Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present the result from a study carried out at an organization, which has recently started applying Lean, to examine changes in the importance and presence of Lean values within the organization in relation to when different parts of the organization started to apply Lean. Design/methodology/approach – A questionnaire was used at three different groups at a dental care provider. ANOVA was used to detect any differences in regards to the importance and practice of five Lean values in relation to time since the clinics started to apply Lean. Findings – The study showed no difference between the three groups in relation to the stated importance of the values, something that could indicate that there is a commonly shared value base in the organization. The only difference that was statistically significant was with regard to the presence of the values “continuous improvement” and “supportive leadership” between Groups 1 (pilot, 18 month since starting to apply Lean) and 3 (not yet started to apply Lean). Research limitations/implications – The research was conducted as one single study in one organization and further research should be done in other organizations and types of businesses. Practical implications – The questionnaire can be used in organizations to put focus on cultural change when applying Lean both when it comes to practice as well as importance. Originality/value – Traditional measures mainly focus on hard measurements when measuring the progress in applying quality initiatives such as Lean. This questionnaire can complement these traditional measurements and create a greater focus on the cultural changes in the organization.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the evidence of interlinkages between Lean and sustainability among organisational leaders in the early stages of Lean implementation. Design/methodology/approach A multiple-site case study was conducted to study the connections between Lean and sustainable development during the implementation stages of a Lean practice. In-depth interviews were conducted with managers about their knowledge and understanding of the interlinkages between Lean and sustainable development. The findings were then used as an analytic frame to determine whether these interlinkages were present in the organisation. Findings Evidence of interlinkages between Lean and sustainable development was found; however, their presence was incomplete and inconsistent across clinics. Research limitations/implications Insights from the research can help organisations plan for the implementation of Lean practice, particularly when a sub-goal is to achieve sustainable development. Originality/value The study shows the importance of focussing on managers’ knowledge and understanding of the interlinkages between Lean and sustainable development when implementing Lean in order to utilise Lean’s full potential to achieve sustainability.

The aim of this study is to explore whether trends in sustainability and digitalisation from the 1980s until today have left any significant practical or epistemological footprints on the quality management paradigm. The study design consists of a mixed-methods approach that applies a data-mining methodology and content analysis to the digital archives of eight scientific journals: six within the quality management (QM) domain and two with a focus on operations management (OM). The data set contains an unbroken time series of over 12,000 research paper abstracts, the first of them published in 1980, giving the study a coverage of almost 40 years. The findings show that sustainability came onto the scholarly scene in 1996 and has since become an increasingly popular research area. In regard to digitalisation, the story is quite different, as the concept is currently absent from the scholarly QM and OM literatures. However, a search for information technology (IT) and information systems (IS) revealed that these topics have been gaining attention since the 1980s. However, it was found that QM research only addresses one part of digitalisation, omitting several interesting dimensions. One example is that the QM and OM literatures address IS mainly in relation to standardised guidelines and business processes within organisations. At the same time, we found a handful of studies combining QM and topics related to modern digitisation, like social media.

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<p><strong>Purpose:</strong> The purpose of this study is to describe the process of co-creating a dialogue model that aims to increase citizen value in a municipality organisation. In addition, the purpose is to present the results from the development process and to evaluate the chosen dialogue model.</p><p><strong>Methodology/Approach:</strong> A dialogue model was developed through a co-creation process with a series of workshops, discussions and interactive tasks. The whole process was carried out in three steps. In the first step, the success factors of a constructive dialogue based on citizen value were identified. In the second step, several dialogue models were developed, tested and evaluated, and one dialogue model was chosen. In the third step, the chosen dialogue model was evaluated.</p><p><strong>Findings:</strong> An evaluation of a real-life use of the dialogue model supports the finding that the process delivers a dialogue model that enables the required prerequisites for constructive dialogues: for example, the opportunity to prepare, to create structured and transparent documentation, and to enable a holistic view of the dialogue model. A co-creation that involved co-workers contributed to developing a dialogue model that could be adapted to the co-workers’ own context.</p><p><strong>Research Limitation/implication:</strong> This study is conducted in a single organization, hence no generalizable conclusions can be made.</p><strong>Originality/Value of paper:</strong> Using a co-creative process when developing and realising a dialogue model enhances the possibility of adapting the model to an organisation’s specific context.