early integration in adoption of practices is associated with higher final productivity. The results show that pioneers are more productive, thus suggesting that the head start in integrating core OM and HRM practices associated with the lean production concept has paid off.     

Effects of HRM practices,lean production practices and lean duration on performance

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to investigate the structural relationships between HRM practices, lean production practices, operational performance and firm performance of manufacturing firms that have implemented lean production. The data were collected from the firms operating in Sri Lanka, which fulfilled the selection criteria set for the study. Statistical techniques were used to test the hypothesized relationships. It was found that lean production practices and operational performance mediate the relationship between HRM practices and firm performance; lean duration moderates the relationship between HRM practices and lean production practices in such a way that the longer the duration, the greater would be the adoption of lean production practices. The essential contribution of the findings lie in presenting empirical data valuable for the advancement of research in HRM as well as for making decisions on people management when implementing advanced manufacturing technologies.     

Lean principles, learning, and knowledge work: Evidence from a software services provider

In this paper, we examine the applicability of lean production to knowledge work by investigating the implementation of a lean production system at an Indian software services firm. We first discuss specific aspects of knowledge work—task uncertainty, process invisibility, and architectural ambiguity—that call into question the relevance of lean production in this setting. Then, combining a detailed case study and empirical analysis, we find that lean software projects perform better than non-lean software projects at the company for most performance outcomes. We document the influence of the lean initiative on internal processes and examine how the techniques affect learning by improving both problem identification and problem resolution. Finally, we extend the lean production framework by highlighting the need to (1) identify problems early in the process and (2) keep problems and solutions together in time, space, and person.     

Implementing Lean in aerospace—challenging the assumptions and understanding the challenges

Lean manufacturing appears to hold considerable promise for addressing a range of simultaneous, competitive demands including high levels of process and product quality, low cost and reductions in lead times. These requirements have been recognised within the aerospace sector and efforts are now well established to implement Lean practices. Lean manufacturing was initiated within the automotive sector. However, since the publication of the influential book, The Machine That Changed the World (Womack et al., 1990) there has been a range of documented cases of Lean implementation in a variety of sectors. Despite this evidence, the perception remains that Lean manufacturing is to some degree, an ‘automotive idea’ and difficult to transfer to other sectors especially when there are major differences between them. In this paper we discuss the key drivers for Lean in aerospace and examine the assumption that cross-sector transfer may be difficult. A Lean implementation case comparison examines how difficulties that arise may have more to do with individual plant context and management than with sector specific factors.     

Work intensification and employee involvement in lean production: new light on a classic dilemma

Abstract

This paper contributes to the literature on lean production by exploring whether and how the involvement of employees in continuous improvement and their work outcomes are jeopardized by the intensification in the work pace that stems from the elimination of non-value added activities. The research setting is the application of a lean production system, World Class Manufacturing, to 24 Italian plants of a global carmaker. The research has found that work intensification limits employee involvement in continuous improvement, and plays a crucial role in enabling employees to experience higher personal efficacy, better work performance and higher employee satisfaction. However, worker intensification does not have a direct negative impact on employees’ satisfaction about their working condition. A supportive team environment and a mature implementation of lean production at a plant level mitigate the tension between employee involvement and intensification of the work pace. Two main implications of these findings have emerged. Ambivalence in lean production is a temporary response of the workforce that can gradually diminish when the plant reaches a systemic level of application of lean organization principles. In order to diminish the coercive function of lean production, managers should apply tools and practices that require more employee involvement and a supportive team environment.     

Customers cocreating value with the firm: implications for IHRM

The purpose of this article is to develop a theoretical framework for governing an organization's relationships with customers engaged as contributors to the organization's business processes (i.e. customers as quasi-employees). Based on our suggested framework, we explain how appropriate customer-centric HRM practices can support more cost-effective and accommodating adaptations in the organization's governance of its relationships with customers. We complement these propositions with practical examples illustrating how customers who take different cooperative roles will increasingly become valuable organizational assets. The collaborating customers not only provide the information necessary for the successful performance of the service exchange, but also contribute human and social capital in performing tasks that are a complement to or a substitute for employee tasks. In conclusion, we outline implications for international human resource management (IHRM), as well as future research directions for examining the relationships among customer governance, role configurations, and IHRM practices.     

Contextual factors: assessing their influence on flow or resource efficiency orientations in healthcare lean projects

The outcomes of lean projects have been mixed, with some being successful while many others have not. An explanation for this is a paradox that can develop depending on the focus of the project. Ironically, in projects where the focus is on maximizing the efficiency of a resource (‘resource efficiency’), this focus might lead to worsening of the resource’s efficiency, thereby generating an ‘efficiency paradox’. This paradox does not usually arise in projects where the focus is on the subject of interest being processed through the system in the most efficient manner (‘flow efficiency’). The aim of this paper is to investigate the factors that give rise to either form of efficiency. We conducted a detailed study of eight lean projects in two large hospitals. In doing so, we advance the theory of lean service operations by identifying four key contextual factors that drive the orientation of a project to resource or flow efficiency. These are: service variety, interdependency, capital resource intensity, and service uniqueness. We propose a conceptual framework and four propositions that integrate the contextual factors to determine the dominant focus in lean projects. Through this, recommendations are made as to how the efficiency paradox can be avoided.     

Unfolding the impact of leadership and management on sustainability performance: Green and lean practices and guanxi as the dual mediators

This study aims to empirically evaluate the predictors that influence sustainability performance among manufacturing firms. Leadership and management, green and lean practices, and guanxi were examined to determine whether these predictors are directly and/or indirectly affecting sustainability performance; 160 valid responses were collected and partial-least-squares-structural-equation-modeling (PLS-SEM) was used to analyze the data. The results showed that leadership and management positively influenced green and lean practices and green and lean practices positively influenced sustainability performance. Leadership and management also positively influenced guanxi. Interestingly, leadership and management and guanxi do not exert a significant direct influence on sustainability performance. The findings contributed to the development of the resource-based-view theory further by empirically exploring the significance of leadership and management coupled with green and lean practices as competencies and capability to drive sustainability performance. The testing of the dual mediators' effects further added value to this study.     

A Double Moral Hazard Model of Organization Design

We develop a theory of organization design in which the firm's structure is chosen by trading off ex post efficiency in the implementation of projects against ex ante efficiency in the selection of projects. Using our framework, we derive a novel set of empirical predictions regarding differences between firms with a functional structure and firms with a divisional structure. We examine how the overall profitability of the two structures is affected by various factors like size, complexity, and asymmetry in the importance of tasks and also explore the desirability of adopting a narrow business strategy.     

Unravelling the HRM–Performance Link: Value‐Creating and Cost‐Increasing Effects of Small Business HRM*

abstract The majority of empirical studies on the HRM–performance link report a positive story. The costs associated with the productivity rise due to high performance work practices (HPWP) have been largely neglected. The purpose of this study is to develop a conceptual framework that maps both the value‐enhancing and cost‐raising impact of HPWP. In addition, we want to pronounce upon their overall effect on financial performance. To test our model, we rely on a sample of small businesses. Understanding both performance and cost‐related effects of the implementation of HPWP is particularly valuable for small businesses since they often lack financial resources to implement HPWP and benefit less from economies of scale compared to their larger counterparts. Study results indicate that although greater use of HPWP is associated with increased productivity, this effect is offset by increased labour costs. However, we find an overall positive effect of HPWP on firm profitability.     

关于“精益生产”在“小产线”实施的思考

精益生产是衍生自丰田生产方式的一种管理哲学,关于精益生产管理的企业咨询顾问公司有很多,主要是做精益生产的理论宣贯和实施指导。小产线想要有改善只能自己来摸索着实践精益,应用精益的思想走出自己的特色道路。论文立足于现有产线资产,将“精益生产”的宽泛理论抽丝剥茧应用于“小产线”,细化精益生产管理实际操作,实现精益目标。     

Firms’ Response to Climate Change: The Interplay of Business Uncertainty and Organizational Capabilities

With climate change emerging as one of the most important issues increasing uncertainty in the business circle, firms have shown different reactions. Why do firms differ in adopting and implementing carbon management practices (CMPs) in response to the global warming issue? This paper attempts to explore this question with particular attention to two factors: external business uncertainty and internal organizational capabilities. This study investigated whether business uncertainty, organizational learning and lean production capabilities influenced the adoption and implementation of CMPs as well as examining how organizational capabilities moderate the relationships between business uncertainty and the level of CMPs. The results of a cross‐sectional survey and hierarchical regression analyses indicate that perceived business uncertainty decreases the adoption of CMPs, organizational learning and lean production capabilities strongly facilitate the adoption and implementation of CMPs, and lean production capability positively moderates the impacts of business uncertainty on the adoption of CMPs. This study provides guidance for managers and academics considering how to identify, design and manage the dimensions of a firm's practices in response to the global warming issue within the organization as well as with other organizations. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment     

论ISO9000质量标准体系与精益生产

ISO9000质量标准体系和精益生产均能提高企业运营质量。本文认为,二者在以客户为中心、重视基础标准化建设等方面有一致之处,但在作用范围、实施模式等方面存在重要差异。通过分析得出,二者的优势互补可以为企业创造更大的效益,未来的企业只有同时成功实施这两种管理体系,才能立于不败之地。     

Multilayer analysis of supply chain strategies’ impact on sustainability

Integrating lean, green and resilient strategies into Supply Chain (SC) decisions is a key success factor for transformation toward sustainability. These strategies are increasingly common in the SC, although their implementation and results are not the same across different SC levels (Tier 1, 2 and 3 suppliers and the focal company). In spite of this, earlier studies have not explored in detail their effects on environmental, economic and social sustainability dimensions nor differentiated between SC levels and therefore implementation strategies overlook the difference between these levels. Accordingly, a novel multilevel analysis of the aerospace manufacturing SC based on Interpretive Structural Modeling (ISM) is carried out. This approach allows exploring the effects of combining lean, green and resilient strategies on specific sustainability performance measures in the aerospace manufacturing SC. The findings reveal differences between SC levels on the effects of lean, green and resilient strategies on the different sustainability dimensions. Additionally, Tiers 2 and 3 show a higher resistance or lower implication in the development of lean, green and resilient strategies than the focal company and Tier 1 companies. Final ISM models become a useful tool for managers to specifically establish coordinated long-term SC sustainability programs for each SC level.     

Health care and retirement costs in North America spiralling uncontrollably: what are employers to do?

This article addresses some of the issues related to the rising costs of employee benefits in the United States and Canada in terms of the cost of retirement pensions and employer-provided health insurance for employees and retirees. We examine various factors that affect the cost of these services for organizations as well as how these might affect the choices employers might be forced to make. We elaborate on how various factors might compel employers to shift the cost of benefits to employees. Specifically, we elaborate on various legislative, economic, and demographic constraints on these employee benefits and examine in detail two employer practices of concern, namely cash balance retirement plans and consumer-directed healthcare plans.