Jannis Angelis

The effects of lean production on worker job stress

Purpose – This empirical paper seeks to address the neglected work condition aspect of lean production (LP) implementation, specifically the relationship between LP and worker job stress.Design/methodology/approach – The Karasek job stress model was used to link shopfloor practices to expected worker stress. The model incorporates the effects of job demands (physical and psychological), job control and social support. The study employs management and worker questionnaires, management interviews and structured plant tours. The response variable is total worker job stress – the sum of the physical and mental stress levels. The independent variable for the first question is the degree of lean implementation at the sites.Findings – The results are based on 1,391 worker responses at 21 sites in the four UK industry sectors. About 11 tested practices are significantly related to stress and an unexpected non‐linear response of stress to lean implementation is identified. Results indicate that LP is not inherentl...

UK health visiting: challenges faced during lean implementation

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present the challenges identified during a lean implementation in a health visiting service within a large primary care trust in NHS UK.Design/methodology/approach – Following a series of lean workshops a triangulated approach to data collection was adopted in order to determine the root cause of the challenges that were faced during this lean implementation. The three methods that were selected for qualitative analysis included semi‐structured interviews, document analysis and researcher participant observation.Findings – Six key challenges were identified from the data analysis. These were: high process variability; a lack of understanding of lean; poor communication and leadership; target focused; problems defining waste; and difficulty in determining who is the customer and what do they value?Practical implications – Although this particular lean implantation had limited success, the research has highlighted a number of challenges which would have to be addres...

Lean implementation in primary care health visiting services in National Health Service UK

Background This paper presents the findings of a 13-month lean implementation in National Health Service (NHS) primary care health visiting services from May 2008 to June 2009. Method Lean was chosen for this study because of its reported success in other healthcare organisations. Value-stream mapping was utilised to map out essential tasks for the participating health visiting service. Stakeholder mapping was conducted to determine the links between all relevant stakeholders. Waste processes were then identified through discussions with these stakeholders, and a redesigned future state process map was produced. Quantitative data were provided through a 10-day time-and-motion study of a selected number of staff within the service. This was analysed to provide an indication of waste activity that could be removed from the system following planned improvements. Results The value-stream map demonstrated that there were 67 processes in the original health visiting service studied. Analysis revealed that 65% of these processes were waste and could be removed in the redesigned process map. The baseline time-and-motion data demonstrate that clinical staff performed on average 15% waste activities, and the administrative support staff performed 46% waste activities. Conclusion Opportunities for significant waste reduction have been identified during the study using the lean tools of value-stream mapping and a time-and-motion study. These opportunities include simplification of standard tasks, reduction in paperwork and standardisation of processes. Successful implementation of these improvements will free up resources within the organisation which can be redirected towards providing better direct care to patients.

Service design and delivery

Service Design and Delivery provides a comprehensive overview of the increasingly important role played by the service industry. Focusing on the development of different processes employed by service organizations, the book emphasizes management of service in relation to products. It not only explores the complexity of this relationship, but also introduces strategies used in the design and management of service across various sectors, highlighting where tools, techniques and processes applicable to one sector may prove useful in another. The implementation methods introduced in the book also illustrate how and why companies can transform themselves into service organizations. While the book is primarily intended as a text for advanced-level courses in service design and delivery, it also contains theoretical and practical knowledge beneficial to both practitioners in the service sector and those in manufacturing contemplating moving towards service delivery. 26 contributing authors

Innovative lean : The role and impact of work practices

Purpose – Innovation is a key source of competitiveness in the knowledge economy, and continuous improvement (CI) is a key element of such corporate pursuit. The purpose of this paper is to explore ...

Product and Service Complexity and High Performance Work Practices in the Aerospace Industry

Offering products or services with high specification and complexity is often used as a competitive business strategy for organizations that cannot compete on cost. Theories on high performance work practices suggest that the combination of high employee involvement and aligned human resources and industrial relations allows firms to achieve higher performance. This study explores the adoption of such work practices in the UK aerospace industry. The results are based on responses from 225 firms across the value chain, ranging from service providers and systems integrators to component and material suppliers. The study identifies relevant work practices at each level of product and service complexity and discusses the varying needs firms have depending on their product offerings, and the implications on their work practices.

Marketing strategies of multinationals in the Baltic States : To standardize or to adapt?

Purpose – The question of whether a business should pursue a marketing strategy that is standardised across national markets or adapted to individual markets has long troubled practicing managers and academics. The purpose of this study is to examine such marketing mix standardisation in the Baltic states.Design/methodology/approach – This cross‐sectional study employs a survey of management responses from multinational companies active in the Baltic states to capture their marketing strategies. Another survey is used to capture customer perceptions of the degree of marketing mix standardisation.Findings – This research supports the idea of marketing standardisation across the Baltic countries, but it also points at particular areas for adaptation.Research limitations/implications – The three Baltic countries present an interesting case due to close geographical location, shared history and economic development, alongside differences in consumer behaviour caused by independent national development. This m...

Implementing Lean into a Servicing Environment

The study provides a description of what Lean means in a service context, focused on the energy sector. The study covered a range of operational processes, including TQM, Six Sigma and freestanding benchmarking and Kaizen initiatives. A divide between managers actively implementing Lean and those that are not is clear in both survey results and interviews; this divide is driven wider by the misunderstanding of what is actually being implemented, sometimes inappropriately assigned as Lean. Moreover, only a core of Lean manufacturing attributes are carried through into services: waste removal, responding to customer demand and increased breadth of communications in the firm. The study also finds that Lean is consistently confused with Six Sigma, but that this does not negatively impact the Lean implementation.

Lean practices for product and process improvement : Involvement and knowledge capture

Innovation is key source of a company’s competitiveness in the knowledge economy, and continuous improvement is a key element of such corporate pursuit. Lean production is a globally competitive standard for product assembly of discreet parts. Successful Lean application is conditioned by an evolutionary problem-solving ability of the rank and file. Such ability is in itself contingent on employee involvement in improvement programs and the implementation of appropriate practices. But the challenge of operating innovative Lean systems lacks statistically valid guidance. This empirical study is based on 294 worker responses from twelve manufacturing sites in four Brazilian industry sectors. It identifies particular practices that impact employee participation in change or improvement activities and their performance outcomes.

Are You Being Served

This book came about as the growing community of practitioners and academics were progressing the area of services to new levels of understanding. Servitization was first introduced as the trend in which corporations offer fuller market packages or bundles of customer-focused combinations of goods, services, support, self-service and knowledge. As production becomes increasingly commoditised in the eyes of the end user, companies have pursued value downstream through greater customer involvement and interaction. This change in business focus, and indeed strategy, has presented new challenges and opportunities to all involved with it.