Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present an analysis of research on lean focusing on barriers in its implementation through a systematic literature survey. Design/methodology/approach – A literature survey of peer-reviewed journal articles, survey reports, master theses, doctoral theses and paradigmatic books with managerial impact is used as the research methodology. Findings – The findings derived from the evaluation of the publications analyzed have led to the identification of 24 lean barriers. The success of lean implementation will not be entirely based on application of appropriate tools and techniques alone but also on the top managements' involvement and leadership, workers' attitude, resources and the organizational culture. Research limitations/implications – This literature survey is primarily focused on lean implementation in the manufacturing sector. Practical implications – This paper explores barriers for successful lean implementation and provides a concise description of the barriers that will be helpful for further studies in the domain of lean manufacturing. Social implications – Government of many countries around the world is encouraging and helping small- and medium-scale industries to understand and implement lean systems by preparing accessible database of lean consultants, providing financial assistance for training by professionals and establishing professional associations. However, many industries experienced failure in lean implementation. This research work provides a launching pad to develop a strategy to tackle barriers for successful lean implementation. Originality/value – This paper puts forward the key barriers that should be tackled for successful lean implementation. It might represent new opportunities for rigorous and relevant research that would contribute to more translucent knowledge of lean being gained.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to review the risk categories which are predominant in international projects and to rank them according to their effect on project success. Design/methodology/approach A literature survey of peer-reviewed journal articles, survey reports and books on project management is used as the research methodology. One among the various multi-criteria decision making methods named as Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to the Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) has been used to rank the risk categories according to their importance. The data for TOPSIS were collected through questionnaire as the research instrument. Findings The findings derived from evaluation of the publications led to the identification of eight different types of risk categories associated with international projects. The TOPSIS method resulted into political risks, technical risks and design-related risks as the top three risk categories in international projects. Contractual and legal risks and fraudulent practices-related risks are relatively low-ranked risk category. Research limitations/implications The findings will be useful in successful implementation of international projects as the knowledge of risk categories and their ranking will help project manager to plan the risk response strategies. A larger sample size for decision makers and more variety of projects can give more exhaustive risk categories and their ranking. Practical implications This paper explores eight different risk categories in international projects. It represents the ranking of risk categories according to their importance in project success. This will be helpful to project managers for developing a general framework for planning the appropriate risk response strategies. Social implications Governments of many countries around the world are encouraging their industries to undertake and successfully complete projects in foreign countries. However, many industries experience failure in projects as they fail to implement the risk management (RM) effectively in international projects. This research work provides the risk categories in international projects and their ranking which can assist in developing strategies to respond the risk appropriately. Originality/value This paper uses the TOPSIS method for ranking major types of risk categories in international projects. It might represent new opportunities for rigorous and relevant research that would contribute to an in-depth knowledge of RM methodologies.

The survival of any organization depends upon its competitive edge. Even though Lean is one of the most powerful quality improvement methodologies, nearly twothirds of the Lean implementations results in failures and less than one-fifth of those implemented have sustained results. One of the most significant tasks of top management is to identify, understand and deploy the significant Lean practices like quality circle, Kanban, Just-in-time purchasing, etc. The term 'bundle' is used to make groups of interrelated and internally consistent Lean practices. Eight significant Lean practice bundles have been identified based on literature reviewed and opinion of the experts. The order of execution of Lean practice bundles is very important. Lean practitioners must be able to understand the interrelationship between these practice bundles. The objective of this paper is to develop framework for sustainable Lean implementation using interpretive structural modelling approach.

Purpose International projects very commonly experience failure due to various factors at the global level. Especially, large projects at the international level virtually have no chance of meeting scope, time, cost and quality. This fact has been underlined by most of the international surveys and published literature. Effective risk management plays a vital role in preventing projects from failure by implementing appropriate risk response strategies. The success of risk management will be based on the understanding of various risk categories which specifically affect international projects, analysis of their interdependence, prioritize them according to their importance and develop strategies for risk management based on the prioritization. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach This paper represents typical eight risk categories frequently observed in the international projects through literature survey and feedback from project professionals. Interpretive structural modeling (ISM) and Matrice d’Impacts croises-multiplication applique´ an classment (MICMAC) analysis have been used to analyze the interactions among the risk categories and prioritize them. The strategy management tool threats, opportunities, weaknesses and strengths (TOWS) matrix has been used to develop the strategies for effective project risk management. Findings The analysis represents political risks, contractual and legal risks, cultural risks, and financial and economic risks as the highest priority risk categories, the mitigation of which should be paid the highest attention. The strengths-threats strategy has been applied to develop the strategies by identifying the various internal strengths of project organization to overcome the various threats caused by the eight risk categories observed in international projects. Research limitations/implications This paper tries to represent the prioritization of international project risk categories which are generic in nature. For any specific international project, the risk categories as well as their prioritization may be slightly varying. The tool used for prioritization; Interpretive structural modeling (ISM) is more suitable for few numbers of variables as it becomes complex as the number of variables increases. The strengths and threats considered for developing strategies using TOWS matrix are based on the feedback from project professionals and may vary according to the nature of project. Originality/value This paper uses ISM and MICMAC for risk prioritization in international projects and TOWS matrix for developing risk management strategies. This may trigger new opportunities for in-depth research in the risk management strategy development for international projects.

Purpose Blockchain and Internet of Things (IoT) technologies have recently gained much attention for Industry 4.0. With the emergence of disruptive technologies, it has become essential to redesign the business for innovations based on blockchain–IoT integrated architecture that helps organizations to improve agility in their operations. The paper aims to discuss this issue. Design/methodology/approach An industrial pump was Sensorized and IoTized to monitor its operations on real time and take predictive measures for managing these assets with more agility. The developed architecture was further extended for proposing the use of blockchain and how it can benefit the organization. Findings The known features of blockchain such as increasing the capacity of decentralization, trust-less transactions, security and allowing autonomous coordination of the devices along with the boons of IoT will help achieve the motto of improving agility in Industry 4.0. Originality/value This paper gives a new dimension to utilization of blockchain technology. blockchain along with IoT that gives a way forward for industries like manufacturing, oil and gas, engineering and construction, utilities, etc. to re-designing the business organization in a more agile way.