The Limits of Lean Management Thinking:: Multiple Retailers and Food and Farming Supply Chains

Abstract

This article discusses the strengths and weaknesses of lean management thinking in the food and farming industry in the UK. Based on a case study of red meat supply it is argued that the adoption of lean practices internally may be appropriate for all participants in the industry, but the inter-organisational aspects of lean may not be easy to apply in practice, nor appropriate, for many participants. For some participants — especially the multiple retailers — the adoption of lean principles may lead to a positive outcome with stable and/or increasing profitability. For the majority of participants in these industry supply chains, however, the adoption of lean principles may result in a high level of dependency on buyers and to low or declining levels of profitability.