A lean inventory management model as a competitive strategy analysis tool: implications for sustainability

Abstract

Lean inventory management has played an important role in reducing industrial costs. In this sense, this study contributes to the development of a measurement model for lean inventory management as a competitive strategy tool, running through business, operations and strategy. For this purpose, a sample of 320 companies was used, collected from managers in the manufacturing industry. Findings revealed the degree in which corporate strategies, resources and demand, information technology, speed of delivery, low price, and quality interact with the lean inventory management. The final output is a structural equation model (α ≤ 0.05) as an effective tool for analysing each individual factor to provide competitive advantage. Moreover, the possibility of including of new factors in this modelling concept, in spite of generating greater complexity, allows for endless possibilities of application in the theoretical and practical fields.