The impact of implementing continuous improvement upon stress within a Lean production framework

Stimec, Arnaud; Grima, François

doi:10.1080/00207543.2018.1494391

Cited by 32 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 51 publications

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“…Different studies on the subject found that this type of work organization brings about intensified work pace and demands, and job strain (Arezes et al 2015;Bouville and Alis 2014;Landsbergis et al 1999;Oudhuis and Tengblad 2020;Stewart et al 2016). Yet, a growing literature points out the role of management practices in the way lean production is implemented, which may to limit work intensification and workers' strain (Bocquet et al 2019;Koukoulaki 2014;Longoni et al 2013;Neirotti 2020;Stimec and Grima 2019), although this might not work in certain sectors (Ogbonnaya et al 2017). Such a work intensification could be experienced especially by female workers, who are more segregated in lower hierarchical positions, and this in turn would raise their exposure to work stress and ergonomic hazards.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impact of different work organizational models on gender differences in exposure to psychosocial and ergonomic hazards at work and in mental and physical health

Migliore¹,

Ricceri

Lazzarato

et al. 2021

Int Arch Occup Environ Health

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Purpose To examine differences between genders in exposure to psychosocial and ergonomic factors at work and in work-related health, according to different work organization models. Methods The study population included a sample of 9749 (women: 37.1%) and 10,374 (women: 39.9%) employees who participated in the 2010 and 2015 European Working Conditions Surveys, respectively. Multiple Correspondence Analysis was applied to work characteristics reported by workers to estimate principal components, followed by Hierarchical Clustering on principal components to identify clusters of work organization models. Gender differences in exposure to work hazards and health outcomes were assessed through Poisson robust regression. Differences of PRs across organizational models were tested through interaction between gender and type of work organization. Results Three organizational models were identified in 2010, including lean production, Tayloristic production, and a “reflexive production” model, whereas in 2015, a “simple” or traditional model was also found. In 2010, women employed in companies adopting the Tayloristic or the lean production models were more likely than men to be exposed to unfavourable psychosocial and physical work factors, and to report musculoskeletal pain, compared to those belonging to reflexive production. In 2015, a significantly higher female/male ratio persisted in lean production for exposure to high job strain and for carrying/moving heavy loads, whereas gender differences in Tayloristic and traditional production were quite similar to those of reflexive production. Conclusions Our results suggest that employment in workplaces characterized by lower monotony, repetitiveness, and production constraints may contribute to reduce exposure to job strain among working women.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impact of different work organizational models on gender differences in exposure to psychosocial and ergonomic hazards at work and in mental and physical health

Migliore¹,

Ricceri

Lazzarato

et al. 2021

Int Arch Occup Environ Health

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“…In part, this could be due to the empowerment approach adopted, in which the worker plays the main role throughout the process of identifying, studying and implementing the improvement. In this way, the worker tends to increase their feeling of belonging to the organization, which has a positive repercussion on their motivation and commitment (Brunet & New, 2003;Stimec & Grima, 2019). All these attributes help the improvement philosophy to become more deep-rooted through participation, as it values the role of people and makes it possible for this type of practice to be maintained in future.…”

Section: Discussion and Lessons Learnedmentioning

confidence: 99%

Improving through employee participation: The case of a Spanish food manufacturer

González-Boubeta

Portela-Caramés

Prado

2021

JIEM

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Purpose: Employee participation is considered a fundamental pillar to implement continuous improvement. Based on this consideration, this article presents an action research case study in a large food manufacturer where employee participation is implemented. The experience has a two-fold objective: improve performance of the production system and make the participative philosophy deep-rooted among workers.Design/methodology/approach: The authors implement a structured participation system, establishing an approach of empowerment and focusing on the creation of suitable organizational structures. Under those premises, improvement teams were created on each of the firm’s production lines. Once the participation of the workers is finished, they were given a questionnaire to assess how deep-rooted the participative culture had become.Findings: The results show a remarkable improvement in the efficiency of manufacturing processes, as well as the consolidation of a participative philosophy. However, there are notable differences in the results obtained for each improvement team.Research limitations/implications: The differences obtained in the results highlight certain issues that future research must tackle. These include the way in which the staff should be rewarded for their participation or what the influence of the organizational context is when setting improvement objectives.Practical implications: The positive results obtained support the methodology proposed by the authors for structuring participation. Organizations can set up projects of this type to improve their competitiveness while at the same time strengthening the commitment of their personnel.Originality/value: This is one of the first studies in the field of employee participation that jointly assess the economic area and the cultural and organizational plane.

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“…It is said that whereas in "regular" organizations the executives are at the top directing the workers, who are at the bottom receiving directions, in a true Lean organization the hierarchical pyramid is inverted, where workers (called "team members" at Toyota) are at the top of the hierarchy because they are the primary value adding stratum, while managers are in the bottom of the pyramid, charged with supporting the value added efforts by team members and performing improvements to the system itself (Imai, 2012) in a similar concept to the one of servant leadership (Greenleaf, 1970). The concept of servant leadership and the empowerment of workers have been studied from the seventies, and there is evidence that in better performing plants, managers delegate more of the problem monitoring and solving to their employees (Stimec and Grima, 2018), along similar lines of what happens in Lean organizations.…”

Section: Previous Work On Factors For Lean Success and Failurementioning

confidence: 99%

Changes in communication patterns when implementing lean

Colazo

2020

IJQRM

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PurposeThis paper explores the changes in communication patterns when companies implement lean, and how those changes relate to implementation success.Design/methodology/approachThis is a multiple-site case study involving four business units of a manufacturing company in South America, including two repeated measurement instances separating 24 months for approximately 600 direct workers and 65 supervisors. The analytical models include social network analysis measures and Ordinary Least Squares regression.FindingsWhen companies implement lean, (1) teams have a higher frequency of communication among members; (2) teams become more decentralized; (3) teams communicate more with supervisors and (4) supervisors communicate more amongst themselves and collaborate more. Also, (5) better performing teams change more pronouncedly.Research limitations/implicationsThe study contains data for four business units but within only one company, limiting the external validity of the conclusions. The sample was predominantly male. Participant attrition and other potential covariates not included in the study can be additional limitations.Practical implicationsLean implementations could be practically helped by managers by embracing and supporting the more intense communication patterns associated with lean success, and alternatively, they could proactively detect barriers in communication by measuring how these patterns change or fail to change and try to unlock communication by working on those barriers and supply communications infrastructure and opportunities for collaboration to try to boost the chances of success.Originality/valueThis is to our knowledge the first study measuring communication networks from the point of view of team members and low-level supervisors in lean implementations. This is also the first study showing that communication patterns change more rapidly in more successful teams, and also that communication pattern changes when implementing lean can be an indicator of success.

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The impact of implementing continuous improvement upon stress within a Lean production framework

Cited by 32 publications

References 51 publications

Impact of different work organizational models on gender differences in exposure to psychosocial and ergonomic hazards at work and in mental and physical health

Impact of different work organizational models on gender differences in exposure to psychosocial and ergonomic hazards at work and in mental and physical health

Improving through employee participation: The case of a Spanish food manufacturer

Changes in communication patterns when implementing lean

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