The purpose of the study was to investigate employee perceptions during a lean transformation 1 . The combination of case study and survey methodologies was used to define elements influencing the perceived lean success of shop floor employees. According to our findings, belief, commitment, work method and communication all have a considerable direct impact on workers' perceptions of lean success. However, their effects are very different based on the scope and focus of changes that is influenced by process characteristics. Perceptions regarding successful lean transformation during a moderate reorganisation of the company's welding plant, where mainly males work, are affected only by commitment and work method, whereas the deep reorganisation of the sewing plant (populated by female employees) is only influenced by belief and communication.Keywords: lean transformation; worker perceptions; gender; work environment 1 The contribution of the authors is 60%/35%/5%, respectively. 3 1.Introduction The fierce competition in the automotive industry forces companies at all levels of the supply chain to seek more effective operations. Recent decades have proven with certainty that the best "path" to pursue is Toyota's lean strategy. Lean production, first described in detail by Womack, Jones and Roos (1990) in their revolutionary book, "The Machine that Changed the World", has its roots in the Toyota Production System (TPS) (Ohno, 1988). Today, lean manufacturing is a complex system that extends throughout a company and beyond its borders (Hines et al., 2004;Matsui, 2007; Warnecke and Hüser, 1995;Womack and Jones, 2003). Lean production is standard in the global automotive industry and is gaining ground in other manufacturing sectors (Abdulmalek and Rajgopal, 2007;Panizzolo, 1998) and even service industries (Womack and Jones, 2003).Achieving lean production is a long and practically constant process during which the participants must continuously manage (Karlsson and Ahlström, 1996) and undergo changes. Its implementation is accompanied by radical changes from the beginning. These changes have a remarkable impact on performance (e.g., lead time, quality) and also substantially affect stakeholders (e.g., managers, workers) (Womack et al., 1990). Assessments of the success of change processes (i.e., lean implementation) are usually restricted to measuring operational and financial performance. What employees actually perceive, think and feel about lean implementation, the human aspect, has received less attention.In this paper, we explore 'soft' building blocks (e.g., commitment, belief) of successful lean implementation on the shop floor level. To determine how things happen in real company settings and to provide a genuine explanation of contingency factors, decisions and behaviors, we used a combined methodology including a case study and a survey at a Hungarian-owned automotive parts supplier. Our objective is to determine which factors make workers feel that lean transformation was successful in order to r...

Purpose The purpose of this paper to examine the impact of shop floor (SF) culture (organizational culture (OC) perceived by workers) and SF subcultures assessed by the competing values framework (CVF) on the perceived use of lean production (LP) practices. Design/methodology/approach The authors analyse questionnaires completed by workers at the single case company undergoing a commonplace lean transformation. The survey items cover both LP items and CVF statements. The propositions are analysed applying cluster analysis and regression. Findings At the case company, the multidimensionality of SF culture only partially exists, and the perceived use of LP practices shows little connection to OC. The considerable differences between SF culture and SF subcultures on the one hand and among SF subcultures on the other hand indicate the existence of a special multidimensional SF culture. Altogether, SF culture’s impact on LP is weak. Practical implications Managers should rethink the usual lean implementation pathways and understand how values pervade SF culture and how culture types impact the perceived use of LP practices at the SF. Managers could face a trade-off: smoother lean transition by engaging in SF subculture-specific transitions and reinforcing it or by developing a homogenous lean SF culture. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first empirical attempt to understand the impact of SF culture on the perceived use of LP practices by adopting a validated OC measurement tool. Furthermore, the study provides insight into workers’ subcultures.

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PurposeDespite geographical proximity, major economic differences exist between Western European countries and the formerly socialist Eastern European countries. The main objective of this study is to develop a better understanding of internationalization decision processes in this specific context.Design/methodology/approachBy means of multiple case study research, six Austrian and five Hungarian companies in order to extend and refine existing theory on internationalization decisions given the current situation in Central Europe are analyzed. In particular, the paper uses extant literature to build a conceptual framework from which we derive propositions as a basis and a guide for data collection and analysis.FindingsIn addition to cost considerations, process and product innovations are becoming increasingly important dimensions in explaining the reasons for internationalization projects. The reasons for internalization and solutions (relocated products and processes, entry mode and location) are closely interrelated.Originality/valueAlthough this framework for the internationalization decision process is applied in a very specific context, the authors believe that the framework can also be very helpful in understanding these decision processes in a more general setting. In particular, companies in other regions where developed and emerging countries are relatively close to one another might be able to utilize our framework and results (in Asia or America).

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A lean menedzsment egészségügyi szolgáltatásokra való alkalmazásával elérhető eredmények egyre inkább nyilvánvalóvá válnak. Ennek köszönhetően a szektorban dinamikus növekedés tapasztalható ezen a téren. A kutatások azonban arra hívják fel a figyelmet, hogy a lean menedzsment alkalmazásával elért eredmények csak akkor lesznek fenntarthatóak, ha az eszközök alkalmazását a kultúra átalakulása is követi. A kultúra változásának követéséhez annak folyamatos értékelésére van szükség. A szervezeti kultúra lean-specifikus méréséhez azonban – a szerzők tudomása szerint – még nincs kidolgozott eszköz. Ezért cikkükben a kapcsolódó szakirodalom áttekintése után kidolgoztak egy lean kultúra kérdőívet, majd bemutatják a kérdőív tesztelését és annak eredményeit. Összegzésként elmondható, hogy az itt bemutatott kérdőív az első tesztelés alapján további fejlesztésre szorul. / === / The results that can be obtained by applying lean management in healthcare services become more and more clear. This generates a dynamic increase of lean applications in healthcare. However, researches are warning that the res ults obtained by lean applications can only be sustained, if next to the use of the lean tools cultural change will also take place. In order to track changes in culture its constant evaluation is necessary. According to the authors’ knowledge today does not exist any lean-specific culture evaluation tool. In this paper they elaborate a lean culture questionnaire based on the review of relevant literature. Than they describe its test and the results of the test. The authors conclude that the questionnaire as introduced here needs further improvement.

A szerzők kutatásukban a karcsú menedzsment vállalati szintű versenyképességre gyakorolt hatását tanulmányozták. Ehhez olyan gondolkodási keretet alakítottak ki, amely összekapcsolja a szervezeti képességeket létrehozó gyakorlatokat és rutinokat az ezek eredményeként adódó teljesítménnyel és versenyképességgel. Vállalati esettanulmányokon keresztül mutatják be, hogy a) a karcsú termelés bevezetésének hatására hogyan változnak a szervezet képességei és b) milyen tényezők állnak a karcsú vállalatok javuló versenyképessége mögött. Eredményeik arra mutatnak rá, hogy a karcsú menedzsment elsősorban a vállalatok működőképességére és változóképességére gyakorol pozitív hatást, az üzleti teljesítményre nem feltétlenül. ______ In their research the authors studied the lean management’s effect has on competitiveness with a corporate level. To do this, a framework has been developing, which combines the organizational abilities establishing routines and practices resulting from their performance and competitiveness. Corporate case studies to show that a) the impact of the introduction of lean production, how to change the organization’s capabilities, and b) what factors are improving the competitiveness of the companies behind the slim. Their results point out that the lean management companies primarily in the functionality and variable ability positive effects on business performance is not necessarily.