An Assessment of Organizational Culture Traits Impacting Problem Solving for Lean Transformation

Abstract

An organization’s culture is a significant contributor to its success with Lean transformations and structured problem solving practices are essential to achieving continuous improvement. This research focuses on establishing whether a relationship exists between the organization’s culture and the capability of team members to engage in structured problem solving practices. Six hypotheses were formulated based on potential relationships between steps required for structured problem solving, and critical organizational culture traits that influence an organization’s problem solving capabilities. A survey was administered to gather data as are necessary for evaluating the hypotheses. Results indicate there is a positive correlation between organizational cultural traits and the ability of team members to engage in structured problem solving practices for continuous improvement. For all hypotheses, the survey results permitted their rejection. This study examined the relationship between one organizational culture trait and one (or a few) problem solving step(s). It is, however, likely that multiple culture traits affect multiple problem solving steps and vice versa. Further studies to examine such relationships can be very useful to help ascertain how best to develop an organizational culture (traits) to succeed and sustain lean transformations. Study findings can guide organizations in their journey towards Lean transformation by helping identify organizational culture traits that must be promoted. Promoting the desired culture traits can create an environment where team members can engage in structured problem solving effectively to help continuous improvement for Lean transformations. The empirical examination of potential relationships between an organization’s cultural traits and the ability of team members to engage in continuous improvement through the problem solving for lean transformations is lacking. The work presented in this paper helps address that gap.