Abstract
Lean principles and methods, originating in a Japanese cultural context, have spread to a large number of companies throughout the world. The aim of this case study research is to identify and compare national cultural aspects that influence Lean Production and Lean Product Development implementation in Swedish companies. Data were collected through questionnaires, interviews and an industrial workshop with Swedish Lean practitioners. The study shows that some sub-areas in Lean, such as value definition, control systems, leadership, team development, knowledge management, and strategies, are highly dependent on contextual factors related to human, cultural and organizational aspects. These are related to the national culture and should be considered to a higher extent for successful sustainable implementation of Lean in different cultural contexts. As for implementing Lean in Sweden, national cultural characteristics, such as individualism, autonomy and supportive management style fit well with Lean thinking.
Highlights
Lean principles and methods have spread to a large number of companies throughout the world and more lately to the public sector (e.g. Poksinska, 2010)
3 METHODOLOGY Data for the Lean Production (LP) implementation was collected within the research project “Swedish Production System” (SwePS) (Harlin et al, 2012), a collaborative project between Swedish manufacturing companies within the automobile industry, Chalmers University of Technology and Swerea IVF
The findings show that different LP sub-areas had different dependency levels in relation to the HCO contextual factors
Summary
Lean principles and methods have spread to a large number of companies throughout the world and more lately to the public sector (e.g. Poksinska, 2010). The ideas behind Lean Production (LP) were developed due to resource scarcity and high domestic competition in Japanese automotive industry and with the aim to produce with better quality and lower production costs (Sugimori et al, 1977; Hines et al, 2004). Lean Product Development (LPD) plays a significant role in US automotive industry, since the product development process mostly affect customer-defined value and product/production costs (Morgan and Liker, 2006). Both LP and LPD may be regarded as socio-technical systems (STS) in which a social and a technical system interact (Fox, 1995), i.e. interaction between people and technical aspects within an organization. The development of Lean Production and Lean Product Development have their origin in Japanese cultural contexts
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
