Psychological factors affecting the sustainability of 5S lean

Abstract

At Company X, 5S is being revised due to failure. Rather than focus on the systematic failures, the aim is to psychologically assess the participants involved and how they are affected by lean practices. The literature review establishes that lean manufacturing has failed to consider human aspects in the past, resulting in undesirable working conditions that can negatively affect commitment, and goes on to identify the role human behaviour plays in the performance of operating systems. Through behavioural operations research, it is demonstrated that taking into account cognitive factors can lead to fundamentally different predictions about the performance of operating systems. Furthermore, it is shown how cognitive biases can cloud judgement, and how cognitive repairs may be used to find a remedy to an otherwise misinterpreted situation. The overall purpose of this case-study is to highlight the benefits of behavioural operations research and the need for awareness training amongst managers.