Validation of qualitative aspects of the Lean Assessment Tool (LAT)

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to test the reliability and validity of the qualitative section of Lean Assessment Tool (LAT) starting from the point where a reliable and valid tool is needed to measure increasing leanness level of business organizations. Design/methodology/approach The questionnaire used in this study included the qualitative component of LAT developed by Pakdil and Leonard (2014). The unit of the study was individual employees who work in manufacturing firms participating in this study. This study focused on the data collected from three firms that operate in Turkey and two firms that operate in the USA. The total respondents from Turkish firms were 263 employees, while the 205 employees responded from US firms. Findings Exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis were completed to determine valid and reliable factors that compose LAT’s qualitative component. The statistical analysis showed five distinct factors, namely process, delivery, quality, customer satisfaction and human resource. In addition, the fuzzy logic showed appropriate loadings to make the argument for its use in analysis of the LAT. Research limitations/implications This study moves the debate about the success or failure of lean efforts forward. With the debates about lean and its potential, it is necessary to have a scientific determination of success and the areas where further work in the firm is needed. Such measurement is the backbone of management progress, and the authors believe that this paper is useful. Second, the necessity of reliable and valid tools of lean assessment is obvious in the literature and practice. The findings of this study help academicians find reliable and valid tools to measure lean success both in the literature and practice. Practical implications Managerial implications include the development of a way to assess the areas of success and areas requiring further work. Failure to measure success and needs for further work has been the reason for the questionable results found in investigating lean implementation efforts. If there is no way to determine what is needed to improve lean efforts, they will be seen as failure, even if part of the implementation has been successful. This tool has been found to be potentially useful for evaluation of these crucial and time-consuming efforts. Originality/value In this study, the qualitative section of LAT has been validated. The results demonstrated that, based on two countries’ data sets, the scale was found to be reliable and valid within itself and across sociocultural boundaries.

Manufacturer power over suppliers: scale development and validation

“…Two stages were used to develop and validate the measurement instrument for a manufacturing firm's power over its suppliers (Hair et al , 2019; Li et al , 2009; Pakdil et al , 2018). Stage 1 defined the five power constructs with the specific domains and dimensionalities, generated measurement items for these constructs and accessed the preliminary convergent and discriminant validity.…”

Design of pull production control systems using axiomatic design principles

“…In the next process, the design of the pull PCS should be completed according to IA as shown in the proposed roadmap (see Section 5). The performance evaluation of a lean manufacturing system is one of the critical success factors for lean implementation projects (Pakdil et al , 2018; Sangwa and Sangwan, 2018b). Therefore, once the implementation is completed, the performance of the new system is evaluated according to performance metrics.…”

The application of an ANP-Fuzzy comprehensive evaluation model to assess lean construction management performance

“…3.2.5 Tools for lean organization management. Tools for lean organization management are usually standardized management (Nepal et al, 2015), collaborative management (Kim and Park, 2006) and customer demand management (Pakdil et al, 2018).…”

“…It was needed for a firm, which implemented lean thinking in the producing process, to continuously monitor itself to know well of its leanness level and the improvement path for the future (Narayanamurthy and Gurumurthy, 2016). Moreover, organizations need to assess whether the lean implementation is successful to ensure that they obtain the maximum competitive advantage (Pakdil et al, 2018). To make enterprises remain competitive, continuous assessment of their management performance is required (Sangwa and Sangwan, 2018a).…”