Impact of corporate culture on the adoption of the Lean principles

Abstract

Purpose Empirical evidence suggests corporate culture and change contribute to every Lean failure. Whilst the prevailing research implies that successful Lean implementations lead to a profitable organisation, it also points towards the low numbers of organisations fully adopting the Lean principles. The purpose of this paper is to identify the existing prevalence of culture in explaining the low numbers (less than 10 per cent) of successful British manufacturing organisations that have fully adopted the concepts of Lean and to advocate preventative actions that organisations could pursue in order to improve the UK implementation records. Design/methodology/approach The methodology predominantly used included survey questionnaires within 68 manufacturing organisations of various sizes and at differing stages of Lean; this was coupled with seven case studies and subsequently validated by an extensive Lean audit undertaken in 20 organisations. Findings This research initially deciphers the prevalence of culture to Lean failures and then proceeds to recommend courses of action to facilitate higher implementation rates. The significance of culture was evident. The results reveal that a triumphant implementation requires a systematic and controlled strategy to look at the prevailing culture. Whilst Lean failures are attributable to different causes; the fundamental issues of corporate culture and change is evident. Practical implications Any organisation embarking upon Lean needs to unequivocally address the prevailing cultural issues. For Lean to thrive, evidently the processes, appropriate application of tools and its application across the value chain would prove futile without a conducive culture. Originality/value Possible remedial and preventative courses of action are advocated which should facilitate successful implementations. The implementation of Lean cannot be taken nonchalantly as there is a requirement for heavy investment in terms of both time and money. Nonetheless, when an organization pursues a conducive culture, the probability of success is improved, which secures the superior levels of performance.

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